Census-designated place · Pinellas County, Florida

Palm Harbor, Florida

Palm Harbor is a census-designated place in Pinellas County, Florida, part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area. It has 61,512 residents. Palm Harbor, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 62 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,968 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #182 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), distance to an airport (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on rent-burdened households (high), rent as share of income (high) and drought exposure (high).

62High

Quality-of-life score: #5,968 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #182 of 780 in FL
Population: 61,512 (2020-2024)
Land area: 17 mi²
Density: 3,543.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1254350

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.

Safety36#9,971/15,637
Economy66#5,309/15,631
Housing2#14,709/14,977
Health62#5,901/15,609
Healthcare60#6,201/15,650
Environment51#7,487/15,453
Education85#2,399/15,649
Infrastructure60#6,321/15,650
Community63#5,812/15,651
Leisure & amenities94#860/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Palm Harbor, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Pinellas 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 · high40.4 /1k
99/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauPinellas County value
Distance to an airport · low8 mi
96/100Florida 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauPinellas County value
Comfortable days · high35.8%
95/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPinellas County value
Distance to an emergency room · low2.9 mi
93/100Florida 4.8 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPinellas County value
Pharmacies · high2.7 /10k
93/100Florida 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPinellas County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.3%
93/100Florida 87.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePinellas County value

Weaknesses

Rent-burdened households · high73.8%
0/100Florida 60.1%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · high41.1%
5/100Florida 35.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drought exposure · high92%
5/100Florida 78%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAPinellas County value
Injury deaths · high132 /100k
8/100Florida 97 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePinellas County value
Hot days · high100 days
10/100Florida 102 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPinellas County value
Mental health care shortage · high18.0
11/100Florida 16.3United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPinellas County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
51.3% (2015-2019) → 73.8% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
31.1% (2015-2019) → 41.1% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$59,557 (2015-2019) → $78,935 (2020-2024)
+33%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
34.1% (2015-2019) → 40.6% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.9× (2015-2019) → 5.1× (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.6% (2015-2019) → 90.6% (2020-2024)
+5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Palm Harbor, Florida improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 5 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved4

Uninsured−4 points13.0% → 9.0%
Bachelor's++6.4 points34.1% → 40.6%
Household income+33%$59,557 → $78,935
Broadband+5.9 points84.6% → 90.6%

Declined4

Rent burden+22 points51.3% → 73.8%
Rent / income+10 points31.1% → 41.1%
Price / income+1.2×3.9× → 5.1×
Poverty+3.1 points7.1% → 10.3%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Palm Harbor, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.3 min2015-2019	26.7 min2020-2024	−0.7 min	Within the margin of error	56%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.1%2015-2019	40.6%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Improved	76%
Broadband subscriptions	84.6%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Improved	37%
Child poverty rate	7.9%2015-2019	10.8%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Effective property tax rate	0.95%2015-2019	0.71%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	65%
High school diploma or higher	94.6%2015-2019	96.0%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	5.1×2020-2024	+1.2×	Declined	15%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4492015-2019	0.4732020-2024	+0.024	Within the margin of error	31%
Median household income	$59,5572015-2019	$78,9352020-2024	+33%	Improved	61%
Poverty rate	7.1%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Declined	20%
Rent as share of income	31.1%2015-2019	41.1%2020-2024	+10 points	Declined	9%
Rent-burdened households	51.3%2015-2019	73.8%2020-2024	+22 points	Declined	7%
Unemployment rate	4.5%2015-2019	3.3%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.0%2015-2019	9.0%2020-2024	−4 points	Improved	82%

“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 Palm Harbor, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Palm Harbor, 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, Palm Harbor, Florida itself moved −6.7 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

61,512 residents (±2,245)

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

27,154 households (±1,047)

Palm Harbor, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k13%3,599
$25k–50k17%4,601
$50k–75k17%4,741

Homes

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

Owners and renters

27,154 households (±1,047)

Palm Harbor, Florida
Florida share

Own78%21,141
Rent22%6,013

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+5.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

28,892 workers (±1,515)

Palm Harbor, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone68%19,648
Carpool5.2%1,504
Public transit0.2%†54

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 Pinellas County, the county holding most of Palm Harbor's residents.

Pinellas County has 32,509 employer establishments, 337 for every 10,000 residents (1.36× the US rate of 248; 1.20× Florida's), with 425,004 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,991. The Census Bureau also counts 111,471 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 32,509; 111,471 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 337; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 425,004
Average annual pay: $59,991; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	3,218	33.3	1.60×More than typical	33,049	$74,978	6,165
Lessors of real estate	2,221	23	1.87×More than typical	7,144	$55,380	14,129
Restaurants and other eating places	2,024	21	1.14×About typical	39,903	$24,255	489
Specialty trade contractors	1,874	19.4	1.25×More than typical	18,020	$61,451	5,179
Management, scientific and technical consulting	1,626	16.8	2.51×More than typical	9,706	$83,216	4,997
Offices of physicians	1,143	11.8	1.83×More than typical	11,667	$106,872	1,143
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,073	11.1	1.65×More than typical	5,783	$36,089	7,086
Real estate agents and brokers	1,056	10.9	2.25×More than typical	1,678	$57,271	4,322
Offices of other health practitioners	966	10	1.65×More than typical	4,144	$45,838	2,577
Full-service restaurants	933	9.7	1.26×More than typical	23,049	$27,410	227
Legal services	917	9.5	1.77×More than typical	4,460	$89,638	937
Limited-service restaurants	826	8.6	1.07×About typical	13,883	$19,891	159

Rank places for an industry Open Pinellas County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 965,743 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 $6.1M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Palm Harbor, Florida: $99.40 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $6.1M; −73% vs FY2025
Per resident: $99.40; US $1,994
Sole-source: 42%; US 30%
Single offer: 52%; 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 the Navy$3.1M51%
Department of Veterans Affairs$2.7M44%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$270.4K4.4%
National Institutes of Health$15.4K0.3%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$8690.0%
Defense Contract Management Agency$3300.0%
Defense Logistics Agency$1650.0%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

626.3KFY2017
150.9KFY2018
658.7KFY2019
13.3KFY2020
121.4KFY2021
199.1KFY2022
181.5KFY2023
6.9MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Scientific research and development services · 5417$3.1M51%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$2.7M44%
Business schools and computer and management training · 6114$270.4K4.4%
Software publishers · 5132$15.4K0.3%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$8690.0%
Converted paper product manufacturing · 3222

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Palm Harbor, Florida

SBIR PHASE III RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT$13M
PARETO FRONTIER LLC· Pinellas County, FL· Research & development· Sep 25, 2025 – Jan 22, 2026· N6833525F0367
COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS PERIMETER SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM$1.2M
MULTI-DOMAIN GLOBAL SOLUTIONS LLC· Pinellas County, FL· Research & development· Aug 15, 2024 – May 20, 2026· FA864924P1015
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT$745.1K
PARETO FRONTIER LLC· Pinellas County, FL· Research & development· Dec 4, 2025 – Jan 5, 2026· N6833526C0026
IMPLANT

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 Palm Harbor, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Palm Harbor, Florida's figures are part of those of Pinellas County, FL ($777.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.8% of that total.

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

See federal money in Pinellas 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.

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

House

Senate

County

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

Pinellas County71100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL64

Other cities and towns in Pinellas 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/1254350

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends