The 7 BEST BEACHES in Tampa to Live | A-to-Z Price Guide
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This article is a direct transcription of our YouTube video, the video is linked at the bottom.
In today's article, we are breaking down seven of the absolute best beach towns across all of Tampa Bay, Florida. But rather than base this video on random personal opinion, the entire ranking order was driven by cost efficiency. We're going to look at the real estate sales, the geography, why that possibly matters. We're going to also look at the lifestyle and much, much more. So hope this one adds you a ton of value and let's get started.
Before I fully hop in, I just want to really quick hit some structural tidbit. So Tampa Bay as a whole, the low hanging fruit here is Tampa doesn't have any beaches. If you read that title, Tampa doesn't actually have beaches, but Tampa Bay does. So Tampa Bay is a three county conversation. It's Hillsborough, that's your Tampa, Tampa, and it goes a little bit to the east and south of that, but it's really Tampa. Pasco County, you go far enough north, both the inland side above Tampa, when you switch to like Wesley Chapel, that'll switch to Pasco and Zephyr Hills and Land O' Lakes. And on the coastal side, if you get high enough above Clearwater Beach, and you hit like the New Port Richey and the Holidays, and you get far enough north, that'll switch to Pasco. Pinellas County is your coastal county. So Pinellas covers St. Petersburg, it covers Tierra Verde in Clearwater and Dunedin and Safety Harbor, that's Pinellas. So that's where all your beaches lie. But this is still part of the Tampa Bay Metro. So if you live in Tampa, those are your beaches.
Now when you're looking at this conversation from a macro perspective, you're usually looking at Gulf Coast, right? So the southmost version of the Gulf Coast, if you've already decided I don't like the Atlantic as much, is Marco Island. So you have Naples. Naples, Fort Myers as an area, versus Sarasota as an area with your Siesta Keys and your Long Boat Keys and your Anna Maria Island, Sarasota, Manatee County. Tampa would be your kind of city metro. That would be your most comparable to just a larger metro, a Jacksonville, a Miami. It's a good, happy medium. And Orlando is not coastal. So Tampa's your coastal version. Or you hop all the way to the Panhandle and you look at like a Seaside and a Gulf Breeze and a Pensacola and a Destin in that area. So that's really what you're comparing here.
But really you're not really shopping Pensacola versus Tampa, right? Tampa is, I'm either doing Sarasota, Naples, or Tampa or I'm taking a different path. So that's how you work your way down the funnel here. That's why I say Tampa, because you're not thinking the beaches of St. Pete, because that's just one part of Pinellas County. It's really Tampa Bay as a metro.
So I took a bigger approach to this idea. So I wanted to see the rankings of all the beaches included and see if there's anything that popped out that was surprising from a cost perspective. My feeling was Tampa based beaches were some of the cheapest in the state to actually reside in, to buy real estate in, to live day to day, or to invest in. So I took 24 months back of sold properties. So all the way back, 720 plus days of sold properties. I looked at all the active and the pending as well. So all the currently on Zillow or have a contract but haven't closed yet, to say what are people trying to get versus what they did get. And then I took cost of living. So cost of living versus Florida. So groceries, gas, utilities, general cost to living from the national rankings. And then I took that against Florida and against the United States. So Florida is about three points higher on versus the US average. So I wanted to see versus if you're already in the state, what is it versus that, versus the United States as a whole? Created my own ranking, like Adam Hancock score, and this is the Tampa version of that.
So I'm going to talk through how they relate to each other. I'm going to rank them in order by the most expensive to the least. I'm going to look at the geography, I'm going to talk through the stats and the lifestyle. And I'm also going to tell you where they existed in all of the Gulf Coast. So there's 25 walkable Gulf Coast beach towns, in my opinion, the entire state of Florida. I'm going to say where they set in that ranking as well. So that's what we're going to do here. And let's hop directly into the first one on the list, which is actually number seven. We're going to work our way down.
Belleair Beach / Belleair Shores
Okay, the first one on our list, Belleair Beach slash Belleair Shores. From a numbers perspective, the Belleair Beach area was ranked number 15 out of 25 total beach towns, as far as cost efficiency, number one would be the cheapest and number 25 the most expensive. Over the 24 month period, the average sold home price was just under $1.1 million. The median sold price was just under $800,000. So some outlier action there with beach property weighing up the average. Current active homes, the average list price is $1.8 million, so creeping up there, and the median is about $1.4 million. And from a cost perspective, Belleair Beach, Florida is technically 53% more expensive than the US city average.
Geography-wise, Belleair Beach and Belleair Shore are going to put you on the northern side of the Pinellas County beach situation. You're going to be just south of Clearwater Beach, just north of Indian Rocks, and then your eastern mainland neighbor is going to be Belleair Bluffs, Belleair itself, and the Largo greater area. So what is it puts you by being on the north side is you're going to shoot 20 miles down to downtown St. Pete, and then 26 miles straight over to downtown Tampa.
From a feel and lifestyle perspective, the Belleair area is going to be your secluded laid back version. So you have 4,000 plus feet of shoreline there, a lot of these waterfront, lovely mansion homes around. But from a people perspective, there's a lot less reason for people to randomly be there if they don't live there. So that creates, there's not a ton of public restrooms and recreation, not a ton of parking. So that creates a laid back vibe overall, less crowds, not a bunch of active public sports. So if you're looking for a little bit more of a quaint laid back environment, in a beautiful setting, whether boating or just recreation on the beach, Belleair would be a good fit for that.
Redington Beach
Okay, next up is number six on this list and we are talking Redington Beach. From a numbers perspective, Redington Beach was ranked number 13, so two slots under Belleair Beach as far as the top 25 in all of the state of Florida for Gulf Coast Beach properties. The sold average was $892,000 over the last 24 months. The sold median home price was $732,000. From an active listings and pending listings, you have an average active listing of $1.23 million with a median of $779,000. And surprisingly, Redington Beach actually from a cost of living perspective, is technically 1% cheaper than all of the other cities in the US as a whole.
Geography wise, the Redington area is going to be working your way down south. It's going to be just slightly south of Indian Rocks and Indian Shores, slightly north of Madeira Beach. If you go east, your closest mainland district is going to be called Seminole. And then you're just because of your Southern location, you're just 12 miles down to downtown St. Pete. And then about 28 miles shooting over on 275 to downtown Tampa.
From a lifestyle perspective, the Redington area, similar in certain ways to Belleair, it's a little sneaky. This one creeps in under the radar between Madeira Beach and Indian Shores and Indian Rocks in a lot of people's minds. Doesn't draw a lot of crowds. But between those two beach communities, you have about a mile of shoreline, in just a laid back arena. So it's very nature centric looking, it's very quaint. But for long walks, for kind of a peaceful time at the beach, it's a little bit more docile. I mean, my perspective, that's how I would describe Redington to the layman.
Madeira Beach
On to number five, Madeira Beach. All right, from a numbers perspective, Madeira Beach, aka Mad Beach, surprise me a little bit. I thought Madeira in my head, based on what I've seen, was close to the top five of all of Florida. It actually came in at number 12 overall. So we have 15, 13, and 12 now just in Pinellas County. $817,000 was the average sold home price over the last 24 months. $710,000 was the median sold home price. Active listings right now, 1.1 million average listing home price and just a 900,000, just a, but a $900,000 median listed home price right now. So you had some more expensive properties. And just like Redington, cost of living wise, Madeira Beach as a town is considered 1% cheaper than the US average as a whole.
From a map perspective Madeira Beach is going to work even further down south. It's going to be just below Redington Shores and just above Treasure Island. This one is a little bit more water based on all sides. It actually, the mainland strip of Seminole and Boca Ciega kind of runs out into water. So it sits right above that. And then it's about parallel to Jungle Terrace and Jungle Prada. You're going to be 12 miles here to downtown St. Petersburg and about 27 miles one way to downtown Tampa.
From a lifestyle perspective, like I mentioned earlier, the thing with Madeira Beach is really John's Pass. So John's Pass kind of fisherman village area is a mix of shops, restaurants, and has about a 100 foot boardwalk that lines that Intercoastal. Beyond that, Madeira Beach is about I think two and a half to three total miles of beach itself. So tons of area there, in comparison to others. And you're going to attract, because of the location and all that has offered with John's Pass, you're going to attract people that want to do the John's Pass and the beach thing. But then also fishing's going to be a big spot here with that kind of mix of the Intercoastal and the Gulf and all that. And technically, Madeira Beach has more, or John's Pass rather, has more grouper, the fish, brought into that area than any other single place in the entire state.
Indian Rocks / Indian Shores
Okay, we are just past the halfway point, and we're talking number four, Indian Rocks slash Indian Shores. And Indian Rocks, from a numbers perspective, is going to take the 11th slot as far as the top 25 in Florida as a whole when it comes to Gulf Coast. So we have 15, 13, 12, and 11 now. $909,000 average sold price, 690,000 median. So you have some really expensive properties weighing up average, where the median actually has more than half of the properties here are under $700,000. Active listings right now, 1.5 million active list price with an 825K median. So you have a similar scale there. And then this one, unlike the last two, 34% more expensive of a town to live in than the US average. So where the property prices are similar, the actual town itself, net-net is more expensive to reside in.
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The Indian Rocks area is going to be working your way back up north. And this one is going to be situated pretty close to the mainland. It's a very small strip of Intercoastal that divides the beach from the mainland here. And Indian Shores is even greater than Indian Rocks in that respect. Your mainland to the east is going to be Largo, Florida. You're situated below Belleair and below Clearwater, and just to the north of Treasure Island, Madeira and St. Pete Beach.
Okay, the Indian Rocks, Indian Shores area from lifestyle perspective, in my mind it's a little bit fits that happy medium. So it's not maybe as desolate as Redington or Belleair or as quaint or laid back rather, but it's also not like a central hub like a John's Pass or a St. Pete Beach or a Clearwater, so it's going to fit in the middle there. This one's going to have three miles between those two in total beach. So tons of coastline there. 27 different beach access points for the public. And then because you are a happy medium, you're not like one way or another way. You do have, it's known for its dining. You have shops, you have restaurants, you do have things to do, but maybe don't have to be in the thick of the hustle bustle in a way that some of the other neighboring beaches would be.
Clearwater Beach
And number three, the always popular Clearwater Beach, Florida. For Clearwater Beach here we're going to start getting interesting. So Clearwater Beach ranked number six overall in the entire state of Florida, Gulf Coast wise, for cost efficiency. $904,000 average price, $623,000 median. So more than half of these properties are under that amount. $1.5 million of what people are trying to get for active listings right now. $699,000 for the median of that list price too. So very similar. And then Clearwater Beach is considered the cheapest on this entire list from a cost of living perspective, at 2% under the national average.
All right. And number three, Clearwater Beach locationally is going to be about the northernmost real tip of Barrier Island on the Gulf Coast beyond Pensacola. So this one's going to run into Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island to the north, but this is the real true Barrier Island beach. Clearwater Beach is about the northernmost tip because there's no real beaches in New Port Richey or Holiday or Dunedin as you go above. Your closest mainland to the east of this district is going to put you basically Dunedin, more or less. And then Safety Harbor would be even further over towards the Bay, parallel to Dunedin. And then this unique location puts you, because you're so far north, it puts you about an equal distance in miles, about 23 to 24 miles, both to downtown Tampa and downtown St. Pete. So interesting overall.
Okay, from a lifestyle perspective, a lot of people are already familiar with Clearwater Beach, but if you're not, this area is going to be a lot more of a destination spot. It's been on the list of top ranking beaches many, many years, a lot of different ways, and you just have a lot more going on. There's always like something going on, but it's still a relatively small town environment in my opinion. But here you're going to have a playground on the beach for kids. You're going to have more people that congregate, more people that vacation. There are ways because the beach's length to go to the north side and get a little bit more away from people if you're looking for that, but you also want kind of that town nearby. You have the aquarium up there as well. The Clearwater Aquarium is, I think that's where Winter the Dolphin, the Tale thing, was housed. Really nice restaurants around that area as well. Caladesi Island is just to the north of it. So that on its own has been on many of the top ranking beach lists as well. So this would be a little bit more if you're looking for that environment, not like you don't want to be completely off the radar, then Clearwater Beach from a style perspective would definitely fit that bill.
Treasure Island
Number two, the runner up on this list, Treasure Island, Florida. Treasure Island, from a numbers perspective, ranked as number four in the entire state for the lowest average cost. $698,000 was the average home sale price. $585,000 was the median. 1.58 million, little bit of indicator of inventory here, is the average list price right now with a median of 937K. So people still trying to get indicative of this market we're in right now, but that might not last. And then Treasure Island itself actually is considered 34% more expensive to live in from a cost of living perspective. So you do want to take that into consideration, but the sales history is what really dropped this one down on the list.
All right, geography wise, Treasure Island puts you just north of St. Pete Beach and below Madeira and all of our northern beaches. You're getting pretty far south here, but beyond just St. Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille. Here east mainland, you're very close to Gulfport, you're very close to Pasadena, Disston Heights, and almost North Kenwood being not too far either. And being so far south, you get to just about eight miles one way to downtown St. Pete and 28 miles one way to downtown Tampa. So you're getting a little bit more in everything St. Pete has to offer by going further south.
Okay, Treasure Island, from a style perspective, this is one when I lived in St. Pete, beyond Pass-a-Grille that I'd go to a lot because I just thought it was, especially with kids, is this one is, one, it's super wide. So goods and bads. If you had a, I think at the time I was carrying a cooler in my life, and it's a really long way to the water. It's kind of like Siesta Key is. But with that width, you're going to have it's popular destination for flying kites and the kids can go crazy and stuff. You're never really stacking on top of people. And then you just really have a little bit of everything. So there's like a water slide for kids, there's beachfront restaurants, like you have Sloppy Joe's. This runs into Sunset Beach. This is a small in between beach, but you have caddies there so you can walk down and get drinks and all that kind of stuff.
But parking wise, there was always a way I could find a way to park in a parking lot and pay for parking, just to have a spot for the day. It was easy to find restaurants, or restrooms rather for kids and all that stuff. So I just thought it was easier at Treasure Island if you're going to kind of describe these beaches versus each other. It was just a nice little normal spot versus trying to do all that St. Pete Beach is or all that Clearwater Beach is or the little bit more private beaches sometimes parking's an issue. And so I think that's where Treasure Island would fit in the scheme of these seven.
St. Pete Beach
And finally, number one, the cheapest, walkable beach town in all of Pinellas County- Tampa Bay Metro as a whole, St. Pete Beach. All right, our top one on this list, St. Petersburg Beach is considered the third cheapest walkable beach town on the entire Gulf Coast of Florida. So we have pretty good showing for Pinellas County if you take the whole state into consideration as far as cost. $757,000 was the average home price, 540,000 was the median cost. 1.57 million is the active cost right now, with 1.1 million as the median for average listings. And then this one, just like Treasure Island, it's very similar with that zip code, 34% more expensive to live in as a whole. So all in interesting in my opinion.
All right, geography wise, our number one St. Pete Beach gets you about opposite of Clearwater, almost the southern most tip of Barrier Islands. You have Pass-a-Grille below it, you have Shell Key, you have Tierra Verde and Fort De Soto Park, but really the beach that you would go to, St. Pete Beach is about the southernmost area, almost separated just by a bridge to Anna Maria Island on a map. So this puts you very close to Pinellas Point. You're below downtown St. Pete by getting that far south. Gulfport, downtown St. Pete is just a stone's throw from the area. And downtown Tampa's going to be like a 30 mile jaunt over to the Hillsborough County mainland.
All right, finally, lifestyle for St. Pete Beach. So St. Pete Beach in 2021 was rated number one in the entire United States from a beach town, according to TripAdvisor and number five in the entire world. This has been a popular destination spot for a long period of time. And the cool thing about Pinellas County, in my opinion, with the popularity of having Clearwater and St. Pete Beach all in the same county, and these are always on the top five lists, is that the sheer variety of all the other ones I mentioned, all the in betweens are always going to draw people out a little bit. And then St. Pete downtown is on the Bay side. So all that separation will create where it's not like you have one Outer Banks or something where everyone goes to or one Daytona Beach. So if you read the reviews and all that kind of thing from people visiting, I'm from here, but if you read the reviews of people visiting, a lot of people mention, "The traffic's not that bad, it was very quaint. People didn't really bother us." And you have a place that's number one in the entire United States on a list. So kind of crazy.
But this is going to have all the things that come with being that level of popularity. You're going to have great seafood restaurants, you're going to have plenty of things to do. more than just putt putt golf. There's live music, the resort lifestyle, especially there with Tradewinds and I think Sirata. Lovely, a way more quaint version of the beach resorts that a Miami would have. So a little bit more turnkey, easier in and out and the private sections of the beach that they contain. There's public beach parks like Upham and a couple more. So I think overall, I think it's a really interesting spot. It's very far south. So you have Pass-a-Grille and you have Sunset right there. You can shoot down to Fort De Soto Park. This one's also very close to downtown St. Pete, which is unbelievably in vogue at the moment right now. You have the St. Pete Pier that was just redone and people are cool in general.
So I think it's typically, I'm as being a real locals local, I would say, I'm not a huge fan of the popular touristy type of beaches, but I think Pinellas County is different in the respect that it's not that hard to find something for really everyone in the crew.
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