Best Places33603, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 33603, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
33603 ranks 13,678th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 33603
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
33603's strengths and weaknesses
Where 33603 ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of zip codes
Where 33603 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 33603
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 33603 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,629, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 33603's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 33603
33603's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 33603.
Who works in 33603, and how
Work in 33603 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 33603
33603 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 81% of zip codes. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 33603 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 33603, month by month
33603 sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 62° | 52° |
| April | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 88° | 78° | 70° |
Flying in and out of 33603
Tampa International sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.1 million passengers in 2025, with 135 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 33603
Schools across 33603 average a B−, better than 62% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Trinity School For ChildrenA− · 61% proficient
- Patricia Sullivan Metropolitan Ministries Partnership SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Mendenhall Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stewart Middle Magnet SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Madison Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Memorial Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Hillsborough High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Middleton High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Jefferson High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 33603 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
33603 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 33603 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 33603
Is 33603 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 33603 ranks 13,678th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 33603 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $387,732. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $77,629 median income, cost of living beats 54% of zip codes.
Is 33603 safe?
33603 is safer than 10% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $394 per resident a year.
Compare 33603 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 33603. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 33603 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
33603 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 33603: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 33603: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 33603: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 33603: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
33603 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.