From Worst To 1st: How FL's "Cigar City" Went From The City With the Highest Inflation To The Lowest

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Although it arguably may not feel like when Floridians go to the grocery store or out to eat, inflation has slowed in the summer of 2024. Specifically, pandemic-era inflation reached over 9% in some areas while today, the consumer price index stood at 3% in June of 2024. One city in Florida - Tampa - has seen one of the most dramatic declines in the entire country.

About "Cigar City's" Inflationary Issues and Turnaround: Because of Ybor City, Tampa has a rich cigar history and it still has 23 working Cigar factories - so it is still known as "cigar city."

In June of 2022, Tampa was said to have the highest inflation rate in the nation at 11.2% and this was also true in the summer of 2023 when Tampa had double the inflation rate in the nation.

So What Changed?: So how did Tampa go from worst to first? In May of 2024, Tampa had an inflation rate of only 1.8%, the lowest of 23 metros that were recently examined using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Experts say that part of the reason Tampa has seen a reversal is development, particularly new apartment construction. As a result, rent in the city has declined by 6% in some areas. Brian Adcock, chair of the Tampa Bay Chamber, explained it this way:

“Tampa is a fast-growing area, and there’s significant building going on because we have a lot of available land in surrounding areas like Hillsborough County and Pasco County. There are a lot more neighborhoods now and that’s the key difference with Miami.”