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Community Portrait
Tampa & Hillsborough County
More than just gathering data, we're trying to capture elements that make each community distinctive.
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›Who Lives Here (see below)
›Economic Life
›Quality of Life
›Barometers
›Why I Live Here
›Must-Know Contacts
 Panaoramic view of downtown Tampa at sunset [Photo: Tim Healy] |
Who Lives Here?
» The Count
Hillsborough County: 1.17 million
(6% of state’s population)
Incorporated areas: Tampa: 332,888,
Plant City, 32,328, Temple Terrace, 22,461
» Growth
Between 2000-06, the county’s population grew faster than Florida’s population overall (16% vs. 13.2%). The city of Tampa’s population during that period grew by around 10%. Leading sources of residents who move to the area: Nearby Florida counties, New York and New Jersey.
» Ethnicity
| White | Black | Hispanic/Latino | |
| County | 78.4% | 16.5% | 22.1% |
| Tampa | 64.2 | 26.1 | 19.3 |
| State | 80.2 | 15.8 | 20.2 |
» Young at Heart
| Median Age | % over 65 | |
| County and city | 35.5 | 12% |
| State | 39.6 | 17% |
Nearly a third of the county’s households have children under 18, although school enrollments shrank by more than 2,200 students from 2007 to 2008. Families encompass 57.1% of the population.
» Born Again
The most recent surveys, which date to 2000, reflect a strong evangelical bent in the county’s religious makeup.
Catholic: 166,122
Evangelical Protestant: 159,428
Mainline Protestant: 61,603
Jewish: 20,000
Orthodox: 1,029
Other: 29,243
Unclaimed: 581,523
» Consumer Behavior
• The Tampa Bay region includes the heaviest smokers in Florida.
• Sales of denture products are 85% above average.
• Wine buyers here prefer wine under $10.
• Consumers here are 30% more likely than those elsewhere in the state or nation to own a large domestic car.
» Declaring Independence
A bellwether county, Hillsborough has shifted from a heavily Democratic to a highly competitive county with a higher-than-average proportion of independent voters. It has almost equal proportions of young, middle-aged, and older voters.
2008 Presidential Election
Obama: 53.06% (51% statewide)
McCain: 45.93% (48% statewide)
» Home Fronts
• Davis Island — Historic, 1920s-vintage neighborhood near downtown where many of the city’s wealthy live. It’s home to the Davis Island Yacht Club and Tampa General Hospital.
• Hyde Park — This historic district near the University of Tampa is one of the city’s original neighborhoods, located across the Hillsborough River and west of downtown. Hyde Park Village is an open-air, trendy shopping district.
• South Tampa — Old-charm neighborhood south of the downtown area.
• Carrollwood — One of the first major suburban developments in northern Tampa.
• Brandon/Valrico — Fast-growing sprawl.
• Avila — Gated suburban haven for execs and big-money NFL players.
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» Immigration Factor
About one in six residents of the county was foreign-born as of midyear 2007 — an increase of 57.4% from the 2000 Census. Most foreign-born residents come from Cuba (25%) and Mexico (11%). One in five residents of the county speaks a language other than English at home — slightly less than the state average of 23%.
