Industry in St. Petersburg, Florida

With more than 4 million visitors to the greater Suncoast area annually (generating more than $2 billion in direct revenue), St. Petersburg's economy has traditionally been fueled by tourism. But the city's economy is actually more broad-based, and major growth industries in the metropolitan area include financial services, manufacturing, medical technologies, information technology, and marine sciences.

St. Petersburg's economy is rooted in financial services. Not only does the city and extending area serve as base for many financial companies, these companies in turn stimulate growth in other industries by providing the financial resources for development and expansion.

The area's research hospitals make it a logical site for medical technology firms, with more than half of all such companies in Florida's High Tech Corridor based in Pinellas County. Similarly, information technology companies cluster in the region, and downtown St. Petersburg is home to numerous small- and medium-sized software and Web development enterprises.

The city's proximity to Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico make it a prime spot for marine science; in fact, it is the largest marine science community in the Southeast. This segment in the economy is augmented by local research facilities, including the Florida Institute for Oceanographic Research and the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science.

Items and goods produced: computer and office equipment, electronics components, industrial and commercial machinery, plastic products, sensors, defense-related products, micro-electronics, lasers, medical devices, printed circuit boards, pharmaceuticals

The median income for a household in the city was $34,597, and the median income for a family was $43,198.