Pinellas County, Florida: County Guide

Pinellas County is a 280-square-mile peninsula on Florida's Gulf coast, wedged between the Gulf of America and Tampa Bay, and Clearwater is its county seat.

From tip to tip, Pinellas runs 38 miles long and 15 miles at its widest, with 588 miles of coastline and 35 miles of beaches (Pinellas County fast facts). Only Union County has less land, yet Pinellas packs in 3,425 people per square mile, the highest density of any Florida county; Broward is next at 1,470. To move that many people, Pinellas County has around 4,500 miles of paved roads and more than 400 bridges.

Pinellas took its name from the Spanish punta pinal, point of pines, and it became Florida's 48th county on January 1, 1912, after a local referendum split it from Hillsborough County. The Gandy Causeway opened in 1924 as the first bridge across Tampa Bay, cutting the trip from St. Petersburg to Tampa from 43 miles to 19, and the Sunshine Skyway tied Pinellas to Manatee County in 1954. The highest natural ground in Pinellas County is just 110 feet, in the Countryside area of Clearwater near State Road 580.

Pinellas County has 24 incorporated municipalities, from St. Petersburg and Clearwater to Belleair Shore, and almost one third of the county is unincorporated land governed directly by the county.

The 24 Pinellas municipalities are Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Shore, Clearwater, Dunedin, Gulfport, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth City, Largo, Madeira Beach, North Redington Beach, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach, St. Petersburg, Seminole, South Pasadena, Tarpon Springs and Treasure Island (Pinellas municipalities). Municipal elections in Pinellas are nonpartisan. St. Petersburg is the largest Pinellas city, and Tarpon Springs was the first to incorporate, in 1887 (Pinellas County fast facts).

Pinellas County Government describes itself as a mix of 25 governmental bodies: one for each of the 24 cities and one for the unincorporated area (About Pinellas County). Residents of unincorporated Pinellas are governed by, pay taxes to and get services from the county, and cannot vote in municipal elections. Special taxing districts, such as the Palm Harbor Library District, fire districts and street lighting districts, add their own millage where residents approve it.

Mailing addresses mislead in Pinellas. Post office names do not follow city limits: Belleair residents have a Clearwater address, while Palm Harbor and Ozona have their own post offices but are not incorporated municipalities (About Pinellas County). Before assuming which city answers a permit or code question, Pinellas residents can check whether an address is in unincorporated Pinellas County with the county's lookup (Pinellas municipalities).

An estimated 963,481 people lived in Pinellas County in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 5-year survey, and their median age was 49.0.

More than one Pinellas resident in four, 26.4 percent, was 65 or older, and 11.2 percent were Hispanic or Latino (ACS DP05, Pinellas County). Some 12.4 percent of Pinellas residents were born abroad, and 15.9 percent of those age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (ACS DP02, Pinellas County).

Pinellas households reported a median income of $72,646, and commuters averaged 25.2 minutes each way (ACS DP03, Pinellas County). Of the 520,107 housing units in Pinellas County, 69.5 percent of the occupied ones were lived in by their owners; the median owner-occupied home was worth $355,100, and median gross rent stood at $1,642 (ACS DP04, Pinellas County).

The comparison flags stale numbers on the county's own site. The Pinellas Fast Facts page still gives a median household income of $56,737 and relies on the 2020 Census count of 959,107 (Pinellas County fast facts), well behind the current Census Bureau estimates for Pinellas. For grant applications, business plans or rent comparisons, the ACS 2020-2024 figures above are the current ones.

Pinellas County is run by a seven-member Board of County Commissioners, chaired in 2026 by Dave Eggers of District 4, with day-to-day operations led by County Administrator Barry Burton.

The 2026 Pinellas commission is Chris Scherer (District 1), Brian Scott (District 2), Vince Nowicki (District 3), Dave Eggers (District 4, chairman), Chris Latvala (District 5, vice chairman), Kathleen Peters (District 6) and René Flowers (District 7) (Pinellas Board of County Commissioners). The board adopts county ordinances, approves the Pinellas County budget, sets property tax millage and governs unincorporated areas directly. It also approves the budgets of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Sheriff and the Supervisor of Elections, while the Tax Collector and Property Appraiser budgets go to the State Department of Revenue.

Pinellas commission meetings are held twice a month, usually but not always on the first and third Tuesdays (Pinellas Board of County Commissioners). The earlier meeting starts at 9:30 a.m.; the later one opens at 2 p.m. and reconvenes at 6 p.m. for public hearings, including zoning. Most are held in the fifth floor Assembly Room of the Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, or in the Palm Room at 333 Chestnut Street.

County Administrator Barry A. Burton, the chief administrative officer of Pinellas County Government, works from 315 Court Street in Clearwater, phone (727) 464-3485 (Pinellas County Administrator). General questions go to the county's main line, (727) 464-3000, staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (Pinellas County fast facts).

The Pinellas Property Appraiser, Tax Collector and Supervisor of Elections each run their own offices around the county rather than inside a single county building.

Property Appraiser Mike Twitty's Pinellas offices are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the Mid County office on Starkey Road in Largo is co-located with the Tax Collector (Pinellas County Property Appraiser). The office posted on July 7, 2026 that a new Florida law will require more accurate property tax estimates on residential real estate listings.

Pinellas Tax Collector Adam Ross handles driver licenses, tags, titles and property tax payments, and appointments are no longer required for most services (Pinellas County Tax Collector). The Florida Division of Elections lists Julie Marcus as Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections at 13001 Starkey Road, Largo, phone 727-464-8683, with the office website at votepinellas.gov (Florida Division of Elections, Pinellas County).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Pinellas County website.

Pinellas County orders evacuations by surge-based zone, and residents of mobile and manufactured homes must always leave when an order is given, because of the wind risk.

Pinellas evacuation zones map where storm surge could occur, and anyone in a zone named in an order must leave (Pinellas County evacuation). During Hurricane Idalia in 2023, Pinellas County ordered a mandatory level A and mobile home evacuation. Pinellas County Emergency Management, reachable at (727) 464-3800, also urges residents in non-evacuation areas to judge whether a home is strong enough to stay in, considering the year it was built, its materials, the age of the roof and whether it has impact windows or shutters.

Pinellas County holds a high flood insurance rating: FEMA lists Pinellas County (community 125139) at Community Rating System class 2, worth 40 percent off premiums inside the special flood hazard area and 10 percent outside it, with flood maps effective August 24, 2021 (FEMA NFIP community status, Pinellas County).

Recovery from Idalia, Helene and Milton is still under way in Pinellas. The Pinellas Recovers Homeowner Rehabilitation/Reconstruction Program, last updated August 1, 2026, offers up to $375,000 to rehabilitate, rebuild or relocate a primary residence damaged by Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and/or Milton; second homes are not eligible, and property in the City of St. Petersburg is not eligible (Pinellas Recovers homeowner program). People First Help Centers in Clearwater, at 2600 McCormick Dr., and St. Petersburg, at 5000 Park St. N., are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the help line is 727-606-3307 (Pinellas Recovers homeowner program).

The Digital Towns St. Petersburg guide is the in-depth library for the largest city in Pinellas County, and this county page is the entry point for the other 23 Pinellas municipalities and the unincorporated area.

The St. Petersburg guide is organized around the city's own questions: civic engagement and government, demographics, the economy and industries, real estate, schools and healthcare, utilities and transportation, the environment, wildlife and native plants, agriculture, weather and safety, and leisure in parks, recreation, sports, landmarks, places and events, plus the city's history. Clearwater, Largo, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs and the beach towns from St. Pete Beach to Indian Rocks Beach do not have separate Digital Towns guides yet.