Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Plant City is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 482nd among Florida's 634 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $67K. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $338K for a typical one and 4.5 times the Tampa metro’s $74K median household income. Its National Register listings include Plant City Union Depot and Plant City High School. Plant City's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns. Plant City’s violent crime rate is 5.4 per 1,000 residents, above both Florida’s towns (2.8) and U.S. towns (1.9).
Where Plant City beats most towns.
Census counts: 349 in 1890, 39,764 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1914 and 4 maps from 1944 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Plant City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plant City. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaTropicana Field
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaRaymond James Stadium
21 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
19 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Tampa4.0M visitors a year
18 mi Stadium & arenaYuengling Center
26 mi Theme parkLegoland FloridaTropicana Field: EaglesFanInTampa, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Raymond James Stadium: NASA, Public domain · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Busch Gardens Tampa: Wolle8ball, CC BY 3.0 · Yuengling Center: User:TheCustomOfLife, Public domain · Legoland Florida: Jacob Montgomery, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plant City, 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 Plant City.
Plant City has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
14 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Mike E Sansone Community Park, at 51 acres.
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ellis-Methvin Park | 1.8 mi | 46 |
| 2. Snowden Park | 0.5 mi | 9 |
| 3. Mike E Sansone Community Park | — | 51 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Hillsborough school district. Three of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomlin Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,340 | C+ |
| Plant City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,572 | C |
| Lincoln Elementary Magnet SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 510 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Plant City beats the Florida average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 22% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Plant City.
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 20% | 19% |
| What stands out | Plant City | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.2% | 9.1% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 24% | 26.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.2% | 12.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Plant City weather station records that about 111 days a year reach 90°, more than in 97% of U.S. towns. January nights average 49.5°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.4°.
Plant City has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Plant City’s January low is 50°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 14% of residents (21% statewide); children under 18 are 24% of residents (20% statewide). Plant City has grown 11% since 2020, to 44,118 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The median age in Plant City is 37.1 years.
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 37.1 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 31% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.8 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.4, men 36.0.
| Plant City | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.8% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.6% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.6% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 17.1% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.1% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.3% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.3% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.3% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Jobs based here grew from 16,191 in 2013 to 23,499.
Most working residents leave Plant City for work: only 15% work in town. Since 2013, Plant City has added 7,308 jobs, to 23,499 in 2023. The top destinations are Tampa (18%), Lakeland (10%) and Brandon (4%).
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 5% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 11% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1994, 130 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plant City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Plant City's reported crime rate is above Florida's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 214 violent crimes were reported in 2022.
FBI crime data, 2022 · crimes reported to police
The typical Plant City home is worth about $338,000, down 1% in a year, 10% below the Florida typical home.
| Plant City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,409 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Plant City
About 5 of every 100 Plant City residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
34,721 counted in 2010 and 39,764 in 2020; an estimated 44,118 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 10.7% since 2020, after 14.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
9 places in Plant City on the National Register of Historic Places.
26 notable people were born in Plant City.
City in Florida, US
Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite many thinking it was named for flora grown at plant nurseries (especially vegetables and fruits, as well as tropical houseplants) in its subtropical Gulf Coast climate, it was named after prominent railroad developer Henry B. Plant (see Plant System). Plant City is known as the winter strawberry capital of the world and hosts the annual Florida Strawberry Festival in the late winter (usually in February or early March), which is attended by people from a…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Plant City.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant City | #482 | C− | C− | — | C+ | C |
| Lakeland | #567 | D | C− | C− | D | C |
Plant City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Plant City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Plant City grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #482 of 634 in Florida. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
26 notable people were born here, including Ashley Moody and Pam Tillis.
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