Photo: Clément Bardot · CC BY-SA 4.0Tampa draws 321,712 commuters a day, with 2.3 jobs for every working resident
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 8.1 in St. Petersburg. 394,442 jobs are based in Tampa, and 173,357 of its residents work somewhere. Tampa grades B− 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
What stands out about work in Tampa
Tampa is where the jobs are
Tampa has 394,442 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 635,000 people are in town, 53% more than the 414,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Tampa draws workers from far and wide
The 394,442 jobs in Tampa are filled from a wide area. Tampa’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 22%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Tampa
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tampa is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #312 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Tampa’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tampa could be anywhere from B− to B.
How a workday changes Tampa
On a workday 100,627 residents head out to work and 72,730 work right here.
About 635,000 people are in Tampa on a workday afternoon, 53% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Tampa
Where Tampa clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Tampa
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tampa, 2013 → 2023: 295,202 → 394,442. 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 Tampa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Tampa takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tampa workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 162,051 commuters (the 22% 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.
How far Tampa goes to work
About 18% 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.
Tampa is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tampa is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #85 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Tampa near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 207,688 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 8.5% of Tampa households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Tampa’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Out of 46 U.S. towns of 289,000 to 558,000, Tampa comes 25th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 2 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| 3 | Islip NY | 340,867 | $130K | 6.4% | 4.5% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Sacramento CA | 536,449 | $87K | 13.9% | 6.6% | 39% | B− |
| 24 | Atlanta GA | 529,110 | $86K | 16.9% | 5.9% | 43% | B− |
| 25 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 42% | B− |
| 26 | Kansas City MO | 521,220 | $69K | 14.6% | 4.4% | 48% | B− |
| 27 | Minneapolis MN | 430,324 | $81K | 16.0% | 5.9% | 41% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Orlando FL | 333,888 | $72K | 14.7% | 5.2% | 36% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Miami FL | 489,812 | $62K | 19.4% | 5.2% | 34% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Tampa, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
12% of Tampa works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to East Lake-Orient Park (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tampa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa | – | B− | A | 25 min | $75,475 |
| Lutz | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $120,031 |
| Palm River-Clair Mel | under 2% | B− | B+ | 31 min | $71,787 |
| Town 'n' Country | 3% | B | B+ | 28 min | $73,538 |
| East Lake-Orient Park | 5% | C | A | 27 min | $56,573 |
| Egypt Lake-Leto | 1% | C | A | 27 min | $54,032 |
| Lake Magdalene | under 2% | B | B | 27 min | $75,594 |
| Temple Terrace | 1% | B+ | A | 26 min | $69,252 |
| Carrollwood | under 2% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $81,959 |
| Pebble Creek | under 2% | A | A− | 28 min | $110,085 |
| University | 2% | C− | A+ | 28 min | $37,207 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tampa’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 Tampa: questions
What is the median household income in Tampa?
$75,475 (±$1,872) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tampa?
15.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tampa?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tampa work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are East Lake-Orient Park (5%, 7 mi), St. Petersburg (4%, 18 mi), Town 'n' Country (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tampa walkable?
Tampa is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tampa without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tampa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tampa
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.