Census-designated place · Hillsborough County, Florida

Gibsonton, Florida

Gibsonton is a census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area. It has 18,754 residents. Gibsonton, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,556 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #519 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), depression (low) and broadband subscriptions (high). It ranks worst on rent-burdened households (high), hot days (high) and public libraries (low).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,556 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #519 of 780 in FL
Population: 18,754 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 1,463.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1225900

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety61#6,010/15,637
Economy43#8,939/15,631
Housing8#13,715/14,977
Health52#7,551/15,609
Healthcare36#10,024/15,650
Environment25#11,547/15,453
Education22#12,133/15,649
Infrastructure66#5,290/15,650
Community27#11,479/15,651
Leisure & amenities70#4,648/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Gibsonton, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Hillsborough County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New business applications · high27.7 /1k
97/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHillsborough County value
Depression · low17.6%
92/100Florida 18.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Broadband subscriptions · high96.8%
91/100Florida 91.6%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Comfortable days · high32.5%
89/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHillsborough County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.7 mi
84/100Florida 4.8 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHillsborough County value
Distance to an airport · low12 mi
83/100Florida 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHillsborough County value

Weaknesses

Rent-burdened households · high61.4%
3/100Florida 60.1%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Hot days · high118 days
4/100Florida 102 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHillsborough County value
Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
5/100Florida 0.2 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHillsborough County value
Rent as share of income · high37.0%
6/100Florida 35.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drought exposure · high91%
6/100Florida 78%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAHillsborough County value
Students per teacher · high19.7×
8/100Florida 18.3×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsHillsborough County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Median household incomeImproving
$52,696 (2015-2019) → $83,875 (2020-2024)
+59%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.3% (2015-2019) → 96.8% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
41.3% (2015-2019) → 37.0% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Poverty rateImproving
20.0% (2015-2019) → 17.2% (2020-2024)
−2.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Unemployment rateImproving
7.9% (2015-2019) → 5.4% (2020-2024)
−2.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Average commute timeWorsening
29.8 min (2015-2019) → 33.0 min (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Gibsonton, Florida improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+59%$52,696 → $83,875
Broadband+12 points85.3% → 96.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Gibsonton, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.8 min2015-2019	33.0 min2020-2024	+3.2 min	Within the margin of error	19%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.8%2015-2019	19.2%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Broadband subscriptions	85.3%2015-2019	96.8%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	67%
Child poverty rate	23.5%2015-2019	22.2%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Effective property tax rate	1.13%2015-2019	0.76%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	82%
High school diploma or higher	80.4%2015-2019	81.6%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	3.6×2015-2019	3.6×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	76%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4172015-2019	0.4472020-2024	+0.030	Within the margin of error	27%
Median household income	$52,6962015-2019	$83,8752020-2024	+59%	Improved	90%
Poverty rate	20.0%2015-2019	17.2%2020-2024	−2.7 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent as share of income	41.3%2015-2019	37.0%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Rent-burdened households	60.5%2015-2019	61.4%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Unemployment rate	7.9%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.7%2015-2019	15.4%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	50%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Gibsonton, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Gibsonton, Florida in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Gibsonton, Florida itself moved +4.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

18,754 residents (±1,859)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

6,092 households (±555)

Gibsonton, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k14%864
$25k–50k18%1,082
$50k–75k13%800

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

6,092 households (±555)

Gibsonton, Florida
Florida share

Own70%4,239
Rent30%1,853

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

9,378 workers (±1,025)

Gibsonton, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone72%6,711
Carpool10%945
Public transit0.5%†49

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Hillsborough County, the county holding most of Gibsonton's residents.

Hillsborough County has 42,977 employer establishments, 276 for every 10,000 residents (1.11× the US rate of 248; 0.98× Florida's), with 697,689 paid employees at an average annual pay of $67,804. The Census Bureau also counts 215,060 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 42,977; 215,060 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 276; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 697,689
Average annual pay: $67,804; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Hillsborough County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	4,033	25.9	1.24×About typical	46,946	$81,864	11,967
Specialty trade contractors	3,065	19.7	1.27×More than typical	32,869	$57,232	14,431
Lessors of real estate	2,735	17.6	1.43×More than typical	10,480	$66,586	17,095
Restaurants and other eating places	2,374	15.3	0.83×About typical	46,453	$25,164	1,374
Management, scientific and technical consulting	1,790	11.5	1.71×More than typical	17,052	$80,554	6,479
Legal services	1,480	9.5	1.77×More than typical	12,429	$116,821	1,436
Offices of physicians	1,429	9.2	1.42×More than typical	16,867	$114,411	1,808
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,364	8.8	1.30×More than typical	15,413	$34,494	20,416
Real estate agents and brokers	1,334	8.6	1.76×More than typical	2,699	$88,947	5,569
Construction of buildings	1,159	7.4	0.98×About typical	8,923	$101,522	10,678
Offices of other health practitioners	1,084	7	1.15×About typical	6,214	$50,001	3,801
Limited-service restaurants	1,074	6.9	0.86×About typical	18,559	$19,981	481

Rank places for an industry Open Hillsborough County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,556,456 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $28.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Gibsonton, Florida: $1.50 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $28.2K; −98% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.50; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 30%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$130.3K100%
U.S. Geological Survey$30K100%
Department of the Navy$22.5K80%
National Institutes of Health$7,43926%
Food and Drug Administration$1,8216.5%
Environmental Protection Agency$1,0043.6%
Bureau of Reclamation$3151.1%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

111.2KFY2017
108.3KFY2018
147.5KFY2019
251.3KFY2020
498.2KFY2021
623KFY2022
4.8MFY2023
588.9K

Top industries (NAICS)

Offices of other health practitioners · 6213$123.1K100%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$45.9K100%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$30K100%
Educational support services · 6117$22.5K80%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance · 8113$6,70024%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Gibsonton, Florida

FABRICATION AND DELIVERY OF STENNIS SPILLWAY GATE #2 FOR JOHN C. STENNIS LOCK AND DAM ON THE TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY NEAR COLUMBUS, MS$3.2M
PRECISION BUILD SOLUTIONS LLC· Hillsborough County, FL· Other equipment & supplies· Feb 22, 2023 – Nov 12, 2025· W9127823C0005

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Gibsonton, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Gibsonton, Florida's figures are part of those of Hillsborough County, FL ($2.3B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Gibsonton is mostly in Hillsborough County.

See federal money in Hillsborough County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Gibsonton, Florida is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Rick ScottR-

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Hillsborough County63100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL64

Other cities and towns in Hillsborough County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1225900

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends