City comparison · 338 km apart

St. Petersburg vs Tallahassee: which should you move to?

St. Petersburg or Tallahassee? Housing, rent, crime, climate, income, taxes and transit, side by side, from each city's own published figures. Written for someone deciding where to live, not for a ranking.

The St. Petersburg skyline at sunrise
Florida · United States

St. Petersburg

Photograph: The St. Petersburg skyline at sunrise · Andrew Heneen · CC BY 4.0 · source
The Historic Capitol and the Capitol tower
Florida · United States

Tallahassee

Photograph: The Historic Capitol and the Capitol tower · Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The short answer

Both cities are in Florida and price in US dollars, so neither takes income tax, a single filer on $100,000 pays the same $13,449 in federal tax in each, and the homestead rules are the same. Mortgage, property tax and insurance come to about $2,742 a month on St. Petersburg's typical home at August's 6.67% and about $2,733 on the Tallahassee metro's single-family median at October's 7.28%, a near tie that hides two gaps: at the same rate St. Petersburg's would be about $2,858, and its households earn $73,048 against Tallahassee's $56,511, the lowest of the Florida cities here, so the carry is roughly 45% of local median income against 58%. On the same Zillow index St. Petersburg's typical home was $355,759 and Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444, about 17% lower, and Tallahassee insures for $220 a month against $390. The millages are within a mill, 19.9197 and 19.2060. Crime favors St. Petersburg on figures built the same way, the FBI's 2025 counts: 502 violent offenses per 100,000 against 635, and 9 homicides against 20. The storms differ in kind: Helene's surge reached St. Petersburg's living rooms, and Tallahassee's storms arrive as wind, falling trees and power cuts. St. Petersburg's January is 10.0 F warmer, and both cities grew slowly from 2020 to 2025. Choose St. Petersburg for a waterfront downtown, a mild winter, the SunRunner, a lower uninsured rate and pay that carries a house, if you will buy on elevation. Choose Tallahassee for the cheaper house on Zillow's index, the cheapest insurance and rent of the Florida cities here, inland ground, a 19-minute commute and three colleges, if you can take freezing nights, higher crime and a fire fee on the utility bill no one could price.

Population
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
City population264,033 (2025)204,902 (2025)Not directly comparable
Metro population3,418,895 (2025)397,442 (2025)Not directly comparable
Five-year growth
Growth is pressure on rents and roads as much as it is opportunity, so it is reported without a winner.
2.2% (2020-2025)4.4% (2020-2025)Not directly comparable
01: Housing

What a home costs in each

The figures the two cities' rent-versus-buy and mortgage calculators run on, read from the same tables.

Housing costs
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
Benchmark home price
MLS® HPI or equivalent benchmark. Lower is treated as the advantage, which is the buyer's view rather than the owner's.
$355,759 (June 2026)$364,950 (June 2026)St. Petersburg
Detached house benchmark
St. Petersburg and Tallahassee publish a single house index rather than a composite, so the two rows repeat.
$355,759$364,950St. Petersburg
Apartment or condominium benchmarkNot published$179,610Not directly comparable
Two-bedroom rent$2,058/mo (median, June 2026)$1,309/mo (median, September 2026)Tallahassee
One-bedroom rent$1,770/mo$1,100/moTallahassee
Two-bedroom rent against median income
A year of two-bedroom rent as a share of the median household income below. A household paying the median rent out of the median income is a fiction, but it is the same fiction in both columns and it crosses currencies.
33.8% of a year's income27.8% of a year's incomeTallahassee
Mortgage payment on the benchmark, 20% down
30-year amortization on American monthly compounding, the convention in both.
$1,831/mo at 6.67%$1,998/mo at 7.28%St. Petersburg
Price to household income
Benchmark price divided by the median household income below. A ratio is comparable across currencies; the dollars are not.
4.9×6.5×St. Petersburg
Property tax on the benchmark home
The effective rate on market value, which is what the two rates have in common and what the Advantage column is decided on; the bills are in each city's own dollars.
$6,248/yr (1.756%, 2025)$6,182/yr (1.694%, 2025)Tallahassee
Transfer tax on the benchmark home
Compared as a share of the price. Where the seller pays it, it is a cost of leaving rather than arriving.
$2,490 (seller pays)$2,555 (seller pays)Even
Rent control
A cap protects a sitting tenant and does nothing for the next lease, so neither column is simply better.
Forbidden by state lawForbidden by state lawNot directly comparable

St. Petersburg: About 1.76% of what you pay for the house, which is lower than the 19.9197 mills St. Petersburg is charged, and the difference is Florida's homestead exemption rather than any assessment lag. The state assesses at full market value and a purchase resets the assessment to the price. What there is instead is an exemption: $25,000 of taxable value comes off for every taxing authority and a second slice comes off for all of them except the Pinellas County school board, which levies 6.2930 of the 19.9197. That second slice was $25,000 through the 2024 tax roll and has been adjusted for inflation every 1 January since, under the 2024 amendment to Article VII section 6 of the state constitution, so it is now somewhat more than $25,000. The figures here use the base amount, because the Department of Revenue sends the adjusted figure to the county property appraisers rather than publishing it. The difference is worth a few dollars a year on a bill, and the county property appraiser can tell you the amount in force. A homesteaded buyer's first-year bill is therefore about $6,248 on the $355,759 typical home value here. That 19.9197 is the figure Pinellas County publishes for this taxing district rather than a total assembled here, and St. Petersburg's own council sets 6.4525 of it. The exemption is not automatic: you file for it with the county property appraiser by 1 March of the year after you buy. The seller's tax bill is not a guide to yours. Save Our Homes caps a homesteaded property's assessed value at 3% growth a year, and that cap resets to full market value the January after the sale, so a long-tenured owner can be taxed on a fraction of what you will be taxed on for the same house. Ask the property appraiser what the assessment would be at your purchase price, not what the current bill is. Tallahassee: About 1.69% of the price for a homesteaded owner, worked out on the $364,950 single-family median for the four-county Tallahassee metro, which is lower than the 19.2060 mills a house in the City of Tallahassee is charged because of Florida's homestead exemption rather than any assessment lag. Nine levies make it, one of them at zero: Leon County 8.3144; the County's Emergency Medical Services levy 0.7500; the Children's Services Council of Leon County 0.3477; the County's voted debt 0.0000; the School Board 5.3660 (3.1180 required by the state, 0.7480 discretionary and 1.5000 for capital outlay); the Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0207; and the City 4.4072, for 2025. Outside the city the same stack without the City's line is 14.7988, and inside the Downtown Improvement Authority's district it is 20.2060. The School Board's lines are charged on the price less $25,000, $339,950, and the rest on the price less a second slice as well, $314,950 on the base amounts, so a homesteaded buyer's first bill is about $6,183. Without a homestead, as a landlord or a buyer who never files, the same house owes $7,009. That second slice is indexed to inflation: the Department of Revenue published $25,722 for 2025, which brings the same bill to $6,173; this page uses the $25,000 base, like every Florida page on this site. For 2026 the County adopted 8.3144 and the EMS levy 0.7500 again, the City's 4.4072 and the School Board's 5.3430 were tentative when read, and the other two were not read, so no 2026 total is given. The exemption is not automatic: you file with the Leon County Property Appraiser by 1 March. There is no fire, stormwater or garbage line on a City tax bill: the City charges stormwater at $11.00 and garbage at $28.19 a month on the utility bill, $470 a year together, with a fire services fee beside them whose amount this site could not read. The seller's tax bill is not a guide to yours. Save Our Homes caps a homesteaded property's assessed value at 3% growth a year, and that cap resets to full market value the January after the sale, so a long-tenured owner can be taxed on a fraction of what you will be taxed on for the same house. Ask the property appraiser what the assessment would be at your purchase price, not what the current bill is.

02: Crime and safety

How safe each city is, by the numbers it publishes

Police-reported figures for the most recent year each force or statistics agency has released. Rates describe a whole city or metro area, and the spread between neighbourhoods inside one city is usually wider than the gap between the two cities.

Crime
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
Crime Severity Index
Statistics Canada's weighted index for the metropolitan area, where 100 is Canada in 2006. American cities have no equivalent series.
Not publishedNot publishedNot directly comparable
Violent crime per 100,000502 (2025)635 (2025)St. Petersburg
Property crime per 100,0002,059 (2025)2,405 (2025)St. Petersburg
Homicides
Counts, not rates, and a single year in a small city moves a long way on chance alone. What each figure covers is under the table.
9 (2025)20 (2025)Not directly comparable
St. Petersburg

Down, and clearly so in 2025. On the FBI CDE's annual totals violent offenses were 1,622 in 2022, 1,519 in 2023, 1,642 in 2024 and 1,325 in 2025, about 618, 573, 618 and 502 per 100,000 on each year's Vintage 2025 population, so 2025 was 19% below 2024 after three flat years. Property offenses fell from 7,052 in 2023 to 6,528 in 2024 and 5,437 in 2025, down 17% in the last year, with motor vehicle theft more than halved from 917 in 2023 to 407. The department's own figures agree in direction and nearly in count: it reported overall crime down 16% in 2025, 175 robberies against a five-year average of 224, and 406 auto thefts against an average of 735 (Patch). The CDE counts were read on 1 October 2026 from a feed last refreshed on 15 September and can still be revised.

What the rates cover: Computed: 1,325 violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in the FBI Crime Data Explorer's summarized data for the St. Petersburg Police Department (ORI FL0521400) in calendar 2025, divided by the 264,033 Vintage 2025 city population. On the CDE's own agency population of 269,098 the rate is 492. That is close to Boston's 507 and Jacksonville's 514, above Tampa's 375.5 (on the Tampa Police Department's own counts) and Miami's 359, and almost four times Port St. Lucie's 130. The department reports to the CDE as annual totals rather than month by month, and the CDE carries a full year for each of 2022 to 2025 and nothing for 2021.

Homicides: 9 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in 2025 in the FBI CDE, about 3.4 per 100,000 on the city population, against Tampa's 17 (4.1), Orlando's 10 (3.0) and Port St. Lucie's 4 (1.5). The department's own count, announced in January 2026, is 10 homicides, which it called the fewest since 1967, when the city had six, and 44% fewer than the 18 of 2024 (Patch, reporting the St. Petersburg Police Department). The CDE series is 16 in 2022, 13 in 2023, 18 in 2024 and 9 in 2025.

Tallahassee

Down from a 2023 peak, though the rate is still high. On the FBI CDE's figures violent offenses were 1,587 in 2022, 1,732 in 2023, 1,383 in 2024 and 1,302 in 2025, about 785, 852, 678 and 635 per 100,000 on each year's Vintage 2025 population, so 2025 was 25% below 2023. Property offenses peaked later, at 5,804 in 2024, and fell 15% to 4,927 in 2025. FDLE's incident-based file shows the same direction, 1,806 violent offenses in 2023, 1,441 in 2024 and 1,363 in 2025, and for 2026 so far: January to August brought 783 violent offenses against 893 in the same months of 2025, down 12%, and 2,985 property offenses against 3,450, down 13%. The CDE has January to July 2026, 737 violent offenses against 769, down 4%. Tallahassee Reports, tabulating the police department's daily incident data, found total incidents down 22.6% in 2025, property crime down 28.3% and violent crime down 8.9%, but assaults in September to December up 55.8% on the same months of 2024, 299 against 192. The CDE counts were read on 2 October 2026 from a feed last refreshed on 15 September and can still be revised.

What the rates cover: Computed: 1,302 violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in the FBI Crime Data Explorer's summarized data for the Tallahassee Police Department (ORI FL0370300) in calendar 2025, divided by the 204,902 Vintage 2025 city population; on the CDE's own agency population of 206,918 the rate is 629. The rate is high, for Florida and for the country. It is the highest 2025 rate of the Florida cities this site compares, above Jacksonville's 514, St. Petersburg's 502, Tampa's 375.5 and Miami's 359 and about five times Port St. Lucie's 130; only Orlando's 835.8, which is for 2022, the last full year the FBI has for that city, is higher. The CDE's rate for all reporting Florida agencies in 2025 is 248 per 100,000 and for the nation 329, so Tallahassee's is about two and a half times the state's and nearly twice the national. On the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's incident-based (FIBRS) file, which counts somewhat more (its forcible sex offenses include fondling), the department recorded 1,363 violent offenses in 2025, 663 per 100,000 on FDLE's population, the second-highest of the 46 Florida agencies serving 100,000 or more people, behind the Fort Lauderdale Police Department (675) and ahead of Gainesville's (635), another college town; a few large agencies' 2025 rows in that file, Orlando's among them, are plainly incomplete. The Leon County Sheriff's Office, which polices the unincorporated county, recorded 500 per 100,000.

Homicides: 20 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in 2025 in the FBI CDE, about 9.8 per 100,000 on the city population, against the CDE's 3.0 for Florida and 4.3 for the nation, and against St. Petersburg's 9 (3.4 per 100,000) and Tampa's 17 (4.1), in a city half Tampa's size; Jacksonville had 80. FDLE's file has 21. The CDE series is 15 in 2022, 21 in 2023, 16 in 2024 and 20 in 2025. Tallahassee Reports, tabulating the police department's daily incident data, counted 18 fatal shootings in 2025 against 26 in 2024. FDLE's file has 7 homicides in January to August 2026, against 17 in the same months of 2025.

03: Climate

Winters, summers and what the weather can do to a house

Climate normals
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
January mean16.8 °C11.2 °CNot directly comparable
July mean28.8 °C28.1 °CNot directly comparable
Precipitation a year1,185 mm1,494 mmNot directly comparable
Snowfall a year0 cm0 cmNot directly comparable
Sunshine a yearNot publishedNot publishedNot directly comparable
St. Petersburg

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for St. Petersburg Albert Whitted Airport (station USW00092806), the downtown waterfront airport about a mile east of the city's center, which is the station the brief names and has full temperature and precipitation normals: January mean 62.2F, July mean 83.8F, annual mean 74.7F, 46.65 in of precipitation. The airport's normals carry no snowfall, so the 0.0 in of snow stored here is the normal at the St. Petersburg cooperative station (USC00087886), at the same coordinates in NCEI's listing. August is the warmest month by two tenths of a degree at 84.0F, with a mean high of 89.8F; January's mean low is 55.3F. August (8.39 in) and July (7.49 in) are the wettest months, and June through September bring 29.33 in, 63% of the year; November (1.46 in) is the driest. The normals count 70.9 days a year at 90F or above, none at 100F and 0.1 nights at or below freezing. Converted here to 16.8 C, 28.8 C, 1,185 mm and 0 cm. The other stations bracket it: the cooperative station averages 62.1F in January and 83.9F in July with 52.48 in a year, and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (USW00012873), about 10 miles north and away from the bay, 61.6F and 83.1F with 53.62 in and 94.1 days at 90F. St. Petersburg's year is almost Tampa's (Tampa International's 62.0F and 83.8F); its January is level with Port St. Lucie's (62.3F), warmer than Orlando's (60.6F) and six degrees colder than Miami's (68.6F). Sunshine is not stored: Current Results' US city table, the source and 1961-1990 basis of the other US profiles' sunshine hours, lists Tampa (2,927 hours, at Tampa International) and no St. Petersburg station, and the 1991-2020 normals do not include sunshine; the city's nickname, the Sunshine City, rests on a Guinness record of 768 consecutive sunny days from 1967 to 1969 (Wikipedia), not on a measured annual total.

Hazards: Storm surge is the defining hazard, and 2024 showed how much of the city sits low. Hurricane Helene passed offshore on 26 September 2024 on its way to a Big Bend landfall, and the National Ocean Service tide gauge at St. Petersburg, the longest record in Tampa Bay, dating to 1947, measured 6.31 ft above mean higher high water, far above its previous record of 3.97 ft in Hurricane Elena in 1985 (National Hurricane Center). Twelve people drowned in the surge in Pinellas County, two of them in St. Petersburg and nine on the barrier islands from St. Pete Beach to Indian Rocks Beach, and Helene destroyed at least 419 homes in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and did major damage to at least 18,512 structures (NHC). Albert Whitted recorded a gust of 82 mph that day. Two weeks later, on 9 October, Hurricane Milton came ashore at Siesta Key, about 35 miles south, as a Category 3; its track spared the bay a surge but not the rain or the wind. Albert Whitted measured 18.54 in (471 mm) on 9 October, the wettest day in its record since 2010, and the NHC gives the airport 18.88 in for the storm and a gust of 88 kt (101 mph); a volunteer gauge near the city recorded 20.40 in, the highest storm total anywhere in Milton's path. Milton tore most of the fabric roof off Tropicana Field (NHC) and toppled a construction crane onto a downtown office building that housed the Tampa Bay Times (Bay News 9). The Rays played the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and returned on 6 April 2026 after repairs (Wikipedia). Wikipedia notes that neither storm made landfall in the city and that the last hurricane to strike it directly was in 1921. Heat is long rather than extreme: 70.9 days a year at 90F or above on the normals and none at 100F (37.8 C); Albert Whitted recorded 128 such days in 2024, the most in its record since 2010, and 94 in 2026 through 28 September. Frost is almost unknown on the waterfront: one night at 32F (0 C), on 18 January 2018, since 2010, and a lowest reading of 36F in 2026 on 1 February.

Tallahassee

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for Tallahassee Regional Airport (station USW00093805), the city's airport about 6 miles southwest of the city's center point, which is the National Weather Service's station for the city and has full temperature and precipitation normals: January mean 52.2F, July mean 82.5F, annual mean 68.4F, 58.81 in of precipitation. The airport station's normals carry no snowfall, so the 0.0 in of snow stored here is the normal at Tallahassee AP (USC00088756), the cooperative station at the same airport. July is the warmest month by a tenth of a degree, ahead of August's 82.4F, with a mean high of 92.1F; January's mean low is 40.5F. June (7.76 in), August (7.60 in) and July (7.14 in) are the wettest months, and June through September bring 27.41 in, 47% of the year, so the rain is spread more evenly than in peninsular Florida; November (3.10 in) is the driest. The normals count 102.6 days a year at 90F or above, 2.9 at 100F or above, 27.0 nights at or below freezing and 1.4 at or below 20F. Converted here to 11.2 C, 28.1 C, 1,494 mm and 0 cm. The cooperative station's own temperatures run a little cooler in winter: 51.0F in January, 82.9F in July, 59.82 in a year and 128.3 days at 90F. Tallahassee has the coldest winter of the Florida cities this site compares, a degree below Jacksonville's 12.3 C and five and a half below St. Petersburg's 16.8 C, and its summer is as hot as any: its 102.6 days at 90F are fewer than Cape Coral's 120.3, but it averages 2.9 days at 100F, where Jacksonville averages under one, Hialeah 0.2 and St. Petersburg, Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral none. Its rain is third, after Hialeah's 1,852 mm and Miami's 1,712 mm. Sunshine is not stored: Current Results' US city table, the source and 1961-1990 basis of the other US profiles' sunshine hours, lists no Tallahassee station, and the 1991-2020 normals do not include sunshine.

Hazards: Wind, falling trees and the power cuts that follow them, more than water. Tallahassee is inland, which is why its airport serves as a staging area for hurricane relief (Wikipedia), so storm surge is not its hazard, but it is a city of big trees, and every recent storm has been measured in power outages. Hurricane Hermine struck directly in September 2016 and left about 80% of the city without power, including Florida State University; Hurricane Michael passed about 50 miles to the west in October 2018 after coming ashore as a category 5 and left 95% of Leon County without power (Wikipedia). The airport's highest gust since 2010 is 70.9 mph, on 10 October 2018 during Michael, followed by 67.1 mph on 26 September 2024, the day the airport closed for Hurricane Helene, which came ashore that night near Perry, to the southeast, the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Big Bend (Wikipedia), and 66 mph on 10 May 2024, the day two EF2 tornadoes crossed the city, one of them through downtown at 1,400 yards wide (Wikipedia). Heat is the everyday hazard: 102.6 days a year at 90F or above on the normals and 2.9 at 100F (37.8 C), a temperature the St. Petersburg, Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral normals never reach. The airport reached 105F on 15 June 2011, its highest reading since 2010 and Wikipedia's record for the city, and 104F on 24 June 2022; it counted 108 days at 90F in 2025 and 114 in 2026 through 29 September, three of them at 100F or above. Unlike the peninsula's cities it freezes: 27 nights a year on the normals, 27 in 2025 and 21 so far in 2026, with a low of 14F on 11 January 2010 and 18F on 2 February 2026. Snow is rare but not unknown: the airport measured 1.5 inches on 21 January 2025 and 0.4 more the next day, the city's largest snowfall since 1958 on Wikipedia's list of its measurable snows. Low-lying streets near downtown, notably along Franklin Boulevard, flood in very heavy rain (Wikipedia).

04: Income, jobs and taxes

What people earn and what the government takes

Income and taxes
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
Median household income$73,048 USD (2024)$56,511 USD (2024)St. Petersburg
Unemployment rate4.8% (July 2026)5.1% (July 2026)St. Petersburg
Sales tax7%7.5%St. Petersburg
Top marginal income tax
Federal plus provincial or state. The American figure leaves out payroll taxes and the cost of health insurance, both of which a Canadian household covers through the tax it pays here.
37%37%Even
Income tax on $100,000, single filer
St. Petersburg and Tallahassee sit under one province's or state's income tax, so the two cells describe the same tax and any difference between them is one of method rather than of tax. Florida levies no income tax, so both cells are the federal bill on $100,000 and they agree to the dollar. The Advantage column is Even for that reason, and the essay below says the same thing.
$13,449 USD$13,449 USDEven
St. Petersburg

BLS counted 1,559,600 nonfarm jobs in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA in August 2026 (not seasonally adjusted, preliminary), up 14,200 or 0.9% on the year. Private education and health services added the most (+9,700, or 3.8%, to 264,400), then professional and business services (+6,000, or 2.1%, to 288,800) and construction (+1,600, to 99,600), while information lost 1,700 (-5.6%, to 28,600) and federal employment 1,000 (to 30,900). The city's own employment picture is a headquarters town's: the ten principal private employers in its 2025 financial report, led by Raymond James (4,800), Johns Hopkins All Children's (2,800), Power Design and Jabil (1,700 each), employ 17,837, or 12.5% of the 147,705 people working in the city, against 20,300 for the 2016 list, which then included HSN, FIS and Bayfront Medical. Much of the commercial activity is in the Gateway area in the city's north, which it shares with Pinellas Park (Wikipedia). Unlike Port St. Lucie, most residents work in their own county: 14% of the city's workers (20,739 of 144,736) worked outside Pinellas County in 2024, 21.3% worked from home, and the mean commute for the rest was 25 minutes, with 5% spending an hour or more (ACS 2024 1-year, B08007, B08013, B08301 and B08303).

Main sectors: Finance and insurance: Raymond James, headquartered in the city and its largest private employer with 4,800 staff, Franklin Templeton (1,200) and the credit union service organization PSCU (800), in a metro with 142,400 financial activities jobs in August 2026, Health care: Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (2,800 staff), BayCare's St. Anthony's Hospital (1,437), HCA (1,350) and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, in a metro sector (private education and health services, 264,400 jobs) that added 9,700 jobs over the year, Manufacturing and engineering: Jabil, the electronics manufacturer headquartered in the city (1,700), Catalent Pharma Solutions (800) and Power Design, an electrical contractor (1,700), Utilities: Duke Energy Florida, headquartered in the city (1,250 staff), Tourism, arts and sports: the Dali Museum, the Pier, seven miles of public waterfront parks, the Rays at Tropicana Field and the IndyCar Grand Prix on downtown streets (leisure and hospitality, 167,300 metro jobs).

Property tax is the local levy that matters. Tax Foundation puts Florida's effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes at 0.78%, and a homestead exemption takes as much as $50,000 off a permanent residence's taxable value, with the Save Our Homes limit on how fast its assessment can rise (Florida Department of Revenue). A St. Petersburg home paid 19.9197 mills for 2025 on the Pinellas County Tax Collector's published total, of which the city's own rate is 6.4525; a little above Tampa's 19.8428 in the same layer. On 17 September 2026 the City Council voted 6 to 2 to keep the city rate at 6.4525 mills for fiscal 2027, the rate it has levied since fiscal 2025, which is above the 6.3854-mill rolled-back rate and so needed a two-thirds vote; rising taxable values, about $39.3 billion, bring the city about $14.8 million more (St Pete Catalyst). Zillow's typical home value for the city was $355,759 in June 2026, down 3.9% on the year, and its typical rent $2,058; the bills, insurance and flood exposure that follow from them belong to the housing layer.

Tallahassee

BLS counted 200,500 nonfarm jobs in the Tallahassee MSA in August 2026 (not seasonally adjusted, preliminary), up 2,500 or 1.3% on the year. Professional and business services (+1,600, or 5.4%, to 31,100) and leisure and hospitality (+1,100, or 5.7%, to 20,300) added the most, and private education and health services 400 (to 27,600), while government lost 400 (-0.7%, to 60,500): local government 300, to 14,600, and federal government 200, to 2,000, with state government up 100, to 43,900. Government is 30.2% of all jobs in the metro, and it sets the rhythm of the year: state government jobs dropped from 47,300 in April 2026 to 43,300 in July as the universities' terms ended, and it averaged 46,200 of 202,000 jobs in 2025 (22.9%). The City's 2025 financial report lists eleven principal employers for the city, led by the State (26,831), FSU (16,207), Tallahassee Memorial (5,696), the school board (4,300) and the City (4,000), which together employ 67,609; the report's earlier lists counted Leon County rather than the city, so they are not compared here. Most residents work in the city: 88.1% of the city's 103,272 workers worked inside it in 2024 and only 6.1% outside Leon County, against 54% outside the city for Cape Coral. 11.4% worked from home, and the mean commute for the rest was 19 minutes, six shorter than St. Petersburg's and 13 shorter than Cape Coral's, with 1.9% spending an hour or more (ACS 2024 1-year, B08007, B08008, B08013, B08301 and B08303).

Main sectors: State government: the State of Florida employs 26,831 people in the city, the largest employer by far (City of Tallahassee), and state government, which in BLS's count includes the state universities, held 43,900 of the metro's 200,500 nonfarm jobs in August 2026, 21.9%, and 47,300 (23.0%) in April with classes in session, Higher education: Florida State University (16,207 employees in 2025-26, 7,723 of them full- or part-time faculty and staff and the rest graduate assistants, student assistants and temporary workers), Florida A&M University (1,794) and Tallahassee State College (1,468), with 65,657 students between them in fall 2024, Health care: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, the region's nonprofit hospital system, is the third-largest employer (5,696), in a metro sector (private education and health services) of 27,600 jobs, Local government and schools: the Leon County School Board (4,300), the City of Tallahassee (4,000), which also runs the electric, gas and water utilities and the airport, and Leon County (1,957), in a local government sector of 14,600, Professional and business services, the law firms, lobbyists and associations that cluster around the Capitol (Wikipedia), with 31,100 metro jobs, up 1,600 or 5.4% on the year, the most of any sector; and retail and warehousing, with Amazon (2,256), Walmart (1,700) and Publix (1,400) among the city's eleven largest employers.

Property tax is the local levy that matters. Tax Foundation puts Florida's effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes at 0.78%, and a homestead exemption takes as much as $50,000 off a permanent residence's taxable value and qualifies it for the Save Our Homes limit on how fast its assessment can rise (Florida Department of Revenue). A house in the City of Tallahassee (Leon County tax authority code 1) pays 19.2060 mills for 2025, the rates the Leon County Property Appraiser certified to the Department of Revenue: Leon County 8.3144, the county's EMS levy 0.7500, the Children's Services Council of Leon 0.3477, the school board 5.3660 (3.1180 required local effort, 0.7480 discretionary and 1.5000 capital outlay), the Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0207 and the City 4.4072. The City lowered its rate from the 4.4200 it levied for 2024 and proposed again, but 4.4072 is still 4.7% above the rolled-back rate of 4.2080, and with taxable values up the City's levy rose 9.0% to $81.8 million; the County has held 8.3144 since 2012 (Leon County Property Appraiser). The 2024 total was 19.2379. Downtown Improvement Authority parcels pay one mill more (20.2060), and unincorporated Leon County, which has no city levy, pays 14.7988. That puts the city near Miami's 19.9878, Tampa's 19.8428 and St. Petersburg's 19.9197, a little above Hialeah's 18.6468 and above Cape Coral's 15.3806, as those cities' housing layers carry them. The school board voted in May 2026 to ask the county to put an additional operating mill for 2027 to 2031 on the November ballot to raise teacher pay (WCTV); whether the commission did was not confirmed. Zillow's typical home value for the city was $294,444 in August 2026, up 1.4% on the year and one of only two rises among the nine Florida cities this site compares (Miami's is the other), and its observed rent index $1,470 a month, up 1.5%, the lowest of the nine; only Jacksonville's typical home value ($285,103) is lower. The bills, exemptions, insurance and fees that follow from these figures belong to the housing layer.

05: Getting around

Whether you need a car

Transit
MeasureSt. PetersburgTallahasseeAdvantage
SystemPinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), the countywide agency formed in 1984 from the St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System and the Central Pinellas Transit Authority: more than 34 bus routes including two express routes to Tampa, the Central Avenue and Suncoast Beach trolleys, and the SunRunner, Tampa Bay's first bus rapid transit line, which opened on 21 October 2022 from downtown St. Petersburg along First Avenues North and South to St. Pete Beach every 15 minutes (Wikipedia). The Cross-Bay Ferry between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa ran seasonally for eight seasons until its operator's contract ended after 2025, and PSTA bought two vessels in June 2026 to restart it (Wikipedia). There is no passenger rail: CSX's freight branch ends at a small yard northwest of downtown, the line into downtown having been abandoned in 2008.StarMetro, the City of Tallahassee's bus system, founded as TalTran in 1973 when the City bought the private bus company, and renamed in 2005 (Wikipedia). It runs 14 weekday fixed routes, two call-ahead FLEX zones and a peak-hour express, with fewer routes on Saturdays and a separate four-route network on Sundays and weekday evenings, nearly all of them meeting downtown at C.K. Steele Plaza, and Dial-A-Ride for riders with disabilities. It also runs Florida State University's campus routes under a contract with the university, free to the public and operated with battery-electric buses, and K-12 students ride free (Wikipedia). There is no rail transit or bus rapid transit, and no intercity passenger rail since Amtrak's Sunset Limited stopped east of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Greyhound, Megabus and RedCoach serve the city by coach, and Interstate 10 runs across its north side (Wikipedia).Not directly comparable
Commute by public transit2.1% (2024)3.2% (2024)Tallahassee
Walk or cycle to work2.9% (2024)5.3% (2024)Tallahassee
AirportSt. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), owned by Pinellas County about 9 miles north of downtown, handled a record 2,794,067 passengers in 2025, 13.6% more than 2024's 2,458,674, almost all of them on Allegiant Air, which uses it as an operating base (Wikipedia). Most of the city's air travel goes through Tampa International Airport (TPA), about 16 miles to the northeast across the Howard Frankland Bridge, which handled 24,811,007 passengers in 2025 (TPA, as in Tampa's profile). Albert Whitted Airport on the downtown waterfront serves general aviation.Tallahassee International Airport (TLH), owned and run by the City and named Bobby Bowden-Tallahassee International Airport in April 2026 after the longtime FSU football coach, about 5 miles southwest of downtown (Wikipedia). It handled 936,448 airline passengers in the City's fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), slightly below fiscal 2024's 944,835 and above 2019's 851,689 (City of Tallahassee), with American and Delta the main carriers to Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami and no scheduled international service (Wikipedia). Wikipedia counts it among the smaller commercial airports in Florida.Not directly comparable
St. Petersburg

PSTA carried 10,441,618 unlinked trips in 2025 on the National Transit Database's monthly ridership file (Federal Transit Administration), 8,888,290 of them on its buses and 769,551 on the SunRunner, with the rest on vanpools, demand-response service and a ferry. That is a little below the 11.94 million HART carried in Hillsborough (Tampa's profile, from APTA) for a county with less than two-thirds of Hillsborough's population, and well below PSTA's own peak of 14.6 million in 2014; ridership fell to 9.1 million in 2022 and has recovered to about 10.4 to 10.5 million in each of 2024 and 2025. The SunRunner carried 1,036,048 trips in 2023, its first full year, and 769,551 in 2025.

Tallahassee

StarMetro carried 1,762,062 unlinked trips in 2025 on the National Transit Database's monthly ridership file (Federal Transit Administration), 1,657,717 of them on its buses and the rest on demand-response service. That is about a third of its peak of 4,933,682 in 2010 and below the 3,624,805 of 2019; ridership fell to 1.5 million in 2020 and 2021 with FSU's campus routes suspended, recovered to 2.6 million in 2023, and has fallen since, to 2.25 million in 2024 and 1.76 million in 2025, and January to August 2026 ran 8.7% below the same months of 2025. The file does not separate the campus routes, and why ridership has fallen since 2023 was not found. For comparison, St. Petersburg's PSTA carried 10.4 million trips in 2025, Lee County's LeeTran 1,969,906 and Port St. Lucie's Area Regional Transit 825,588 (their profiles, from the same file).

06: Daily life

Health care, schools and what each city is like

St. Petersburg

Health care

Care is paid for through employer or marketplace insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and Florida is one of the ten states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (KFF). Florida's uninsured rate was 10.9% in 2024 (2,509,782 of 23,038,464), against 8.2% nationally, on the ACS 2024 1-year estimates; the City of St. Petersburg's was 7.3% (19,374 of 263,881), below Port St. Lucie's 9.9%, Pinellas County's 9.0% and the metro's 10.0%. The city is the county's hospital center. Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, the city's oldest, on the site of a five-room hospital of 1910, is Pinellas County's only Level II trauma center and has a Level III regional perinatal intensive care center and the Bayflite helicopter program (Wikipedia). Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, founded in 1926 and part of Johns Hopkins Medicine since 2011, has 259 beds and a Level I pediatric trauma center (Wikipedia). BayCare's St. Anthony's Hospital and HCA's hospitals are also among the city's ten largest private employers (City of St. Petersburg). This file did not verify a wait time figure for primary or specialist care.

Education

Pinellas County Schools, the countywide district, is shrinking: it reported more than 3,000 fewer students in 2025-26 than a year earlier (Bay News 9), its schools were 68% full against 87% ten years before, and in February 2026 the board voted to close two schools, Cross Bayou Elementary in Pinellas Park and Disston Academy in Gulfport, at the end of the 2025-26 year and to merge others (FOX 13). In higher education the city has the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, a downtown campus of about 6,500 students; Eckerd College, a private liberal arts college founded in 1958; St. Petersburg College, founded in 1927, a state college with four of its eleven campuses and centers in the city; and the Poynter Institute, the journalism school that owns the Tampa Bay Times (Wikipedia). Stetson University's law school is next door in Gulfport.

Living there

St. Petersburg is the smaller and older half of Tampa Bay's urban core: a city of 264,033 on the southern tip of the Pinellas peninsula, with more water than land inside its limits, connected to Tampa by the Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges and to Bradenton by the Sunshine Skyway. It was a railroad town before it was a resort (the Orange Belt Railway arrived in 1888 and the town was incorporated in 1892) and a retirement town for most of the twentieth century; its median age is still 43.0, the second-oldest of the Florida cities here after Port St. Lucie, though Wikipedia notes a younger turn since the Great Recession. Downtown is the draw, with the Dali Museum, the rebuilt Pier, seven miles of public waterfront parks, more than 600 murals and the Rays at Tropicana Field, who returned in April 2026 after Hurricane Milton tore off the roof but will leave: Hillsborough County voted 5 to 2 on 28 August 2026 to put $796 million toward a $2.3 billion stadium in Tampa for 2029 (WUSF). Its economy is a set of headquarters (Raymond James, Jabil, Duke Energy Florida) and hospitals (Johns Hopkins All Children's, Bayfront). The numbers set it apart from its Florida neighbors. It grew only 2.2% from 2020 to 2025 and lost residents in the year of the 2024 storms, in a county that is now losing people. Its median household income, $73,048, is $11,066 below Tampa's; its violent crime rate, 502 per 100,000 in 2025, is higher than Tampa's but falling, and its nine homicides were the fewest the police department has counted since 1967. It has the highest transit share of the Florida cities here outside Miami, at 2.1%. And it learned in 2024 what living in Tampa Bay costs: a record surge from Helene, which drowned twelve people in the county, and 18 inches of rain from Milton two weeks later.

Tallahassee

Health care

Care is paid for through employer or marketplace insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and Florida is one of the ten states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (KFF). Florida's uninsured rate was 10.9% in 2024, against 8.2% nationally, on the ACS 2024 1-year estimates; the City of Tallahassee's was 8.5% (17,205 of 201,731) and Leon County's 8.1%, well below the state's. The city has two acute care hospitals. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a private nonprofit founded in 1948 that serves a 22-county region of North Florida and South Georgia, has a 772-bed acute care hospital, a psychiatric hospital and the region's only Level III neonatal intensive care unit, and is the city's third-largest employer with 5,696 staff (Wikipedia; City of Tallahassee). HCA Florida Capital Hospital, owned by HCA Healthcare and known until recently as Capital Regional Medical Center, has 266 beds (Wikipedia). The City's own count of hospital beds at the two is 1,060. Florida State University's College of Medicine trains its first- and second-year students in Tallahassee and places its third- and fourth-year students at regional campuses around the state (Wikipedia). This file did not verify wait times for primary or specialist care.

Education

Tallahassee is a college town, and the share of its residents in college is four times the national share. On the ACS 2024 1-year estimates 54,353 of the city's 199,776 residents aged 3 and over were enrolled in college (43,399 undergraduates) or graduate school (10,954), 27.2%, against 6.6% nationally and 6.2% in Florida; undergraduates alone are 21.7% of the city. Three public institutions account for most of them. Florida State University enrolled a record 46,184 students in fall 2025, 33,068 of them undergraduates and 11,022 graduate and professional students, of whom 43,936 took at least one class on the main campus in Tallahassee (FSU Office of Institutional Research). Florida A&M University, founded in 1887, the only public historically black university in Florida and the third-largest in the country by enrollment (Wikipedia), had 9,313 students in fall 2024 (7,890 undergraduates), and welcomed more than 1,900 first-time students in August 2026, its largest incoming class in a decade (FAMU). Tallahassee State College, called Tallahassee Community College from 1970 until it was renamed on July 1, 2024 (Wikipedia), had 12,455 students in fall 2024, all undergraduates, and acts largely as a feeder to the two universities. Together the three enrolled 65,657 in fall 2024 on the federal College Navigator's counts, and the City's 2025 financial report puts college-level students at 68,667. FAMU's fall 2025 headcount was not found in a source fetched here. Public schools are run by Leon County Schools, the countywide district, with 31,638 students in pre-kindergarten to grade 12 in 2025, down from 34,085 in 2019, in 51 schools (City of Tallahassee). The district is asking voters in November 2026 to renew its half-cent sales surtax, which expires in 2027 and has raised about $400 million since 2012, and warns of a $620 million gap in facility needs without it (WTXL; WCTV).

Living there

Tallahassee is Florida's capital, a college town and almost nothing else, and it shows in every figure here. It became the territorial capital in 1824 as a halfway point between Pensacola and St. Augustine, near the Apalachee town of Anhaica where Hernando de Soto's expedition wintered in 1539 (Wikipedia), and it sits at the southern end of the Red Hills, hilly by Florida standards, along nine officially designated canopy roads, with a winter unlike the peninsula's: it freezes about 27 nights a year and saw 1.9 inches of snow in January 2025. The State of Florida and Florida State University are its two largest employers, government holds 30% of the metro's jobs, and more than a quarter of residents are in college, which makes the city the youngest of the Florida cities this site compares (median age 28.5) and the one with the lowest household income ($56,511), the fourth-lowest share of homeowners, after Miami, Orlando and Hialeah (44.5%), short commutes and, after Miami, the most people who take the bus, walk or cycle to work. It also has the highest violent crime rate of the Florida cities here in 2025, 635 per 100,000 on the FBI's counts, two and a half times the state's, though falling since 2023. Its history includes the Tallahassee bus boycott of 1956, begun by two FAMU students, and the Frenchtown neighborhood, the oldest historically black neighborhood in the state (Wikipedia). It is growing slowly, 4.4% from 2020 to 2025, and its home values and rents are among the lowest of the Florida cities here, with a typical home at $294,444 and a typical rent of $1,470 on Zillow's indexes, against a property tax rate of 19.2060 mills, nearly as high as Miami's, Tampa's and St. Petersburg's.

07: The trade-offs

Where each city wins, and where it loses

Both cities price in US dollars, so the figures net directly, though the two headlines are different instruments priced at different rates. St. Petersburg's is Zillow's typical home value for the city across all homes, $355,759 in June 2026, 3.9% below a year earlier, the city's row in the Tampa Bay layer, financed at Freddie Mac's August rate of 6.67%. Tallahassee's is Florida Realtors' single-family median for the Tallahassee metro, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties, $364,950 in June on 364 closed sales, 5.8% above June 2025, as Tallahassee Reports printed it, since Florida Realtors publishes it to members only; no median for the City or for Leon County alone was found, and Leon County is almost 90% of the metro's sales. On the same Zillow index, the like-for-like measure, Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444 in August, 1.4% higher on the year, so St. Petersburg's typical home is about 1.21 times it. Against local pay the headlines are 4.9 times St. Petersburg's 2024 median household income of $73,048 and 6.5 times Tallahassee's $56,511, the lowest of the Florida cities this site compares. At 20% down, St. Petersburg's $284,607 loan at 6.67% costs $1,831 a month, and the $291,960 loan on the Tallahassee metro median at 7.28%, the rate for 1 October, $1,998. A homesteaded buyer's first-year property tax is about $6,248 in St. Petersburg, 1.76% of the price on 19.9197 mills, against $6,183 in Tallahassee, 1.69% on 19.2060, and insurance is budgeted at $390 and $220 a month, the Tampa Bay layer's band for a coastal address against Tallahassee's NerdWallet average, neither including flood. The three lines come to about $2,742 and $2,733, roughly 45% and 58% of local median income. Priced alike they part: at 7.28% St. Petersburg's would be about $2,858, and on Zillow's value for the City of Tallahassee the carry would be about $2,234. Renters see the same order in dollars and about the same share of pay: Zillow's observed rent index was $2,058 in St. Petersburg in June 2026 and $1,470 in Tallahassee in August, the lowest of the nine Florida cities here, about 34% and 31% of median income, and Apartment List put Tallahassee's two-bedroom median at $1,309 in September. More than a quarter of Tallahassee's residents are in college, so its rent index is partly a student market. Condominium fees are estimated at $700 a month against $300, neither of them a published average.

This is one of the pairs where the definitions match, since both cities' figures are the FBI's Crime Data Explorer counts for 2025 divided by Census Vintage 2025 populations, and on them both are high and St. Petersburg is the lower on every line. The St. Petersburg Police Department submitted 1,325 violent offenses, 502 per 100,000 on 264,033 residents, and 5,437 property offenses, 2,059, a total that counts 407 car thefts. The Tallahassee Police Department submitted 1,302 violent offenses, almost the same number, 635 per 100,000 on 204,902, the highest 2025 rate of the Florida cities this site compares and about two and a half times Florida's 248, and 4,927 property offenses, 2,405. That property figure is understated: the FBI's copy carries 23 motor vehicle thefts for the department against 396 in the file of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the state's own property total works out to about 2,577 per 100,000, about a quarter above St. Petersburg's. Homicide was 9 in St. Petersburg, about 3.4 per 100,000, which its department, counting 10, called the fewest since 1967, against 20 in Tallahassee, about 9.8. Both are falling. St. Petersburg's violent offenses fell 19% in 2025 after three flat years and its property offenses 17%, with motor vehicle theft down from 917 in 2023 to 407. Tallahassee's violent offenses fell from 1,732 in 2023 to 1,302 in 2025, 25% lower, and on the state's file January to August 2026 brought 783 against 893 in the same months of 2025, with 7 homicides against 17, though assaults rose sharply late in 2025 on the police department's own daily data. The St. Petersburg counts were read on 1 October 2026 and the Tallahassee counts a day later, and both can still be revised.

St. Petersburg has much the warmer winter and Tallahassee the hotter summer days, and the two cities' storms arrive in different forms. January averages 16.8 C at Albert Whitted Airport on St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront and 11.2 C at the Tallahassee airport, about 6 miles southwest of the city's center, 62.2F against 52.2F, 10.0 F warmer in St. Petersburg; July averages 28.8 C against 28.1 C, 83.8F against 82.5F, and August is St. Petersburg's warmest month, at 84.0F. The normals count 70.9 days a year at 90F or above in St. Petersburg and 102.6 in Tallahassee, which also averages 2.9 at 100F, a reading St. Petersburg's normals never reach, and 0.1 nights at or below freezing against 27.0. Tallahassee gets 1,494 mm of rain a year and St. Petersburg 1,185 mm, and neither has snow in the normals, though Tallahassee measured 1.9 in on 21 and 22 January 2025, its largest snowfall since 1958. Neither has a measured sunshine figure; St. Petersburg's nickname, the Sunshine City, rests on a Guinness record of 768 consecutive sunny days. St. Petersburg's risk is surge into the bay. Helene passed offshore on 26 September 2024 and put 6.31 ft of water above mean higher high water on the city's tide gauge, the highest in a record that began in 1947, drowning twelve people in Pinellas County, two of them in the city, and the City recorded 5,189 of the 13,494 parcels it assessed afterward with major damage and 146 destroyed; two weeks later Albert Whitted recorded 18.54 in (471 mm) of rain from Milton. The same Helene came ashore that night in the Big Bend, southeast of Tallahassee, the strongest hurricane on record to strike there, and left about 53,000 City of Tallahassee utility customers without power. Tallahassee is inland, so its storms are wind, trees and outages: Hermine struck directly in September 2016 and left about 80% of the city without power, Michael left 95% of Leon County without power in 2018, and two EF2 tornadoes crossed the city on 10 May 2024 and broke more than 400 utility poles. Its flooding is rain on low streets near downtown, notably along Franklin Boulevard.

St. Petersburg's metro is about eight times the size and its households earn more; Tallahassee's workers stay closer to home. On the same unadjusted basis BLS put July 2026 unemployment at 4.8% for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and 5.1% for the Tallahassee metro, whose rate moves with the academic year and was 4.4% a year earlier, and the cities themselves at 4.2% and 5.5%. The Tampa Bay metro had 1,559,600 nonfarm jobs in August, 0.9% more than a year earlier, with private education and health services in front; the Tallahassee metro had 200,500, 2,500 or 1.3% more, with professional and business services adding 1,600. St. Petersburg is a headquarters town: Raymond James, its largest private employer with 4,800 staff, Jabil, Duke Energy Florida and Power Design, with Johns Hopkins All Children's and Bayfront among its hospitals. Tallahassee's is the state's: the State of Florida employs 26,831 people in the city and Florida State University 16,207, government holds 30.2% of the metro's jobs, and state government drops from 47,300 jobs in April to 43,300 in July as the universities' terms end; Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, with 5,696 staff, is third. 14% of St. Petersburg's workers worked outside Pinellas in 2024 and 21.3% from home; 6.1% of Tallahassee's worked outside Leon County and 11.4% from home, and Tallahassee's mean commute, 19 minutes, is six shorter. Median household income was $73,048 in St. Petersburg in 2024 and $56,511 in Tallahassee, $16,537 less, with a margin of error of $5,841, and $78,275 across Tampa Bay against $65,009 across the Tallahassee metro. The ages could hardly differ more, a median of 43.0 against 28.5, the youngest of the Florida cities here, and St. Petersburg is the more owner-occupied, 62.1% of its homes against 44.5%. Florida takes no income tax in either, so $100,000 pays the same $13,449 in federal tax for 2025. Sales tax is 7% in Pinellas against 7.5% in Leon, whose school half-cent expires in 2027 unless voters renew it in November. Property tax and insurance come to about $10,928 a year on St. Petersburg's typical home and $8,823 on the Tallahassee metro median.

Neither is a city to live in without a car, and Tallahassee has the larger share of workers out of one. In 2024, 2.1% of St. Petersburg's workers commuted by transit, almost all of them by bus, and 2.9% walked or cycled, against 3.2% and 5.3% in Tallahassee, the second-highest shares of the Florida cities here after Miami's, though the Tallahassee survey's margin is wide and the five-year table puts its transit share at 2.2%; 65.6% and 67.6% drove alone. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority carried 10,441,618 trips in 2025, 769,551 of them on the SunRunner, Tampa Bay's first bus rapid transit line, every 15 minutes from downtown St. Petersburg to St. Pete Beach. StarMetro, the City of Tallahassee's buses, carried 1,762,062 trips, about a third of its 2010 peak, on 14 weekday routes that nearly all meet downtown at C.K. Steele Plaza and on Florida State's campus routes, free to the public; why its ridership has fallen since 2023 was not found. Neither has passenger rail: St. Petersburg's freight line into downtown was abandoned in 2008, and Tallahassee's passenger trains ended when Amtrak's Sunset Limited stopped running east of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. St. Petersburg has about 4,270 residents per square mile of land, with more water than land inside its limits; Tallahassee about 2,000, on hills, with nine designated canopy roads. Most of St. Petersburg's flying goes through Tampa International, about 16 miles away across the Howard Frankland Bridge, which handled 24,811,007 passengers in 2025, and St. Pete-Clearwater International, about 9 miles north of downtown, handled a record 2,794,067, almost all of them on Allegiant. Tallahassee International, owned by the City about 5 miles southwest of downtown and named for Bobby Bowden in April 2026, handled 936,448 in the City's fiscal 2025, mostly on American and Delta to their hubs.

Florida has not expanded Medicaid, so coverage in both runs through an employer or marketplace plan, Medicare or Medicaid, and both cities sit below the state on what that leaves: the City of St. Petersburg's uninsured rate was 7.3% in 2024 and Tallahassee's 8.5%, against Florida's 10.9% and the national 8.2%. St. Petersburg is its county's hospital center: Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital is Pinellas County's only Level II trauma center, with a Level III perinatal intensive care center and the Bayflite helicopters, and Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has 259 beds and a Level I pediatric trauma center. Tallahassee's hospitals serve a region of their own: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a private nonprofit founded in 1948 that draws on 22 counties of North Florida and South Georgia, has a 772-bed acute care hospital and the region's only Level III neonatal intensive care unit, and HCA Florida Capital Hospital has 266 beds; Florida State's College of Medicine trains its first- and second-year students in the city. Neither profile verified a wait time. Both districts are shrinking. Pinellas County Schools reported more than 3,000 fewer students in 2025-26, its schools were 68% full against 87% ten years before, and in February 2026 its board voted to close two schools. Leon County Schools had 31,638 students in 2025, down from 34,085 in 2019, in 51 schools, and is asking voters in November 2026 to renew its half-cent sales surtax. Higher education is where the two part. St. Petersburg has the University of South Florida's downtown campus of about 6,500, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg College and the Poynter Institute. Florida State enrolled a record 46,184 in fall 2025, Florida A&M, the state's only public historically black university, 9,313 in fall 2024 and Tallahassee State College 12,455, and 27.2% of Tallahassee's residents aged three and over were college or graduate students, four times the national share.

What people underestimate is that the two millages are within a mill of each other while the insurance lines are not, and what each bill leaves out. Both run on the same Florida rules: $25,000 of taxable value comes off every levy for a homestead and a second slice off all but the school district's, Save Our Homes caps a homestead's assessment at 3% a year and resets it on a sale, and the exemption has to be filed with the property appraiser by 1 March of the year after you buy; without it St. Petersburg's typical home owes about $7,087 and the Tallahassee metro median about $7,009. A City of St. Petersburg address pays 19.9197 mills across the Pinellas stack, of which the City's council sets 6.4525 and kept it for fiscal 2027 on a 6 to 2 vote. A City of Tallahassee address pays nine levies for 2025, one of them at zero, 19.2060 mills, of which the City's own is 4.4072 and Leon County's 8.3144, a rate the County has held since 2012, and there is no fire, stormwater or garbage line on that bill. The City is the utility, owning the electric, gas, water and sewer systems, and it charges stormwater at $11.00 and garbage at $28.19 a month on the utility bill, about $470 a year, with a fire services fee beside them that it raised 9.98% on 1 October 2025, about $2 a month for most residents, and that residents challenged in a lawsuit filed on 17 November 2025. This site could not read the fee's amount, so the Tallahassee carry leaves it out. Both sellers pay the state's 70-cent documentary stamp, about $2,490 on St. Petersburg's typical home and $2,555 on the Tallahassee metro median, and both buyers 0.55% of the loan, about $1,565 and $1,606. Then the water. St. Petersburg's insurance line is the Tampa Bay layer's band for a coastal address, inside the $3,900 to $5,500 a year its source gives for a single-family house with wind cover, and the City's Helene assessments found water in thousands of homes along the bay and almost none inland. Tallahassee's $220 is NerdWallet's average, and the state's average Leon County homeowners premium with wind cover was $2,538 a year; the City sits in Class 5 of FEMA's Community Rating System, 25% off a flood policy in its special flood hazard area, and on a wooded lot tree work is a cost no maintenance estimate here includes. Neither figure includes flood, and from 1 January 2027 most new and renewing Citizens Property Insurance policies with wind cover must carry it. And both are growing slowly: St. Petersburg grew 2.2% from 2020 to 2025 and lost 1,822 residents in 2024-25, the year of the storms, and Tallahassee grew 4.4% and added 877, while its county has lost more residents to the rest of the country than it gained in each of the last three years.

St. Petersburg

Better here

  • Violent crime was 502 per 100,000 on the FBI's 2025 counts, against 635 in Tallahassee, and there were 9 homicides against 20.
  • City median household income was $73,048 in 2024, $16,537 more than Tallahassee's $56,511, so the carry is about 45% of it against 58%.
  • January averages 16.8 C with 0.1 freezing nights a year, against 11.2 C and 27.0 in Tallahassee, 10.0 F colder.
  • The uninsured rate was 7.3% in 2024, against 8.5%, and Johns Hopkins All Children's has a Level I pediatric trauma center.
  • The SunRunner runs every 15 minutes from downtown to St. Pete Beach, and PSTA carried 10,441,618 trips in 2025.
  • 21.3% of workers worked from home in 2024, against 11.4% in Tallahassee.

Worse here

  • On the same Zillow index the typical home was $355,759 in June 2026, about 1.21 times Zillow's value for the City of Tallahassee, and at the same 7.28% the carry would be about $2,858 against $2,733.
  • Insurance is budgeted at $390 a month against $220, and a City address pays 19.9197 mills against 19.2060.
  • Helene put a record 6.31 ft of surge on the city's tide gauge in 2024, and the City recorded 5,189 of the 13,494 parcels it assessed with major damage.
  • Zillow's observed rent index was $2,058 in June 2026, about 34% of median income, against $1,470 and 31% in Tallahassee.
  • There is no passenger rail, and the main airport, Tampa International, is about 16 miles away across the bay.
  • The city lost 1,822 residents in 2024-25, and Pinellas County Schools' buildings were 68% full.

Choose St. Petersburg if

  • you want a waterfront downtown, with the Dali Museum, the Pier and seven miles of public parks
  • you work in finance, utilities or health care at Raymond James, Duke Energy Florida, All Children's or Bayfront, or from home
  • you want a mild winter, with 0.1 freezing nights a year
  • you will read the elevation certificate and the City's Helene assessment before the price

The St. Petersburg guide · Neighborhoods · St. Petersburg rent vs buy · St. Petersburg mortgage calculator

Tallahassee

Better here

  • Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444 in August 2026, about 17% below St. Petersburg's typical home, and the carry on it would be about $2,234 at 7.28%.
  • Insurance is budgeted at $220 a month, the lowest of the Florida cities this site compares, against $390.
  • The city is inland, out of the reach of storm surge, and the mean commute was 19 minutes in 2024, six shorter than St. Petersburg's.
  • In 2024, 3.2% of workers took transit and 5.3% walked or cycled, against 2.1% and 2.9% in St. Petersburg.
  • Tallahassee International, about 5 miles from downtown, handled 936,448 passengers in fiscal 2025, and Tallahassee Memorial has the region's only Level III neonatal intensive care unit.
  • Florida State, Florida A&M and Tallahassee State College enrolled 65,657 students in fall 2024, and 27.2% of residents were in college.

Worse here

  • Violent crime was 635 per 100,000 on the FBI's 2025 counts, the highest 2025 rate of the Florida cities here, and there were 20 homicides, about 9.8 per 100,000.
  • City median household income was $56,511 in 2024, the lowest of the Florida cities this site compares, so the carry is about 58% of it.
  • January averages 11.2 C with 27.0 freezing nights a year, and the normals count 102.6 days at 90F or above against 70.9.
  • Metro unemployment was 5.1% in July 2026 and the city's own 5.5%, against 4.8% and 4.2% for St. Petersburg.
  • Sales tax is 7.5% against 7%, and the City's fire services fee on the utility bill could not be priced.
  • Hermine left about 80% of the city without power in 2016, and two EF2 tornadoes broke more than 400 utility poles in 2024.

Choose Tallahassee if

  • you work for the state, at Florida State, Florida A&M or Tallahassee Memorial, or in the law and lobbying around the Capitol
  • you want inland ground away from the surge, and a cheaper house and policy on it
  • you want hills, canopy roads and a winter, in a young city
  • you will ask the City for the fire fee at the address and read the seller's utility bill as closely as the tax bill

The Tallahassee guide · Neighborhoods · Tallahassee rent vs buy · Tallahassee mortgage calculator

08: Questions people ask

St. Petersburg or Tallahassee, in short

Is St. Petersburg or Tallahassee cheaper to live in?

Tallahassee, in dollars, on the house, the insurance and the rent; against local pay the two are closer. Both cities are in Florida and price in US dollars, and the headlines are different measures priced at different rates: St. Petersburg's typical home on Zillow's index was $355,759 in June and the Tallahassee metro's single-family median $364,950 that month, while on the same Zillow index Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444. At 20% down the mortgage is $1,831 at August's 6.67% against $1,998 at October's 7.28%. Property tax is about $6,248 a year against $6,183 and insurance $390 a month against $220, so the three lines come to about $2,742 and $2,733, or about $2,858 for St. Petersburg at the same rate, roughly 45% and 58% of each city's median household income, $73,048 and $56,511. Zillow's observed rent index was $2,058 against $1,470. Neither city levies income tax, sales tax is 7% against 7.5%, and Tallahassee's fire services fee, on the utility bill, is not in its figure.

Is St. Petersburg or Tallahassee safer?

St. Petersburg, on figures built the same way, though both are high. Both are the FBI's counts for 2025 divided by Census estimates: 502 violent offenses per 100,000 in St. Petersburg against 635 in Tallahassee, the highest 2025 rate of the Florida cities here, and 2,059 property offenses against 2,405, a Tallahassee figure short of most of its car thefts; with the state's count it would be about 2,577. Homicides were 9 in St. Petersburg, about 3.4 per 100,000, and 20 in Tallahassee, about 9.8. Both are falling: St. Petersburg's violent offenses dropped 19% in 2025, and Tallahassee's were 25% below their 2023 peak, with January to August 2026 down 12% again on the state's file.

Which has the better job market, St. Petersburg or Tallahassee?

St. Petersburg's, on size, unemployment and pay. On the same unadjusted basis BLS put July 2026 unemployment at 4.8% for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and 5.1% for the Tallahassee metro, whose rate moves with the academic year, and the cities at 4.2% and 5.5%. The Tampa Bay metro had 1,559,600 nonfarm jobs in August and the Tallahassee metro 200,500. St. Petersburg's anchors are Raymond James, Jabil, Duke Energy Florida and its hospitals. Tallahassee's are the State of Florida, with 26,831 employees in the city, Florida State with 16,207 and Tallahassee Memorial with 5,696, and government is 30.2% of the metro's jobs. Median household income was $73,048 in St. Petersburg and $56,511 in Tallahassee, where many households are students.

Which is more exposed to hurricanes, St. Petersburg or Tallahassee?

St. Petersburg to surge, Tallahassee to wind and falling trees, and Helene reached both. In September 2024 it put a record 6.31 ft of surge on St. Petersburg's tide gauge as it passed offshore, and the City recorded 5,189 of the 13,494 parcels it assessed with major damage; it came ashore that night in the Big Bend and left about 53,000 City of Tallahassee utility customers without power. Tallahassee is inland, but Hermine left about 80% of the city without power in 2016 and the tornadoes of 10 May 2024 broke more than 400 utility poles. Insurance is budgeted at $390 a month in St. Petersburg and $220 in Tallahassee, and neither figure includes flood.

Sources

Where the figures come from

Housing figures are the ones behind each city's calculators, dated on those pages. The rest are listed here with the date they were retrieved. See the methodology for how facts, estimates and opinion are kept apart.

  1. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More (all states, SUB-EST2025) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Five-year growth, Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Character, St. Petersburg city 258,358 (April 2020 base), 262,655 (2022), 264,921 (2023), 265,855 (2024) and 264,033 (2025); Pinellas County 948,563; Clearwater 114,364; national and Florida ranks and the 92 cities of 250,000 or more
  2. Annual Resident Population Estimates and Components of Change for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Their Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (CBSA-EST2025-ALLDATA) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: Metro population, Five-year growth, Character, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA 3,175,282 (April 2020 base) and 3,418,895 (2025) and its components of change; Pinellas County's 2024-25 loss of 11,834, its births, deaths and migration
  3. 2024 Gazetteer Files: Places (national) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: point, City population, Climate normals, Airport passengers, Character, St. Petersburg city: 61.804 sq mi of land, 73.661 sq mi of water, internal point 27.762727, -82.644131
  4. St. Petersburg, Florida (history, geography, economy, arts, education, transportation) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate normals, Climate hazards, Main sectors, Labour market, Transit system, Education, Character
  5. Crime Data Explorer summarized agency data, St. Petersburg Police Department (FL0521400): violent crime, property crime, homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, 2021-2025 · FBI · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Character
  6. St. Pete Crime Rates Declined In 2025: Police · Patch · retrieved
    Supports: Homicides, Crime trend, Character, 10 homicides in 2025 against 18 in 2024, the fewest since 1967; overall crime down 16%; 175 robberies and 406 auto thefts against five-year averages of 224 and 735
  7. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00092806 St. Petersburg Albert Whitted Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Climate normals, Climate hazards, January 62.2F, July 83.8F and August 84.0F and the monthly highs, lows and rain from the monthly series, which carries no snowfall normal for this station, and annual mean 74.7F, precipitation 46.65 in, 70.9 days at 90F, 0.0 at 100F and 0.1 nights at freezing from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020 for the same station
  8. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USC00087886 St. Petersburg (cooperative station) (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Annual snowfall, Climate normals, 0.0 in of snow (monthly and annual), January 62.1F, July 83.9F, 52.48 in of precipitation
  9. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00012873 St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate normals, January 61.6F, July 83.1F, 53.62 in of precipitation, 94.1 days at 90F
  10. NCEI data search, normals-monthly-1991-2020 stations within 28.0N to 27.6N and 82.85W to 82.45W · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate normals, the stations with 1991-2020 normals in and around the city, including USW00092806 and USC00087886 at 27.7628N, 82.6261W
  11. Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries, St. Petersburg Albert Whitted Airport (USW00092806), 2010-2026 · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, 18.54 in on 9 October 2024 and a 101.1 mph gust; an 82.1 mph gust on 26 September 2024; 128 days at or above 90F in 2024 and 94 in 2026 through 28 September; 32F on 18 January 2018, the only reading at or below freezing since 2010; 36F on 1 February 2026
  12. Average Annual Sunshine in US Cities · Current Results (NCDC Comparative Climatic Data, 1961-1990) · retrieved
    Supports: Sunshine hours, Climate normals, Tampa 2,927 hours; no St. Petersburg station
  13. Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Helene (AL092024) · NOAA National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character, 6.31 ft above MHHW at the St. Petersburg tide gauge (record since 1947; previous record 3.97 ft in Elena, 1985); 12 drowned in Pinellas County, 2 in St. Petersburg; at least 419 homes destroyed and 18,512 structures with major damage in Pinellas and Hillsborough
  14. Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Milton (AL142024) · NOAA National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character, Landfall at Siesta Key as a Category 3; Albert Whitted storm total 18.88 in and gust 88 kt; maximum storm total 20.40 in at a CoCoRaHS site near St. Petersburg; Tropicana Field's fabric roof ripped off
  15. Tropicana Field roof damaged by Hurricane Milton, downtown St. Pete crane snapped · Bay News 9 · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  16. Tropicana Field (Milton damage, 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field, return on 6 April 2026) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character
  17. A new Rays stadium in Tampa gets clinching Hillsborough County approval · WUSF · retrieved
    Supports: Character
  18. ACS 2024 1-year tables B19013, B25003 and B08301 for St. Petersburg, Tampa and Port St. Lucie cities, Pinellas County, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Median household income, Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share, Character
  19. ACS 2024 1-year tables B08007 (place of work), B08013 (aggregate travel time) and B08303 (travel time to work) for St. Petersburg city and Pinellas County · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Labour market
  20. ACS 2024 1-year table B01002 (median age) for St. Petersburg, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando cities, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Median household income, Character
  21. ACS 2024 1-year table B27001 (health insurance coverage) for St. Petersburg city, Pinellas County, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  22. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA (LAUMT124530000000003), St. Petersburg city (LAUCT126300000000003) and Pinellas County (LAUCN121030000000003), not seasonally adjusted · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Unemployment rate
  23. Current Employment Statistics, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA: total nonfarm (SMU12453000000000001), construction (SMU12453002000000001), supersectors (SMU1245300xx00000001), retail trade and federal government (SMU12453009091000001) · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
  24. FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section: Principal Employers · City of St. Petersburg (filed with the Florida Auditor General) · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Health care, Character, Raymond James & Associates 4,800, All Children's Health 2,800, Power Design 1,700, Jabil Circuit 1,700, St. Anthony's Hospital 1,437, HCA Hospital 1,350, Duke Energy 1,250, Franklin Templeton 1,200, Catalent 800, PSCU 800; 17,837 or 12.45% of 147,705; the 2016 list of 20,300
  25. Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS) · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Pinellas 1%, February 1, 1990 to December 31, 2029
  26. Penny for Pinellas: frequently asked questions · Penny for Pinellas (Pinellas County) · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, first approved in 1989 and in effect from 1990; renewed on November 7, 2017 for 2020-2029 with 83% support; tourists and seasonal visitors estimated to pay a third
  27. Florida Tax Rates & Rankings · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000, Tax notes
  28. 2025 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
  29. 2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
  30. Millage rates levied for 2025 taxes · Pinellas County Tax Collector · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, St Petersburg real estate total 19.9197 mills, of which the city 6.4525 (as carried in lib/metro-tampa/market.ts)
  31. St. Pete keeps property tax rate unchanged · St Pete Catalyst · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, 6.4525 mills for fiscal 2027 adopted 6-2 on 17 September 2026, above the 6.3854 rolled-back rate
  32. St. Pete holds property tax rate steady · St Pete Catalyst · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, taxable values of about $39.3 billion; ad valorem revenue up about $14.8 million; 6.4525 mills since fiscal 2025
  33. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) and Observed Rent Index (ZORI), city files, June 2026 · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, St. Petersburg $355,759, down 3.9% year over year, and rent $2,058, as carried in lib/metro-tampa/market.ts
  34. Monthly Module Adjusted Data Release, complete monthly ridership with adjustments and estimates (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, NTD 40027) · Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (via data.transportation.gov) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit ridership, Transit system
  35. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (history, routes, SunRunner, Cross-Bay Ferry) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit system
  36. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (location, owner, airlines, annual passenger traffic 2024 and 2025) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Airport passengers
  37. Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions · KFF · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  38. Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Main sectors
  39. Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Main sectors
  40. Pinellas County School Board considers closing schools due to low enrollment · Bay News 9 · retrieved
    Supports: Education
  41. Pinellas County Schools move forward with closures, consolidations as enrollment declines district wide · FOX 13 · retrieved
    Supports: Education
  42. 2025 Gazetteer Files: Places, Florida · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: point, City population, Climate normals, Tallahassee city (1270600): 102.578 sq mi of land, 2.913 sq mi of water, internal point 30.453529, -84.252272
  43. Tallahassee, Florida (history, geography, climate, neighborhoods, transportation) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Climate hazards, Main sectors, Transit system, Character, Capital since 1824; only incorporated municipality in Leon County; Hermine (about 80% of the city without power), Michael (95% of Leon County without power), EF2 tornadoes on 10 May 2024; record 105F on 15 June 2011; measurable snows including 2.8 in on 13 February 1958 and 1.9 in on 21-22 January 2025; nine canopy roads; Frenchtown; the 1956 bus boycott; Greyhound, Megabus and RedCoach; Amtrak's Sunset Limited suspended east of New Orleans in 2005
  44. Crime Data Explorer summarized agency data, Tallahassee Police Department (FL0370300): violent crime, property crime, homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, 2021-2025, with Florida and national rates · FBI · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Character, 2022: 1,587 violent, 4,430 property; 2023: 1,732 and 5,212; 2024: 1,383 and 5,804; 2025: 1,302 violent (20 + 149 + 214 + 919) and 4,927 property (745 + 4,148 + 23 + 11); homicides 15, 21, 16 and 20; agency population 206,918 for 2025; January to July 2026 737 violent against 769 in 2025; 2025 rates for reporting Florida agencies 248.3 violent, 1,076.6 property and 3.0 homicide, and for the US 329.3, 1,552.1 and 4.3
  45. FIBRS offense data by agency and month, 2021 to August 2026 · Florida Department of Law Enforcement · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Tallahassee Police Department: 1,681, 1,806, 1,441 and 1,363 violent and 5,444, 5,591, 6,371 and 5,280 property offenses in 2022 to 2025; motor vehicle thefts 628, 624, 559 and 396; homicides 16, 21, 16 and 21; January to August 2026 783 violent, 2,985 property and 7 homicides against 893, 3,450 and 17; FDLE population 205,623; the 46 agencies serving 100,000 or more in 2025, led by Fort Lauderdale PD (675 per 100,000), Tallahassee PD (663) and Gainesville PD (635); Leon County Sheriff's Office 500
  46. Total Crime Incidents Down in 2025, Violent Crime Spikes During Last Four Months · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: Homicides, Crime trend, From the Tallahassee Police Department's daily incident data: total incidents down 22.6% in 2025, property down 28.3%, violent down 8.9%; assaults in September to December 299 against 192; 18 fatal shootings in 2025 against 26 in 2024
  47. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00093805 Tallahassee Regional Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Climate normals, Climate hazards, Character, January 52.2F, July 82.5F and August 82.4F and the monthly highs, lows and rain from the monthly series, which carries no snowfall normal for this station, and annual mean 68.4F, precipitation 58.81 in, 102.6 days at 90F, 2.9 at 100F, 27.0 nights at or below 32F and 1.4 at or below 20F from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020 for the same station
  48. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USC00088756 Tallahassee AP (cooperative station) (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Annual snowfall, Climate normals, 0.0 in of snow (monthly and annual); January 51.0F, July 82.9F, 59.82 in, 128.3 days at 90F
  49. NCEI data search, normals-monthly-1991-2020 stations within 30.7N to 30.2N and 84.6W to 84.0W, and stations with a snowfall normal within 31.3N to 29.7N and 85.3W to 83.4W · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate normals, USW00093805 at 30.3975N, 84.3289W and USC00088756 at 30.3961N, 84.3556W, both at the airport; the other stations near the city are CoCoRaHS precipitation gauges
  50. Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries, Tallahassee Regional Airport (USW00093805), 2010-2026 · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character, 105F on 15 June 2011 and 104F on 24 June 2022; 108 days at or above 90F in 2025 and 114 in 2026 through 29 September, 3 of them at 100F or above; 27 nights at or below 32F in 2025 and 21 in 2026; 14F on 11 January 2010 and 18F on 2 February 2026; snowfall 1.5 in on 21 January 2025 and 0.4 in on 22 January; gusts of 70.9 mph on 10 October 2018, 67.1 mph on 26 September 2024 and 66.0 mph on 10 May 2024
  51. Hurricane Hermine (2016) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, 57% of homes in Leon County without power, including about 80% of the city proper and Florida State University
  52. Hurricane Helene · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Tallahassee International Airport closed on 26 September 2024
  53. FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section (Demographic Statistics, Principal Employers and Miscellaneous Statistical Data) · City of Tallahassee (filed with the Florida Auditor General) · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Airport passengers, Health care, Education, Principal employers 2025: State of Florida 26,831, Florida State University 16,207, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital 5,696, Leon County School Board 4,300, City of Tallahassee 4,000, Amazon 2,256, Leon County 1,957, Florida A&M University 1,794, Walmart 1,700, Tallahassee State College 1,468, Publix 1,400, and the 2016 list; airline passengers 936,448 (fiscal 2025), 944,835 (2024) and 851,689 (2019); Leon County School enrollment 31,638 (2025) and 34,085 (2019); 51 public schools; 68,667 college-level students; 1,060 hospital beds at Tallahassee Memorial and Capital Regional
  54. ACS 2024 1-year tables B19013, B25003 and B01002 for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida, the US and the other Florida cities this site compares · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Median household income, Character
  55. ACS 2024 1-year tables B08007 (place of work by county), B08008 (place of work by place), B08013 (aggregate travel time) and B08303 (travel time to work) for Tallahassee city and Leon County · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Labour market, Character
  56. ACS 2024 1-year table B08301 (means of transportation to work) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share, Labour market, Character
  57. ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 (means of transportation to work) for Tallahassee city and Leon County · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share
  58. ACS 2024 1-year tables B14001 and B14007 (school enrollment by level) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Education, Character, Tallahassee city: 199,776 aged 3 and over, 43,399 enrolled in college undergraduate years and 10,954 in graduate or professional school; US 17,005,362 and 4,797,493 of 329,362,620; Florida 1,094,685 and 311,297 of 22,719,284
  59. ACS 2024 1-year table B27001 (health insurance coverage) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  60. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Tallahassee, FL MSA (LAUMT124522000000003), Leon County (LAUCN120730000000003) and Tallahassee city (LAUCT127060000000003), not seasonally adjusted · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Unemployment rate
  61. Current Employment Statistics, Tallahassee, FL MSA: total nonfarm (SMU12452200000000001), supersectors (SMU1245220xx00000001), retail trade and federal, state and local government (SMU12452209091000001, SMU12452209092000001, SMU12452209093000001) · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Character
  62. Florida State University 2025-2026 Pocket Fact Book · Florida State University Office of Institutional Research · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Education, Fall 2025 enrollment 46,184 (33,068 undergraduate, 11,022 graduate and professional, 2,094 unclassified), the highest in the enrollment history table; 43,603 at the Tallahassee location and 43,936 taking at least one class on the main campus; 16,207 employees in 2025-26, 7,605 full-time, 118 part-time and 8,484 OPS
  63. College Navigator: Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Tallahassee State College (fall 2024 enrollment) · US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Education, Fall 2024 total enrollment: FAMU 9,313 (7,890 undergraduate, 1,423 graduate; id 133650), FSU 43,889 (32,720 undergraduate; id 134097), Tallahassee State College 12,455, all undergraduate (id 137759)
  64. FAMU Welcomes Largest Incoming Class in a Decade at New Student Pinning Ceremony · Florida A&M University · retrieved
    Supports: Education, More than 1,900 first-time-in-college students in fall 2026, the largest incoming class in a decade, plus 400 online, 700 transfer and 1,200 graduate students
  65. Florida A&M University · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Character
  66. Florida State University · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Education
  67. Tallahassee State College · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Known as Tallahassee Community College from 1970 to 2024; renamed Tallahassee State College on July 1, 2024
  68. Leon County Schools approve increase in property tax rates, voters could decide in November · WCTV · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Tax notes, Education, A one-mill operating levy for July 2027 to June 2031 sent to the county commission for the November ballot; the commission's 12 May motion to put the half-cent sales tax renewal on the November ballot; $400 million raised from 2012 to 2026
  69. Leon County school leaders push to renew half-cent sales tax before 2027 expiration · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: Education, A $620 million gap in facility needs without renewal; more than $500 million over 15 years if renewed
  70. Tax Information Publication 14A01-17: Leon County Discretionary Sales Surtax Continues at 1.5% Rate · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Combined rate 7.5%: 1% infrastructure surtax, 0.5% school capital outlay surtax and 6% state tax; the infrastructure surtax extended through December 31, 2039
  71. Property Tax Exemptions: Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation, and Portability Transfer · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes
  72. Leon County 2025 taxing authority millage rates by tax authority code (with 2010 to 2024), as certified by the Leon County Property Appraiser · Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight (Leon County Property Appraiser's filing) · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, Character, 2025 code 1, City of Tallahassee: County 8.3144, EMS MSTU 0.7500, CSC of Leon 0.3477, School Board RLE 3.1180, discretionary 0.7480 and capital outlay 1.5000, NW Florida Water Management District 0.0207, City 4.4072, total 19.2060 ('City lowered from proposed rate of 4.4200'); code 3, Downtown Improvement, 20.2060; code 2, unincorporated, 14.7988; 2024 code 1 total 19.2379; County 8.3144 every year since 2012
  73. Table 1: Comparison of Taxes Levied, County and Municipal Governments, Fiscal Years 2024-25 and 2025-26 (Leon County) · Leon County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, City of Tallahassee 4.4200 in 2024-25, rolled-back rate 4.2080 and 4.4072 adopted for 2025-26, levy $81,772,259, up 9.0% and 4.7% above rolled-back; Leon County BCC 8.3144 and EMS 0.7500
  74. Monthly Module Adjusted Data Release, complete monthly ridership with adjustments and estimates (City of Tallahassee, NTD 40036) · Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (via data.transportation.gov) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit ridership
  75. StarMetro (bus service) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership
  76. Tallahassee International Airport (ownership, location, carriers, naming) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Airport passengers
  77. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Main sectors
  78. HCA Florida Capital Hospital · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  79. Final 2025 millage rates by taxing district · Hillsborough County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: Published totals of 19.8428 for Tampa, 19.5319 for Temple Terrace, 18.2926 for Plant City and 18.2515 for the unincorporated county, Every component behind them, including the 0.5583 library services levy Temple Terrace and Plant City are outside and the 0.5000 transit authority levy Plant City is outside, A county General Purpose MSTU of 4.6163 paid in the unincorporated area in place of a municipal rate
  80. Table 1: Comparison of Taxes Levied, county and municipal governments, fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 · Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight · retrieved
    Supports: Independent confirmation of each municipality's own adopted 2025-26 levy in both counties
  81. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 2020 to 2024 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved
    Supports: 2020 census counts and 2024 estimates for each municipality, Tampa at 414,547 and St. Petersburg at 267,102; Indian Shores at 1,190
  82. Hurricane Helene storm surge and Pinellas County flooding, September 2024 · Latent Insurance, on National Weather Service and Pinellas County data · retrieved
    Supports: The largest storm surge on record for St. Petersburg, over six feet in the city and more than seven on the barrier islands, Thousands of Pinellas homes flooded, many of which had never flooded before, St. Petersburg single-family homeowners insurance of roughly $3,900 to $5,500 a year with wind coverage, and higher on the barrier islands
  83. Home insurance in Tampa, Florida: 2026 rates · InsuranceQuotes · retrieved
    Supports: Tampa homeowners insurance averaging about $2,400 a year in 2026, A Tampa Bay range of roughly $3,285 to $5,100 across Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco
  84. Primary Mortgage Market Survey · Freddie Mac · retrieved
    Supports: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.67%
  85. Documentary stamp tax · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: 70 cents per $100 on a deed, in every county except Miami-Dade, which charges 60 cents plus a 45-cent surtax, 35 cents per $100 on a promissory note or other written obligation to pay money
  86. Governmental leasehold intangible personal property tax and the non-recurring intangible tax on mortgages · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: A non-recurring intangible tax of 2 mills: 0.2%, on the obligation secured by a mortgage on Florida real property
  87. Chapter 2023-17, Laws of Florida: preemption of rent control · The Florida Senate · retrieved
    Supports: The repeal of the referendum exception that had allowed a local rent control ordinance in a declared housing emergency
  88. Helene_Damage_Assessment_Data, one point per parcel assessed after Hurricane Helene · City of St. Petersburg, ArcGIS Online · retrieved
    Supports: 13,494 parcels assessed after Hurricane Helene, 5,189 of them recorded as major damage and 146 as destroyed, A record per parcel rather than per home, with no description published for the layer
  89. Substantial improvement · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved
    Supports: Substantial improvement is any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement whose cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction, The category also covers structures that have sustained substantial damage, whatever repair work is actually carried out
  90. Tallahassee home prices outpace state as sales slow in June · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: A median sale price for an existing single-family home in the Tallahassee MSA of $364,950 in June 2026, up 5.8% from June 2025, A year-to-date median of $340,000, up 1.5%, and 364 closed sales in June, down 6.2% from a year earlier, Florida Realtors' statistics compiled from local multiple listing services, June 2026 data released on 17 July 2026; the Tallahassee MSA is Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties, A statewide single-family median of $432,000 in June 2026
  91. Tallahassee MSA median single-family sales price up 4.4% in May · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: A Tallahassee MSA single-family median of $355,000 in May 2026 against $340,000 in May 2025, up 4.4%
  92. Tallahassee MSA residential sales prices trending down · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: Leon County accounting for almost 90% of the MSA's real estate transactions
  93. Florida market reports · Florida Realtors · retrieved
    Supports: Metropolitan Statistical Area reports, Tallahassee among them, published to members only
  94. FY26 budget, 1.4 millage rate · City of Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: A millage rate of 4.4072, a decrease of 0.0128 mills against the prior year; the budget proposed at 4.4200 and adopted at 4.4072
  95. Tallahassee's $1.2B budget advances, with final vote set for September · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: The City Commission setting the millage rate at 4.4072 mills, with public hearings on 9 and 23 September 2026 before the final vote, The City projecting that a property tax amendment, if voters pass it in November, would cost it $11.2 million in fiscal 2028 and $17.8 million in fiscal 2029
  96. Leon Commission OKs $420M budget with property tax increase, raises · Tallahassee Democrat (via Yahoo News) · retrieved
    Supports: The County Commission voting 6-1 for a property tax rate of 8.3144 per $1,000 of assessed value, unchanged for the 15th consecutive year, and the EMS rate alongside it, at its final hearing on 22 September 2026, The unincorporated area's solid waste assessment going from $40 to $80 in the fiscal year starting 1 October
  97. Leon County School Board approves tentative 2026-27 budget in a 4-1 vote · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: A tentative 5.343-mill tax rate, with the final public hearing on the millage and budget on 8 September 2026
  98. Additional homestead exemption adjustment, revised January 2025 · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: A CPI change of 2.9% and a maximum additional exemption of $25,722 for 2025, against the $25,000 base year of 2024
  99. Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A typical home value of $294,444 for the City of Tallahassee (region 47945, Leon County) in August 2026, against $290,281 in August 2025, up 1.4%, A typical single-family value of $305,442 against $300,921, up 1.5%, and a typical condominium value of $179,610 against $181,439, down 1.0%, from the single-family and condominium files
  100. Zillow Observed Rent Index, by city and single-family by metro · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: An observed rent index of $1,470 for the City of Tallahassee in August 2026, against $1,448 a year earlier, up 1.5%, A single-family observed rent index of $1,650 for the Tallahassee metro area in August 2026, against $1,619 a year earlier, from the metro single-family file
  101. Rent estimates summary, September 2026 · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: For the City of Tallahassee (FIPS 1270600), September 2026: $1,296 overall, $1,100 for one bedroom and $1,309 for two, with rents down 0.31% on the month and 0.43% on the year, For Leon County: $1,290 overall, $1,106 for one bedroom and $1,288 for two
  102. Median household income, median home value, median gross rent and tenure, tables B19013, B25077, B25064 and B25003, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median household income of $56,511 in Tallahassee city, against $63,548 in Leon County and $77,735 for Florida, A median owner-occupied home value of $294,500 in Tallahassee city, 39,706 of Tallahassee's 89,217 occupied homes owner-occupied, and a median gross rent of $1,369 against $1,812 for Florida
  103. Median gross rent by bedrooms, table B25031, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Tallahassee city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median gross rent of $1,239 for one bedroom, $1,401 for two and $1,592 for three
  104. Monthly homeowners' association and condominium fee, tables B25142 and B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Tallahassee city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: 17,174 of 39,706 owner-occupied units paying a required homeowners' association or condominium fee, 6,936 of them less than $25 a month, A median monthly fee of $44 among them, and 1,906 paying $300 or more a month
  105. Utility rate pricing plans · City of Tallahassee Utilities · retrieved
    Supports: A stormwater charge of $11.00 per month; residential garbage at $28.19 per month for regular homes, $64.64 for premium service and $18.92 for an additional container, Residential electric: a customer charge of $10.29 single phase and an effective billing rate of $0.13583 per kWh (energy $0.09518 and fuel $0.04065), Residential gas: a customer charge of $12.93 per month and an effective billing rate of $1.42287 per CCF, Water: a minimum charge of $17.75 per month and a 50% surcharge outside the City; sewer: a customer charge of $26.09 per month and $0.83458 per cgal
  106. About your utility bill · City of Tallahassee Utilities · retrieved
    Supports: Stormwater and Fire Service lines on the City's utility bill
  107. Department: Electric and Gas Utility · City of Tallahassee (OpenGov) · retrieved
    Supports: The Electric Utility serving over 128,000 customers in a 221-square-mile service territory, Natural gas through 965 miles of underground mains serving over 34,000 customers in Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties
  108. Tallahassee sued over fire services fee charged through utility bills · Fire Law Blog · retrieved
    Supports: A Fire Services Fee imposed since 1999 as a flat monthly charge on City utility bills, at two monthly rates by geographic zone, the inner zone paying more, The City Commission's September 2025 decision to readopt the fee and approve a 9.98% increase, effective 1 October 2025
  109. Complaint, Inman-Johnson et al. v. City of Tallahassee, Second Judicial Circuit · Fire Law Blog (court filing) · retrieved
    Supports: Filed electronically on 17 November 2025, Resolution 25-R-45, adopted in September 2025, implementing a 9.98% increase in the Fire Services Fee charged monthly to each residential utility customer
  110. City commissioners move forward with revised fire service fee · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: The increase costing approximately $2 extra per month for most residents
  111. Leon County residents now pay fire fee on property tax bill · WCTV · retrieved
    Supports: Residents outside the city limits paying the fire services fee on the property tax bill, about $230 depending on the zone, The City Commission raising the fee by 10% only on its own residents
  112. Property taxes: discounts for early payment · Leon County Tax Collector · retrieved
    Supports: A 4% discount if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February
  113. Property Insurance Stability Report, July 1, 2026 · Florida Office of Insurance Regulation · retrieved
    Supports: Average premiums for Leon County from data reported as of 31 March 2026: homeowners $2,538 with wind and $1,710 without; condominium unit owners $846 and $441, Actual charged premium varying by company, insured value, deductibles and policy terms
  114. Florida homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Tallahassee premium of $2,640 a year, $220 a month, against $8,345 in Miami, updated 20 February 2026
  115. Renters insurance in Florida · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Tallahassee renters premium of $138 a year, $12 a month
  116. Flood prevention and preparedness information · City of Tallahassee, Stormwater Management · retrieved
    Supports: A substantially improved or damaged home, where the repairs or renovations equal or exceed 50% of the structure's market value, brought up to the NFIP and City flood ordinance requirements, elevated to at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation, Tallahassee citizens and businesses receiving up to a 25 percent discount on flood insurance
  117. CRS eligible communities, April 2025 · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved
    Supports: The City of Tallahassee (community 120144) in Class 5 from 1 October 2022, a 25% discount in the special flood hazard area; Leon County also Class 5
  118. National Flood Hazard Layer, FIRM panels · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved
    Supports: Leon County's countywide FIRM, DFIRM 12073C, with panels effective 18 August 2009
  119. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Hermine (AL092016) · National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Landfall along the Florida Big Bend coast just east of St. Marks at 0530 UTC on 2 September 2016, About 65% of electric customers (75,000 in all) without power in the City of Tallahassee, the most significant damage to its system since Hurricane Kate in 1985
  120. Hurricane Hermine (2016) · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: Approximately 80% of customers in Tallahassee losing power during the hurricane
  121. NWS Tallahassee newsletter, June 2024 · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: Three tornadoes through Leon County on 10 May 2024, two of them EF-2 with maximum winds of 115 mph converging on Tallahassee, More than 400 broken utility poles, more than Hermine, Irma and Michael combined on the City's count, and two storm-related deaths
  122. Post tropical cyclone report, Hurricane Helene: impact narratives · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: In Leon County at the peak, roughly 53,000 City of Tallahassee utility customers and 35,000 Talquin Electric customers without power, A mandatory evacuation of mobile and manufactured homes, and 3 homes destroyed and 27 with major damage
  123. Rule 69O-186.003, Florida Administrative Code: title insurance rates · Florida Department of State, Florida Administrative Code · retrieved
    Supports: An owner's title insurance premium of $5.75 per $1,000 of liability to $100,000 and $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million
  124. Section 627.701, Florida Statutes: liability of insureds; hurricane deductibles · The Florida Legislature · retrieved
    Supports: An insurer offering hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the policy dwelling limits
  125. Flood: Citizens' flood insurance requirements · Citizens Property Insurance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Under section 627.715, Florida Statutes, most new and renewing Citizens personal residential policies with wind coverage required to carry flood insurance by 1 January 2027
  126. FloodSmart · Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance Program · retrieved
    Supports: Most homeowners insurance not covering flood damage
  127. SB 4-D (2022): Building Safety, chapter 2022-269, Laws of Florida · The Florida Senate · retrieved
    Supports: Milestone inspections required of condominium and cooperative associations, and a prohibition on waiving or reducing reserves for certain items after a specified date
  128. Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program · Florida Housing Finance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time, income-qualified buyers in eligible occupations employed full time by a Florida-based employer, Up to 5% of the first mortgage, a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000, as a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage that is not forgivable