Earning a living in Tampa
Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average; Kansas averages 20, the U.S. 26. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers; Kansas has 12%. Hardly any work in Tampa; the top destination outside it is Hillsboro (13%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Tampa
On a workday 38 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 28 people come in from elsewhere.
About 92 people are in Tampa on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.74 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places Tampa commutes to
Where Tampa clocks in
13% of workers
11% of workers
8% 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.
What Tampa’s employers do
28 jobs are based in Tampa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tampa, 2014 → 2024: 35 → 28. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tampa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Tampa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tampa workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 55 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Kansas: 85% 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 many miles Tampa commutes
About 34% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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?
$66,250 (±$12,445) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tampa?
2.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tampa?
30 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tampa work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hillsboro (13%, 14 mi), Marion (11%, 16 mi), Wichita (8%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Tampa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 2024, 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.