Sell Your Commercial Property In Tampa Bay, FL

Who rents in Tampa Bay

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro had an estimated 3,304,691 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, living in 1,330,303 occupied homes. Of those, 426,933 were rented, a 32.1% share, and the metro's median household income was $74,392.

That regional average hides large local differences. County-level ACS data show Hillsborough at 38.5% renters, Pinellas at 30.5% and Pasco at 24.3%. The cities are more renter-heavy: Tampa is at 49.7%, Clearwater at 41.4% and St. Petersburg at 37.2%. For an apartment owner, the core cities supply the deepest tenant pools, while Pasco's renters are spread across newer suburban product.

Incomes follow a similar pattern. Hillsborough, with 1,522,748 residents, had a median household income of $79,540. Pinellas, with 963,481, was at $72,646, and Pasco, with 611,444, at $70,492. Rent burden is heaviest where incomes trail rents: 56.7% of Pinellas renter households pay 30% or more of income for housing, compared with 54.9% in Hillsborough and 50.9% in Pasco. In Clearwater the figure reaches 59.3%.

The employment base is diverse. Yardi Matrix data for February 2026 show trade, transportation and utilities at 356,000 jobs, professional and business services at 321,000, education and health services at 305,000, government at 200,000, leisure and hospitality at 196,000, and financial activities at 160,000. No single sector holds more than about a fifth of jobs, which tends to steady renter demand through a downturn. The near term is softer: the metro lost 3,000 net jobs in the 12 months to February 2026, and unemployment was 4.7% in April, above the 4.3% national rate.

Two institutions add long-term stability. MacDill Air Force Base hosts the 6th Air Refueling Wing, with 26 KC-135 tankers, and 28 associate units including U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. The University of South Florida serves nearly 50,000 students across its Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses and reports more than $6 billion in annual economic impact for the region.

Rents across the region

Median gross rent for the metro was $1,628 over 2020–2024. The counties and core cities cluster within a narrow band, with Pasco the clear outlier on the low side:

Source: Census ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates via Census Reporter, for the metro, counties and cities.

Current asking rents run higher than those survey medians, which include long-tenured households. Yardi Matrix put the metro's average advertised rent at $1,783 through May 2026, up only 0.1% over three months. HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Tampa MSA are $1,696 for a one-bedroom and $1,977 for a two-bedroom. Palmetto and Bradenton fall in the separate North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota MSA, where the two-bedroom FMR is $1,958. Affordability is stretched everywhere: 54.8% of the metro's renter households spend 30% or more of income on housing, and 27.6% spend half or more.

The apartment stock

The metro has 1,515,178 housing units, and 331,082 of them, or 21.9%, are in buildings of five or more units. Large complexes of 50+ units hold 111,216 of those, followed by 82,008 units in 10–19 unit buildings, 73,237 in 5–9 unit buildings and 64,621 in 20–49 unit buildings. Clearwater stands out, with 42.9% of its homes in 5+ unit buildings.

Pinellas, not Hillsborough, holds the most apartment-style housing. The county data count 156,674 Pinellas units in 5+ unit buildings, against 145,081 in Hillsborough, even though Pinellas has about 559,000 fewer residents. Pinellas also has 36,507 units in 20–49 unit buildings, and 57,369 in complexes of 50 or more. Pasco has just 25,475 units in 5+ unit buildings, 9.4% of its stock, so its rental market leans on single-family homes and newer complexes rather than small apartment buildings.

Age differs sharply by county. Per ACS table B25034, 58.8% of Pinellas County's units were built before 1980 and only 5.8% since 2010; in St. Petersburg, 70.1% predate 1980. Pasco is the newest, with 5.4% of its units built in 2020 or later. Metro-wide, 39.0% of units date from before 1980. Older Pinellas buildings face higher insurance and capital costs, and buyers look closely at roofs, electrical systems and flood exposure.

New supply

Yardi Matrix reported 3,128 metro units delivered in the first five months of 2026, equal to 1.1% of existing stock and 40 basis points above the national pace, with 16,146 more under construction. Average occupancy fell to 93.3% in April, 140 basis points lower than a year earlier and below the 94.1% national figure. Investment activity was light, at $386 million in the first five months.

The Live Local Act may add more income-restricted units. Section 196.1978 exempts qualifying set-aside units in new projects with more than 70 affordable units from property tax, fully at or below 80% of area median income and 75% at 80–120%, with rents capped at the lower of the program chart or 90% of market.

Property taxes across the three counties

Each county property appraiser values parcels at just value as of January 1. Apartment buildings of 10+ units fall under s. 193.1555, which caps annual assessed-value growth at 10% for non-school levies; 2–9 unit buildings get the same cap under s. 193.1554. Both caps reset on a sale or a 50%+ change in ownership of the owning entity.

Millage depends on the county and city. Hillsborough's final 2025 millage was 19.8428 inside Tampa, 19.5319 in Temple Terrace and 18.2515 in unincorporated areas. The Pinellas County Tax Collector lists Clearwater at 19.3522, including 6.2930 school mills. Valuation appeals go to each county's Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of the TRIM notice under s. 194.011. On a sale, documentary stamp tax is 70 cents per $100 under s. 201.02.

Landlord rules

No Tampa Bay city or county can cap rents. Section 125.0103 and s. 166.043 preempt local rent control, and s. 83.425 preempts local regulation of residential tenancies. The state rules apply everywhere: deposits are uncapped but must be returned within 15 days or claimed in writing within 30 days under s. 83.49; nonpayment notices allow three days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, under s. 83.56; and month-to-month tenancies end on 30 days' notice under s. 83.57.

What this means if you own a building here

Where your building sits in the region changes the sale. A 1970s Pinellas property will be priced around insurance, roof age and capital needs. A newer Pasco or suburban Hillsborough property competes more directly with lease-ups. In every county, the buyer resets the tax base to the purchase price, which lowers the net operating income they underwrite.

Use our cap rate calculator to see how those changes move value. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings across Tampa Bay, listed or off-market; our seller page explains how we underwrite.

Closing costs are predictable. Documentary stamp tax at 70 cents per $100 works out to $21,000 on a $3 million sale, and Tampa Bay counties add no local surtax; that applies only in Miami-Dade under s. 201.031. If you plan to buy again, our 1031 exchange calculator helps you plan the replacement timeline. Before you list, pull your latest TRIM notice, a current rent roll with deposit balances, and wind-mitigation and roof reports, since insurance is one of the first lines a buyer will rebuild.