While big cities like St. Petersburg offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.
With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around St. Petersburg. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near St. Petersburg without actually having to be in the city.
Of course, not all suburbs of St. Petersburg are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater St. Petersburg area.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 best suburbs to live around St. Petersburg for 2024:
What’s the best suburb of St. Petersburg? Redington Shores ranks as the best suburb of St. Petersburg for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Redington Shores, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 St. Petersburg ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Florida:
The 10 Best St. Petersburg Suburbs To Live For 2024
1. Redington Shores, FL
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Population: 2,078
Median Income: $96,250
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Redington Shores: Real Estate
Redington Shores is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the St. Petersburg area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Redington Shores.”
Everyone here is rich; families average $96,250 a year, which is the 5th highest in the St. Petersburg region. And only 1.88% are out of work. Homes average more than $812,674 each.
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Population: 7,479
Median Income: $141,250
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Longboat Key: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Longboat Key is the second best ‘burb we looked at near St. Petersburg for 2024.
It ranks 1st for incomes in the area and only 1.73% of residents lack insurance, good for best.
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Here in Belleair, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the St. Petersburg metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Belleair.
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Holmes Beach ranks as the 4th best suburb of St. Petersburg for 2024.
You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Holmes Beach and the schools are some of the best around.
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Population: 17,087
Median Income: $102,670
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.5%
More on Safety Harbor: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Coming in as the fifth best is Safety Harbor.
Safety Harbor gets kudos for having the 9th most expensive homes in the St. Petersburg area, where houses sell for an average of $519,382. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 8,905
Median Income: $112,578
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Poverty Rate: 6.1%
More on St. Pete Beach: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
St. Pete Beach is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 5.66%.
According to online reports, St. Pete Beach is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the St. Petersburg area, meaning you need to get in soon.
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Population: 6,590
Median Income: $87,941
Unemployment Rate: 5.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.8%
More on Treasure Island: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Treasure Island.
Treasure Island schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it’s only 7.6 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
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Indian Rocks Beach is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 11.37% of people lack insurance, good for 14th in the area.
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Is ‘Everything Better In Madeira Beach?’
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
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Population: 19,287
Median Income: $69,417
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 10.5%
More on Seminole: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
And rounding out the top ten for 2024 is Seminole.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around St. Petersburg for 2024
Figuring out the best suburbs around St. Petersburg was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.
We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2018-2022 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:
- Low unemployment rate
- High median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college-educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of St. Petersburg.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 24 suburbs to evaluate around St. Petersburg.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 24 in each category, where 1 was the “best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near St. Petersburg.” We’re lookin’ at you, Redington Shores.
This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.
We updated the data for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best St. Petersburg suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best St. Petersburg ‘Burbs of 2024
We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.
The best suburbs of St. Petersburg are .
So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like St. Petersburg but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.
For more Florida reading, check out:
Table: Best St. Petersburg Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redington Shores, FL | 2,078 | $96,250 | $812,674 |
| 2 | Longboat Key, FL | 7,479 | $141,250 | $1,105,402 |
| 3 | Belleair, FL | 4,295 | $114,556 | $700,159 |
| 4 | Holmes Beach, FL | 3,076 | $94,545 | $1,155,122 |
| 5 | Safety Harbor, FL | 17,087 | $102,670 | $519,382 |
| 6 | St. Pete Beach, FL | 8,905 | $112,578 | $715,388 |
| 7 | Treasure Island, FL | 6,590 | $87,941 | $634,262 |
| 8 | Indian Rocks Beach, FL | 3,689 | $92,283 | $890,350 |
| 9 | Madeira Beach, FL | 3,931 | $71,712 | $789,884 |
| 10 | Seminole, FL | 19,287 | $69,417 | $401,887 |
| 11 | Dunedin, FL | 36,089 | $63,824 | $445,513 |
| 12 | Gulfport, FL | 11,796 | $60,461 | $398,423 |
| 13 | Belleair Bluffs, FL | 2,476 | $51,913 | $415,321 |
| 14 | Sarasota, FL | 55,508 | $68,870 | $462,175 |
| 15 | Tarpon Springs, FL | 25,355 | $63,836 | $424,180 |
| 16 | South Pasadena, FL | 5,334 | $48,490 | $363,694 |
| 17 | Largo, FL | 82,541 | $56,266 | $357,692 |
| 18 | Temple Terrace, FL | 26,818 | $62,415 | $327,406 |
| 19 | Oldsmar, FL | 14,877 | $73,984 | $398,002 |
| 20 | Clearwater, FL | 116,984 | $59,358 | $370,771 |
| 21 | Tampa, FL | 388,768 | $66,802 | $391,344 |
| 22 | Pinellas Park, FL | 53,352 | $62,306 | $319,993 |
| 23 | Bradenton, FL | 55,795 | $55,795 | $388,561 |
| 24 | Palmetto, FL | 13,384 | $55,584 | $392,169 |
