2024 E-Insights Report

Economic Competitiveness

In this section, the USF research team analyzed the performance of the Tampa Bay region鈥檚 economy, looking at indicators that broadly measure the economic growth and prosperity of a region. The specific indicators used were personal income per capita, household debt-to-income ratio, and the percentage change in real GDP.

Please refer to Tampa Bay鈥檚 Regional Competitiveness Report for insights on common economic indicators such as Gross Regional Product, Poverty Rate, Unemployment Rate, Labor Force Participation Rate, and Educational Attainment Rate. This section explores indicators not covered in the Regional Competitiveness Report and complements it.

Key Insights

  • For most of the MSAs including Tampa Bay, personal income per capita has been increasing, while the debt-to-income ratio has been declining over the years. Tampa Bay did not fare well when compared to other MSAs, ranking in the bottom five for these two indicators.
  • The economic competitiveness analysis of the Tampa Bay region paints a less rosy picture as indicators are showing a declining competitive position against other comparison group MSAs.