Tampa Bay continues to lead the nation in attracting new residents, according to two recent economic studies.

The 2025 Regional Competitiveness Report and the 2025 Tampa Bay E-Insights Report, released on February 14, compare Tampa Bay with 19 similar metropolitan areas. Key findings include:

• A more educated population, with rising numbers of residents earning associate, bachelor’s, and graduate degrees.
• “Encouraging, if modest” declines in affordability pressures, such as the percentage of income spent on housing and transportation.
• A 6.5% increase in enrollment among 3- and 4-year-olds, alongside a nearly 2% rise in kindergarten readiness.
• Third-grade reading proficiency improved by almost 6%, reaching nearly 54%.
• Kindergarten readiness saw an additional 2% boost, a crucial milestone as children transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

Overall, the Regional Competitiveness Report highlights continued progress, with Tampa Bay showing year-over-year improvements in 43 of 67 key indicators (64%) and rising in more than a third of the tracked metrics.

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