Metro Life Score
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B-, 50th percentile of the national corpus.
- 49.8
- Life Score / 100
- B-
- Grade (curved)
- #193
- of 387 metros
- 50%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is above-median composite Life Score — #193 of 387 (49.8/100, grade B-, 50th percentile). Carried by safety at 91/100; held back most by rent at 9/100.
- 50th
- composite percentile
- #193
- of 387 peers
- 18th
- cost dimension percentile
- 70th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · SAFE-LED · signature cost
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater: cost pressure is the outlier
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is a MID-band metro where cost sits only at the 18th percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 70th and composite #193. Rent (9/100) is the main drag; Safety (91/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL ranks #193 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #318 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.9 (rent-RPP 125.8). BLS median salary $68,404, 1,402,180 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,977/mo (studio $1,593).
FBI UCR (FL): 210 violent, 1030 property/100K. NCES: 17.8:1 ratio, 18.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL).
Where Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
50 50th percentile higher than 50% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 49.8 is built
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are FL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater With...
Ranking Context
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater outranks 50% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #190 | Ogden, UT | 49.9 | B- |
| #191 | Goldsboro, NC | 49.9 | B- |
| #192 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 50.0 | B- |
| #193 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 49.8 | B- |
| #194 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 49.8 | B- |
| #195 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 49.8 | B- |
| #196 | Bangor, ME | 49.7 | B- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL is top 50% highest-quality nationally but only bottom 18% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
FL Metro Scores
Read with Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 49.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Fort Smith, AR-OK
ABS(composite) peer at 49.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Bangor, ME
ABS(composite) peer at 49.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Bloomington, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 49.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Bakersfield-Delano, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 18/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Burlington-South Burlington, VT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 18/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater's middle-third Life Score
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater scores 49.8/100 overall, but Safety (90.9) and Rent (8.5) sit 82.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater's seven dimensions (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Rent is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Wildwood is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Wildwood
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.