Households spending more on housing, transportation in Tampa Bay Area: Report

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Area has really grown exponentially since the pandemic, and a new report shows that it is costly as households spend more of their income on housing and transportation.

New regional reports from the Tampa Bay Partnership and the University of South Florida compare how Tampa Bay stacks against similar cities with economic competitiveness.

"A lot of positive things are happening. Tampa Bay is really doing well in terms of attracting businesses, attracting people. Migration rates are high. Tech jobs are moving here," said Shivendu Shivendu, an associate professor of information systems at USF Muma College of Business.

But the state of the region is a mixed bag, according to the reports.

"The data shows us that the trend is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to affordability," said Jessica Muroff, president and CEO of United Way Suncoast. "The study this year showed that the people in our region are spending on average 57 cents on the dollar just on transportation and housing costs alone. That’s before they spend a penny on anything else."

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Muroff said they see it firsthand, and families in Hillsborough County need more than $80,000 a year to stay afloat.

"So how are we helping them upscale? How are we helping them to find a higher paying job?" she said. "Our region is thriving in many areas, we saw increases in many areas. So, I guess equity would be the one word that I think we need to continue to keep our eye on the ball for."

Shivendu, who worked on USF’s side of the report, said there aren’t enough high-paying jobs coming in.

He said some solutions include better transportation and building more affordable places to live.

"I think investing in transit corridors and making public transport a more viable alternative to people driving can be one way by which we can spread out the benefits of those high-paying jobs," said Shivendu. "If we can compare our zoning rules with zoning rules in other cities which have done better, we can probably make some changes in those zoning rules to make housing more affordable."

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There is opportunity in Tampa Bay, and that’s good news.

"These are all growth challenges. So, these are good challenges for our community to be experiencing," said Bemetra Simmons, the president and CEO at Tampa Bay Partnership.

Tampa Bay Partnership said it’s a group effort to move the area in the right direction for the future.

"What I think that the data does is it begins as a, as a jumping off point so that our businesses, our municipal leaders, our not for profit leaders can use these uses data to make strategic decisions," said Simmons.

The Tampa Bay partnership said our area is a good place for pipeline talent, and it’s up to businesses to lean into that and grow their workers.

The reports also found that Tampa Bay topped other areas by closing the poverty gap. 

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