St. Petersburg, FL — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Florida·St. Petersburg

Pinellas County · Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater · population 267,102

Renter-friendlyBig-city amenities
St. Petersburg, FL
Image: Wikipedia · St. Petersburg, Florida
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48
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where St. Petersburg stands

Home values down 5.6% in the last year.

Median home $352,315
1-year -5.6%
5-yr CAGR +4.2%
vs 5-yr peak -11.5%
Population +0.8%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2024-05$352k$157k$242k$328k$414k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
52/100
Somewhat walkable
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
38/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
90/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,069/mo$1,387$1,803$2,220202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent123140100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 14.2
Buy

At a 14.2 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in St. Petersburg on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.2 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
23 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
60 · w22%
Distance from peak
41 · w18%
Population growth
62 · w16%
Rent YoY
39 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
79 · w10%
Long thesis

St. Petersburg has held up across the cycle: home values at $352,315 with +4.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

St. Petersburg is down 5.6% over the last 12 months and the trend isn't flattening. Falling knife rule applies: you don't catch one with your hands, you wait for it to hit the floor and stop moving.

About St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, with an estimated population of 267,102. It anchors the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. The population grew 0.8% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in St. Petersburg is $352,315 as of 2026-04, down 5.6% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.2% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 11% below its 5-year peak. Rents in St. Petersburg average $2,069 per month, down 1.2% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 48 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

Bull case

The data is the data: St. Petersburg has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

Bear case

Prices actively falling: down 5.6% in the last 12 months — buyer sentiment has flipped. Sellers competing on price.
11% off recent peak — buyers are getting through-the-cycle pricing, not the peak.

About St. Petersburg (Wikipedia)

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the state that is not a county seat. It is the second-most populous city in the Tampa Bay area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Florida with an estimated population of about 3.29 million in 2022.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

Area135.49 sq mi
Elevation36 ft
Founded1888
Motto"Always in Season"
Density4175.08/sq mi
Named forSaint Petersburg, Russia

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Things to see in St. Petersburg(Tourism)

  • Salvador Dalí Museum
  • Dalí
  • The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Tampa Bay Area
  • Museum of Fine Arts
  • Chihuly Collection
  • Dale Chihuly
  • Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement
  • Great Explorations
  • Mahaffey Theater
  • The Coliseum

+15 more on Wikipedia.

Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Pinellas County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Pinellas County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like St. Petersburg

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
70° / 51°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
90° / 73°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
233
~64% of year
Annual precip
54″ rain
0″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very high
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
Low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Very high

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current St. Petersburg listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
76%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$67,900
Florida state median
Top industries (state-level)
TourismHealthcareConstruction

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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