Tampa Bay’s 2026 report card highlights strong jobs, dangerous streets, cost of living crisis

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Bay’s report card is in, and the region’s workforce pipeline remains strong. But even after a year of progress, affording to live in the region remains a challenge.

What we know:

The Tampa Bay Partnership takes a snapshot of the region’s progress every year, and it recently released its 2026 State of the Region report. It found affordability is a mixed bag, making strides in some areas but not others. 

"We also saw an improvement in the share of income spent on housing and transportation. Last year, that was 55 cents of every dollar earned, and that's down to 53 cents of every dollar," said Sarah Burgoyne, senior director of research and public policy with the Tampa Bay Partnership. "We just want to highlight that's because incomes increased, not because people are spending less on housing or transportation."

Why you should care:

The report also found the number of families that fell into the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) category went up to 46.3%. The ALICE threshold is where people are working but still don’t earn enough to make ends meet with groceries, childcare, gas and other expenses. 

READ: Affordable housing community opens in Tampa's West River neighborhood

United Way Suncoast said those residents are essential workers like teachers, cashiers and more.

"We know that one in seven registered nurses are below the ALICE threshold. So, if you have an older adult that's in assisted care, and you want the nurse to provide their best possible care for your parents, they need to be above the ALICE threshold. So, they're not worrying about how to pay rent when they should be talking about how to care for your loved ones and your families," said Doug Griesenauer, the vice president of community impact at United Way Suncoast.

United Way Suncoast said they are finding creative ways to help, including reminding people that filing your taxes properly can save money and having an affordable bank account that will work for you to save more money.

The Tampa Bay Partnership also said households in poverty dropped slightly, and there’s more momentum to keep up.

Big picture view:

The regional report found infrastructure in Tampa Bay remains a challenge, with progress being mixed. While public transit showed modest improvement, pedestrian and cyclist safety got worse in the last year.

"We did unfortunately see an increase in the number of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities year over year," said Burgoyne. "That's now up to over five fatalities per 100,000 residents in the Tampa Bay region."

One of those problem areas for crashes in St. Petersburg is Fourth Street North. The Florida Department of Transportation completed a project there in 2024 to add pedestrian crosswalks, signals, medians and other improvements to make it safer.

"On our high-speed multi-lane arterial roads, we have a lot of like apartments and then a grocery store. And so, people on the apartment side want to get to the grocery store if there's not a traffic signal, they're kind of playing Frogger to get across the street," said Kyle Simpson, the active transportation planner at Forward Pinellas.

Dig deeper:

Simpson said since FDOT’s project wrapped up, they’ve noticed fewer crashes in the past year. But, Forward Pinellas said there’s still more work to do to move toward zero crashes or deaths.

READ: Pinellas County organization receives funding to identify most dangerous roads

"We all are just trying to go about our day, get to school, get to work, go to entertainment, and no one should die doing that," said Simpson. "We have over 100 people a year on average die in Pinellas County, just moving around. That's not acceptable, and so we're trying to reverse that trend and bring it down."

Tampa Bay Partnership is pushing for a regional transportation planning agency to form to bring goals together.

Forward Pinellas said they are looking for feedback right now from the public on their Safe Streets Pinellas plan.