Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 114,364, Clearwater does unevenly: it grades C, ranked 394th of 634 in Florida. It is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. The trade-off: homes are expensive, about $341K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Tampa metro’s $74K median household income. Only 57 of Florida’s 779 towns score higher on hazard risk. Clearwater’s January low is 52°F, where Florida’s towns sit at 51°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. Clearwater is home to Ultimate Medical Academy.
Where Clearwater beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Clearwater is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 383 in 1900, 117,292 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1896 and 4 maps from 1943 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Clearwater. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaTropicana Field
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaRaymond James Stadium
20 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
32 mi BeachAnna Maria Island
22 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Tampa4.0M visitors a year
17 mi MuseumSalvador Dalí MuseumTropicana Field: EaglesFanInTampa, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Raymond James Stadium: NASA, Public domain · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anna Maria Island: Bfpage at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 · Busch Gardens Tampa: Wolle8ball, CC BY 3.0 · Salvador Dalí Museum: Taty2007, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Clearwater, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Clearwater.
Clearwater fares better on crime within Florida than nationally, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
25 miles of trail in 53 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Sand Key Park, 97 acres with 3 miles of trail. Clearwater’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Clearwater | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sand Key Park | 3 mi | 97 |
| 2. Lake Chautauqua Park | 2.5 mi | 70 |
| 3. Crest Lake Park | 1.7 mi | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Pinellas school district. Three of its 33 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater Fundamental Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 736 | A+ |
| Clearwater High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,543 | C− |
| Discovery Academy of ScienceTop results in townGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 722 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
At 26.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 54% of Florida’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 2,541 to 1,925 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 51.8°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 90.3°.
Clearwater has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Clearwater is 90°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 5 of Clearwater’s working residents works in town. 21% of Clearwater workers work from home. Jobs based in Clearwater grew to 66,505 in 2023, 11,826 more than in 2013.
| Clearwater | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 5% | 8% |
| Work from home | 21% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical value, about $341K, is 10% below its April 2024 peak.
59% of households own their home in Clearwater. The typical Clearwater home is worth about $341,000, about the same as a year ago, 9% below the Florida typical home. 63% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in Clearwater.
| Clearwater | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 72% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 63% | 59% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,658 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Florida average. Clearwater has lost 2.5% of its people since 2020, down to 114,364 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 33% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Florida.
| Clearwater | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.6 years | 42.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 31% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.1 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 48.0, men 45.3.
| Clearwater | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.7% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.7% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.3% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.7% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.1% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.1% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.3% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 10,128 U.S. towns with household incomes like Clearwater’s, it is healthier than 64%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Clearwater beats the Florida average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Clearwater | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Clearwater | FL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 7.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2,320 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 151 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 2,320 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Clearwater.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Clearwater
About 5 of every 100 Clearwater residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
8 places in Clearwater on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in Clearwater.
City in Florida, United States
Clearwater is a city in and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 117,292. It is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay area. Clearwater Beach is part of the city of Clearwater, but is separated from it by the Intracoastal Waterway. Cleveland Street is one of the city's historic avenues, and the city includes BayCare Ballpark and Coachman Park. The Church of Scientology owns the majority…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Clearwater.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Largo (C) is closest.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | #394 | C | D | C | B | B− |
| Dunedin | #109 | B | D | B+ | B | B+ |
| Safety Harbor | #45 | B+ | D | B+ | B | A− |
| Largo | #366 | C | C | C | B | B− |
| Belleair | #38 | B+ | D− | A | B | A |
| Greenbriar | — | — | C− | — | B | B+ |
| Belleair Beach | — | — | D− | A | B | A |
| Palm Harbor | #216 | C+ | D | — | B | B+ |
Greenbriar and Belleair Beach have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Greenbriar and Palm Harbor report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Clearwater with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Clearwater grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #394 of 634 in Florida. It grades B− for health, C for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
42 notable people were born here, including Sara Blakely and Melanie Margalis.
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