HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — As part of our Price of Paradise Series, we're looking into changes in rent prices and how salaries compare. This all comes as Tampa continues to grow, and more people now call the Tampa Bay area home.
The experts we spoke to say rent prices are starting to stabilize, and salaries are on the rise. They said these are all good signs for Tampa's economy.
Liz Wilke is the principal Economist for Gusto, which tracks changes in pay across the country.
“Tampa has far outstripped other cities that we look at in terms of pay growth over this period,” Wilke said.
She explained that the average earnings in Tampa increased by about 5% in the past year. The national average was just 1%.
Wilke said the reason points to the high demand for workers in the area.
“Tampa is number four on the list of new business creation and business applications. We are seeing no shortage of opportunity,” she said.
That list comes from the Census Bureau of Business Formation Statistics. As salaries start to rise, we looked into how rental rates compare.
“Rents are starting to fall versus where they were last year, but they’re stabilizing in terms of month-over-month change," said Kate Terhune, one of the directors at Rent.com.
She said we are going to see a new normal in rent, explaining this month's average rent is down about 3% from this time last year.
As we look ahead, Terhune said they are expecting to see a 63% increase in new units available this year.
“So when there’s more units available that tends to bring prices down,” Terhune said.
She said she expects prices to continue to come down throughout 2024.
