Photo: Gabriel Classon (gabeclasson on Flickr) · CC BY 2.0Households in St. Pete Beach have higher incomes than those in 86% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 6.0 in Tampa. 8.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.6% across Florida. The two grades for St. Pete Beach are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where St. Pete Beach stands out on work
Home offices are common in St. Pete Beach
31% of St. Pete Beach workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
St. Pete Beach and St. Petersburg trade workers both ways
St. Petersburg is the top workplace for St. Pete Beach residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in St. Pete Beach come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside St. Pete Beach
63% of St. Pete Beach residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in St. Pete Beach pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 86% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in St. Pete Beach is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why St. Pete Beach gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Pete Beach is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #95 of 638 in Florida. Household income is its strongest input ($114,583, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Pete Beach could be anywhere from B to A+.
St. Pete Beach’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Pete Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,474 commuters (the 31% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
19% of working residents work in St. Petersburg
Where St. Pete Beach clocks in
19% of workers
11% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in St. Pete Beach
4,751 jobs are based in St. Pete Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Pete Beach, 2013 → 2023: 4,930 → 4,751. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs St. Pete Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of St. Pete Beach, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,857 residents head out to work, 457 work right here, and 4,294 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in St. Pete Beach on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from St. Pete Beach
About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
St. Pete Beach is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Pete Beach is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #91 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,566 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 81% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 56% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.2% of St. Pete Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Pete Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
St. Pete Beach is 760th of 2,922 U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 758 | Hickam Housing HI | 9,425 | $122K | 1.9% | 8.2% | 5% | A− |
| 759 | Fountainhead-Orchard Hills MD | 6,567 | $103K | 8.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A− |
| 760 | St. Pete Beach FL | 8,553 | $115K | 8.0% | 3.5% | 14% | A− |
| 761 | Roeland Park KS | 6,683 | $89K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 2% | A− |
| 762 | Slinger WI | 6,495 | $101K | 2.9% | 5.5% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of St. Pete Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 21% of St. Pete Beach
The biggest share goes to St. Petersburg (19%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Pete Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Pete Beach | – | A− | A | 26 min | $114,583 |
| Treasure Island | 1% | B+ | B− | 32 min | $87,107 |
| St. Petersburg | 19% | B | A | 26 min | $75,192 |
| South Pasadena | 1% | B | B+ | 20 min | $53,075 |
| Tierra Verde | under 2% | A− | C | 34 min | $150,747 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Pete Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in St. Pete Beach: questions
What is the median household income in St. Pete Beach?
$114,583 (±$16,511) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Pete Beach?
8.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Pete Beach?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Pete Beach work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Petersburg (19%, 7 mi), Tampa (11%, 24 mi), Largo (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Pete Beach walkable?
St. Pete Beach is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Pete Beach without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 56% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Pete Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Pete Beach
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.