The 10 Worst St. Petersburg Suburbs


The worst St. Petersburg suburbs are Palmetto and Bradenton based on Saturday Night Science. Find out where your town ranks.

More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround St. Petersburg to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises: what suburbs of St. Petersburg are the worst?

Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which St. Petersburg ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the St. Petersburg area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to St. Petersburg proper, although Redington Shores certainly tries.

We examined the 24 biggest suburbs of St. Petersburg to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Florida lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of St. Petersburg in terms of quality of life.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of St. Petersburg? Palmetto ranks as the worst suburb of St. Petersburg for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Florida check out the best places in Florida overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around St. Petersburg too.

The 10 Worst St. Petersburg Suburbs To Live For 2024

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 13,384
Median Income: $55,584 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $392,169 (8th lowest)
More on Palmetto: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

We’ll get the ball rolling with Palmetto, the absolute worst place to live around St. Petersburg according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Palmetto beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the St. Petersburg area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 8th worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Palmetto.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Bradenton, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 55,795
Median Income: $55,795 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.7% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $388,561 (6th lowest)
More on Bradenton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Welcome to Bradenton. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 19.2 miles to St. Petersburg. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $55,795 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Pinellas Park, FL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 53,352
Median Income: $62,306 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.1% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $319,993 (lowest)
More on Pinellas Park: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Back up the highway we go for the third worst St. Petersburg suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Pinellas Park on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other St. Petersburg suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

Tampa, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Zeng8r | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 388,768
Median Income: $66,802 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $391,344 (7th lowest)
More on Tampa: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

If you live in Tampa, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 12th lowest St. Petersburg suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 9th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near St. Petersburg. Remember, we looked at 24 cities for this study.

Tampa is about 17.5 miles to downtown.

Clearwater, FL

Source: Wikipedia User 2candle | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 116,984
Median Income: $59,358 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $370,771 (5th lowest)
More on Clearwater: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Clearwater has the distinction of being a St. Petersburg suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Clearwater has the 5th lowest home values in the metro St. Petersburg area, where the median price is $370,771. The median income is $141,250.

Clearwater has an unemployment rate of 4.67% which ranks 15th worst.

Oldsmar, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Wknight94 talk | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 14,877
Median Income: $73,984 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $398,002 (9th lowest)
More on Oldsmar: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Oldsmar has 14,877 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 13.900796080832825%.

Temple Terrace, FL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 26,818
Median Income: $62,415 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (19th highest)
Median Home Value: $327,406 (2nd lowest)
More on Temple Terrace: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Ah, Temple Terrace. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around St. Petersburg.

It’s the place with the 19th most out of work residents in the St. Petersburg metro area (3.45%).

Largo, FL

Source: Wikipedia User The original uploader was Baylink at English Wikipedia. Copyright 2005 Jay R. Ashworth. | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 82,541
Median Income: $56,266 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $357,692 (3rd lowest)
More on Largo: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Largo is a city about 12.6 miles from St. Petersburg, but St. Petersburg probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Largo has the 7th most uninsured people, 5th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (5.03%) in the entire St. Petersburg metro area.

Homes only cost $357,692 for a reason. That’s cheap for St. Petersburg standards.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,334
Median Income: $48,490 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (highest)
Median Home Value: $363,694 (4th lowest)
More on South Pasadena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

If you absolutely have to live near St. Petersburg, then South Pasadena might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst St. Petersburg suburb.

About 6.84% of residents are out of work.

Tarpon Springs, FL

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 25,355
Median Income: $63,836 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $424,180 (13th lowest)
More on Tarpon Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Rounding out the ten worst St. Petersburg suburbs to call home is Tarpon Springs.

Located 28.0 miles outside the city, Tarpon Springss is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 6th highest unemployment rate (5.54%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around St. Petersburg for 2024

To figure out how bad a St. Petersburg suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school dropouts
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of St. Petersburg.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 24 suburbs to evaluate around St. Petersburg.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 24 in each category, where 1 was the “worst.”

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near St. Petersburg.” We’re looking at you, Palmetto.

We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around St. Petersburg.

Summary: The areas around St. Petersburg where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding St. Petersburg with Palmetto casting itself ahead of the pack.

The worst suburbs of St. Petersburg are .

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around St. Petersburg aren’t all bad. Redington Shores takes the cake as the best place to live around St. Petersburg.

  • Redington Shores
  • Longboat Key
  • Belleair

For more Florida reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst St. Petersburg Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Palmetto 13,384 $55,584 $392,169
2 Bradenton 55,795 $55,795 $388,561
3 Pinellas Park 53,352 $62,306 $319,993
4 Tampa 388,768 $66,802 $391,344
5 Clearwater 116,984 $59,358 $370,771
6 Oldsmar 14,877 $73,984 $398,002
7 Temple Terrace 26,818 $62,415 $327,406
8 Largo 82,541 $56,266 $357,692
9 South Pasadena 5,334 $48,490 $363,694
10 Tarpon Springs 25,355 $63,836 $424,180
11 Sarasota 55,508 $68,870 $462,175
12 Belleair Bluffs 2,476 $51,913 $415,321
13 Gulfport 11,796 $60,461 $398,423
14 Dunedin 36,089 $63,824 $445,513
15 Seminole 19,287 $69,417 $401,887
16 Madeira Beach 3,931 $71,712 $789,884
17 Indian Rocks Beach 3,689 $92,283 $890,350
18 Treasure Island 6,590 $87,941 $634,262
19 St. Pete Beach 8,905 $112,578 $715,388
20 Safety Harbor 17,087 $102,670 $519,382
21 Holmes Beach 3,076 $94,545 $1,155,122
22 Belleair 4,295 $114,556 $700,159
23 Longboat Key 7,479 $141,250 $1,105,402
24 Redington Shores 2,078 $96,250 $812,674
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

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