The Tampa Bay MSA has the lowest Gross Regional Product per capita among the comparison
MSAs
Unemployment rates rose steeply in 2020 for all the MSAs, including Tampa Bay, and
declined in 2021.
Income inequality in the Tampa Bay MSA has been declining for the last few years.
Investments in higher education and labor force participation are key to economic
growth.
The Black-White unemployment rate gap and the Black-White poverty rate gap have been
declining steadily for the Tampa Bay MSA over the years.
Consumer spending in the Tampa Bay MSA dropped in the month of April 2020 and has
been increasing steadily ever since. Since March 2021, the consumer spending in Tampa
Bay has been consistently above its value posted in January 2020.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
The Tampa Bay MSA is among the low performing MSAs on innovation-related indicators
such as patents per 10,000 residents, university research and development expenditures,
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
awards per capita, and Business R&D-to- GRP ratio.
The Tampa Bay MSA has consistently been among the top half of the comparison MSAs
in terms of the business establishment entry rate. However, the business establishment
entry rate has generally been on a declining trend for the Tampa Bay MSA over the
years.
Education:
The Tampa Bay MSA is one of the top performing MSAs in terms of the first-time-in-
college student enrolment rate.
The Tampa Bay MSA has been among the low performing MSAs in terms of degree production
per 10,000 residents. However, in terms of STEM degree production per 10,000 residents,
the Tampa Bay MSA’s competitive position has been steadily improving.
The Tampa Bay MSA stands at fifth position in terms of Black-White educational attainment
rate gap as of 2019.
Health Care:
The performance of the Tampa Bay MSA in terms of public health status is generally
low with a high cardiovascular disease prevalence rate, and a high depression prevalence
rate.
The Tampa Bay MSA suffered highest COVID-19 incidence rate among the comparison MSAs
in August 2021.
The Tampa Bay MSA stands third in terms of Vaccination among Florida MSAs.
The Tampa Bay MSA is performing poorly in terms of both availability and affordability
of Health care. The Tampa Bay MSA has high population-to-primary care provider and
population-to-mental health provider ratios among the comparison MSAs.
The Tampa Bay MSA is among the top MSAs in terms of Medicare spending per capita.
However, Tampa Bay consistently ranks among bottom five position in terms of Health
Resources and Service Administration grants per capita.