St. Petersburg businesses know that they have the advantage over other businesses. They know that the best place to grow their business is in the "Sunshine City".
The following are some of the many superb rankings given to the City of St. Petersburg and the greater St. Petersburg area:
- 2012 Top 10 City for Job Growth (Business Insider)
- 2012 Lowest-Cost Metro Location for Business (KPMG)
- 7th in Nation for Women-Owned Businesses (American Express OPEN 2012)
- 2011 Top Ten Metro Areas for Aerospace/Defense Manufacturing (Business Facilities)
- 2011 #1 Arts Destination for Mid-Sized Cities by American Style Magazine
- 2011 Top Ten Pro-Business Beach Communities in the South (Southern Business & Development)
- 2010 Second in Nation for Lowest Overall Business Costs (KPMG)
- 2010 Best City for Business (KPMG)
- 2007 "Top 10 Community for Creative Class" (Southern Business & Development)
- "Top 10 Hottest Large City" for business (Inc. Magazine)
- A Top 10 City for Small Business (Dun & Bradstreet)
- "America's Most Livable Community" of the decade (Partners for Livable Communities, a national nonprofit organization that recognizes cities that are innovative in bringing vitality, growth and an improved quality of life to their communities.)
- "100 Best Communities for Young People" - 2006 - 2011 America's Promise (The Alliance for Youth, founded by Chairman General Colin Powell)
- Part of One of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities Worldwide of 2002 (Intelligent Community Forum)
- 12th Largest Media Market in the U.S. (Nielsen Media Research)
- Top 5 Millionaire Growth Market in the U.S. (World Wealth Report 2008)
- No. 2 Airport in the U.S. and No. 3 Best Airport in the World (Conde Nast Traveler)
- No. 2 Best State in the U.S. to Run a Small Business (www.bcentral.com)
- No. 3 Metro Area for Highest Percentage Increase in Employment and No. 4 Metro Area for Highest Percentage Increase in Gross Metropolitan Product (Global Insight/ USA Today)
- No. 4 Best U.S. Metro Area in which to live (Place Related Almanac)
- No. 5 Most Popular Beaches in the U.S. (National Geographic Traveler and Yahoo! Travel)
- No. 6 Top Growth Areas (U-Haul)
- No. 7 Best State Tax System in the Nation (Tax Foundation)
- No. 7 Major Metro Area for Private Construction Intensity (The Philips Institute)
- No. 8 Best Place for Small Business (Entrepreneur Magazine)
- No. 9 Best Area for Manufacturing Expansion and Relocation (Governing Magazine)
- No. 10 Lowest Construction Costs in the U.S. (Expansion Management)
- No. 10 Market for Projected Job Growth (Newsweek Magazine)
- No. 12 State in overall graduation rates for universities (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
- No. 15 MSA for High-tech and Computer Companies (Business Development Outlook Magazine)
- No. 19 Metropolitan Area Health Care Economy in the U.S. (Milken Institute)
- No. 26 Hottest City in America (Expansion Management Magazine)
- No. 1 Mega-Market in the South two years in a row (Southern Business & Development)
- No. 1 in South for Job Announcements (Southern Business & Development)
- St. Petersburg is part of the 2nd largest MSA region in the Southeast United States (St. Petersburg Times)
- No. 4 Best Place to live in the South (Money Magazine)
- 2003 "Most Livable Downtown in the Southeast" (Southern Business & Development)
- Top 10 City for Entrepreneurs in the South (Entrepreneur Magazine)
- No. 14 Best Large Region to Start a Business (Inc. Magazine)
- A Top 15 Best Logistics Metro Area in the Southeast (Expansion Management)
- St. Petersburg is the 4th largest city in Florida (254,225 ; U.S. Census)
- 2nd Largest consumer market in Florida
- Most Educated Workforce in the state; Top 20 in the nation (Business Facilities Location Advisor 2008)
- 2nd Largest labor market in Florida
- St. Petersburg is located in the most densely populated county in the state (948,102 ; U.S. Census)
- No. 1 Best Place for Business and Careers in Florida (Forbes Magazine and the Milken Institute)
- No. 2 Highest Labor Force Participation (UF; Bureau of Economic and Business Research)
- No. 2 Highest Amount of Deposits in state chartered banks and trust companies (UF; Bureau of Economic and Business Research)
- No. 3 Best State for Industrial Diversity, number of new companies and job growth due to new businesses (Center for Enterprise Development)
- St. Petersburg has a cost of living less than the national average and lower than that of Miami, Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale.
- First "Green City" in the State (Florida Green Building Coalition); largest reclaimed water systems in the nation
- Tree City USA – 26 years (National Arbor Day Foundation); largest (seven mile) downtown waterfront parks system in the Southeast