Best PlacesDowntown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, 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.
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg ranks 2,162nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
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.
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,918, 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 Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg's effective rate of 1.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg runs older than the country, 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 Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg.
Who works in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, and how
Work in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 51%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 92% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, month by month
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 54. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 61° | 54° |
| April | 83° | 75° | 68° |
| July | 91° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 86° | 78° | 73° |
Flying in and out of Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 16 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
Schools across Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg average a C+, better than 52% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- North Shore Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Campbell Park Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Hopkins Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Petersburg High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Pinellas Mycroschool Of Integrated Academics And TechnologieD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg 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 Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg
Is Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg ranks 2,162nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a strong job market, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat 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 Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $763,081. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $75,918 median income, cost of living beats 56% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg safe?
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg is safer than 41% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg 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.
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg 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.