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Tampa Bay Area's 'State of the Region' report shows mixed results

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Published  February 20, 2025 11:16pm EST
Tampa
FOX 13 News

State of the Region report card

The report card is about the Tampa Bay area, and it has mixed reviews. A positive is that we're excelling at early learning, but on the other hand, affordability is struggling. Briona Arradondo reports

The Brief

    • Tampa Bay's report card has mixed reviews.
    • The city performs well compared to other markets in the county, with year-over-year improvements in key categories, such as the number of children enrolled in schools.
    • However, the city is becoming more expensive in terms of housing and transportation costs for residents.

TAMPA, Fla. - According to a new State of the Region report, the report card for the Tampa Bay region has some positives and negatives.

The city of Tampa.

The City of Tampa.

People move to the Bay Area for its sunshine and opportunities, and the region performs well compared to other metro areas of similar size.

"We compare ourselves against 19 other markets around the country, and for the second year in a row, we’re number one in net migration," said Bemetra Simmons, the President and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership. "So, we’re still a great place to raise a family, grow a business, live, work, play."

Dig deeper:

READ: Tampa ranks among the top 10 cities with the most people in financial distress: Study 

Simmons said the Tampa Bay Partnership put together the 2025 Regional Competitiveness Report with Community Foundation Tampa Bay and the United Way Suncoast, which looks at what has happened over the past year. 

The City of Tampa.

The City of Tampa.

The University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business created the E-Insights Report, which examines current trends. 

Together, these reports form the 2025 State of the Region report. 

Local perspective:

Simmons said they recently presented the State of the Region report to local leaders, noting improvements in disconnected youth and early learning. 

"We saw improvement in the number of three and four-year-olds enrolled in school. Our kindergarten readiness numbers were up two percent year over year. Our third-grade reading levels were up almost six percent year over year. So, these are some things that are really encouraging," said Simmons. 

READ: Davis Islands dog park attack: Teen suspects facing upgraded charges as adults

Workers calling Tampa Bay home must cope with expensive childcare, and United Way Suncoast hopes to chip away at those costs.

"We were just in Tallahassee yesterday, all of the United Ways in Florida speaking to legislators about what we can do to help reduce those childcare costs, incentivize businesses," said Ernest Hooper, the Chief Communications Officer of United Way Suncoast in Tampa. 

While Tampa Bay is competitive and doing well overall, the report also found the affordability indicator tough to move. 

Bike rider in Tampa.

Bike rider in Tampa.

"Last year’s report showed that for every dollar's worth of income that our residents had, they were spending 57 cents on just housing and transportation costs. We’ve seen that come down to 55 cents. Nothing to dance the jig about, but we’re in the right direction," Simmons said. 

Some areas of interest, however, are not moving in the right direction.

READ: Florida man accused of blinding nurse in brutal hospital beating faces hate crime enhancement charge  

"We’re not perfect, right? So, we track about 10 transportation and infrastructure indicators, and we’re in the bottom quartile in seven of those 10," Simmons said. 

Tampa Bay is still at the bottom for pedestrian and bicycle deaths, according to the report.

READ: Teen riding bike to Clearwater High School suffers critical injuries after getting hit by car: Police 

Tampa.

Tampa.

"We don’t want anyone to lose their life in Tampa Bay because they’re walking or riding a bike. So those are some areas where we can definitely have an opportunity for improvement," said Simmons.

READ: Woman accused of killing sister in Carrollwood home moves closer to standing trial 

What's next:

Now that area leaders know what’s working well and what still needs improvement, the report's authors hope it will lead to more change.

"These issues where we need to improve seem big and overwhelming. But if we can work together and create incremental changes, it can make a huge difference," said Hooper. 

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Simmons said Tampa Bay continues to attract a lot of great talent for more advanced jobs that require certifications or degrees outside of the service sector. 

Simmons said they have found that new residents are moving to Tampa Bay from the Midwest and Northeast regions of the country.

The Source: FOX 13's Briona Arradondo collected the information in this story.

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