Pinellas County

Pinellas County, Florida — key demographics (latest official estimates)

Population size

• 975,000± (2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimate; 2020 Census count: 959,107)
• One of Florida’s most densely populated counties; modest growth since 2010

Age

• Median age: about 48 years
• Under 18: ~19%
• 65 and over: ~26%
• Skews older than Florida and the U.S.

Gender

• Female: ~52%
• Male: ~48%

Racial/ethnic composition

• White alone: ~84–85%
• Black or African American alone: ~11%
• Asian alone: ~4%
• Two or more races: ~4%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~10–11%
• Non-Hispanic White: ~74–75%

Households and housing

• Households: ~455,000–460,000
• Average household size: ~2.15–2.20
• Family households: ~55–57% of households
• Married-couple households: ~43–45%
• One-person households: ~35–37%
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~67–69%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2023 Population Estimates; 2019–2023 American Community Survey). Insights reflect ACS point estimates and decennial counts.

• Population baseline: 975,000 residents (Pinellas County, 2023 est.); Florida’s most densely populated county (3,500 residents per sq. mi.), which supports strong network coverage.
• Estimated email users: ~820,000 residents (about 84% of the population), derived from high internet access rates (ACS) and near‑universal email use among internet users (Pew).
• Age distribution of adult email users (18+): 18–29: 16%; 30–49: 30%; 50–64: 24%; 65+: 29%. Pinellas’ older age profile means a notably large share of email users are 65+ despite slightly lower adoption in that group.
• Gender split among users: Women ~52%, men ~48% (email adoption is near‑equal by gender, so the user base mirrors the county’s population mix).
• Digital access and trends:
  • Households with a computer: ~94%; with home broadband: ~89% (ACS 2022).
  • Fixed broadband availability: ≥99% of locations have 25/3 Mbps; ≈96% have ≥100/20 Mbps service (FCC), with widespread cable/fiber from major ISPs.
  • Smartphone‑only internet households: ~18%, indicating robust mobile access alongside home broadband.
  • Public connectivity: All Pinellas Public Library Cooperative branches provide free Wi‑Fi; urban cores (e.g., St. Petersburg, Clearwater) offer dense hotspot coverage. Insight: High density and near‑universal internet access drive broad email penetration across all ages, with especially large absolute numbers among older adults.

Mobile phone usage in Pinellas County, FL — summary with county-specific statistics and how they differ from Florida overall

Scale and adoption

• Population and households: ~980,000 residents and ~470,000 households (ACS, 2022–2023).
• Households with a smartphone: Pinellas ~90% vs Florida ~91% (ACS S2801, 2018–2022 5-year). This slight under-index reflects an older age profile locally.
• Households with a cellular data plan (any portable device): Pinellas ~85% vs Florida ~86% (ACS S2801).
• Cellular-only internet households (smartphone/tablet plan but no fixed home internet): Pinellas ~10% vs Florida ~12% (ACS S2801). Pinellas relies less on mobile-only access than the state.
• No home internet subscription of any kind: Pinellas ~11% vs Florida ~12–13% (ACS S2801).

User estimates

• Estimated smartphone users: about 750,000–770,000 residents use smartphones regularly in Pinellas. This derives from the county’s age mix and ACS-reported household smartphone penetration together with national age-specific adoption rates concentrated among adults and teens.

Demographic breakdown (directionally county-specific; ACS S0101, S2801 and standard age-adoption patterns)

• Age:
  • Pinellas has a larger 65+ share (26%) than Florida overall (21%). That age structure pushes overall smartphone adoption slightly below the state.
  • Modeled adoption by age locally: 18–44 ~95–97%; 45–64 ~88–92%; 65+ ~75–80%. The older cohort is the main drag on countywide averages.
• Income:
  • Smartphone-only internet is concentrated among lower-income households but is still less common than statewide: under $35k ~16–18% in Pinellas vs ~18–21% statewide; $75k+ ~4–6% in Pinellas vs ~6–8% statewide (ACS S2801 patterns).
  • Fixed broadband (cable/fiber) take-up is comparatively high in Pinellas at all incomes, helping suppress mobile-only reliance.
• Race/ethnicity:
  • As elsewhere in Florida, Black and Hispanic households in Pinellas are more likely than White households to be smartphone-only, but the county’s gaps are narrower than the state average because fixed broadband availability is dense in urban corridors:
    • Smartphone-only internet: Black ~14–16%, Hispanic ~15–17%, White ~8–10% in Pinellas versus higher statewide shares for the first two groups (ACS S2801 patterns).

Usage and behavior trends that differ from the Florida average

• Lower mobile-only dependence: Pinellas households are less likely to rely exclusively on cellular data for home internet than the state, owing to strong cable coverage and urban density.
• Slightly lower aggregate smartphone penetration: The county’s older age profile trims overall adoption compared to Florida, even though working-age adoption is near universal.
• Higher fixed-broadband anchoring: Cable/fiber penetration in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, and the beach municipalities reduces the need to substitute with mobile data and slows uptake of fixed wireless access compared with parts of inland Florida.
• Seasonal and tourism effects: Visitor influx and snowbird season produce heavier, time-bound mobile congestion along Gulf Boulevard, downtown St. Petersburg’s waterfront, Clearwater Beach, and around Tampa International/St. Pete–Clearwater airports, creating a bigger seasonal swing than the state average.

Digital infrastructure points

• Radio access networks:
  • All three national carriers operate 5G across the county. T‑Mobile’s 2.5 GHz mid-band and AT&T/Verizon C‑band deployments blanket the urban core; population coverage is effectively countywide, with remaining low-band 5G/4G fallbacks in parks and on barrier islands where siting is constrained.
  • Small-cell density is notably higher than the state average along beach corridors and downtown St. Petersburg/Clearwater to handle tourist peaks and stadium/event traffic.
• Geography and siting:
  • Barrier islands, coastal height restrictions, and storm-hardening requirements increase the cost of macro sites and favor rooftop/small-cell infill, producing more heterogeneous signal quality than inland Florida counties.
• Backhaul and fixed networks that shape mobile use:
  • Robust DOCSIS and growing fiber footprints (e.g., Spectrum, Frontier) provide high fixed-broadband availability; this improves Wi‑Fi offload and reduces smartphone-only households relative to Florida overall.
  • Public Wi‑Fi is dense in tourism districts (Clearwater Beach, downtown St. Petersburg piers and museums), again reducing cellular-only dependence in those areas.
• Resiliency:
  • Post‑2017 hurricanes drove accelerated backup power, microwave/fiber diversity, and rapid-deploy COWs/COLTs planning. Pinellas’ coastal risk profile means more hardened sites per square mile than many inland Florida counties, and priority traffic on FirstNet is more frequently exercised during storm season.

Key takeaways

• Pinellas is a high-adoption, smartphone-saturated, urban coastal county, but its older population nudges overall smartphone incidence just below Florida’s average.
• Dense fixed-broadband options and extensive public Wi‑Fi keep smartphone-only home internet lower than the state, even among lower-income households.
• Tourism-driven peaks and coastal siting constraints make small-cell densification and resiliency investments more prominent than in most Florida counties.

Pinellas County, FL — social media usage snapshot (2025)

Population and user base

• Residents: ~975,000; adults 18+: ~800,000 (ACS 2023 estimates)
• Any social media: ~72% of adults use at least one platform ≈ 575,000 adult users (Pew Research national adoption applied to local adult base)

Age groups (share using any social media; Pew national rates)

• 18–29: ~85–90%
• 30–49: ~81%
• 50–64: ~73%
• 65+: ~45%

Gender

• Population: ~52% female, ~48% male
• Social media adoption is roughly even by gender; women slightly over-index on Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest, men on YouTube/Reddit/X

Most-used platforms among adults (national adult usage rates; applied to Pinellas 18+ for sizing)

• YouTube: 83% ≈ 664,000 adults
• Facebook: 68% ≈ 544,000
• Instagram: 47% ≈ 376,000
• Pinterest: 35% ≈ 280,000
• TikTok: 33% ≈ 264,000
• LinkedIn: 30% ≈ 240,000
• Snapchat: 27% ≈ 216,000
• WhatsApp: 23% ≈ 184,000
• Reddit: 22% ≈ 176,000
• X (Twitter): 20% ≈ 160,000

Behavioral trends

• Older-skewed county boosts Facebook and YouTube usage; neighborhood/community engagement is strong via local groups and forums
• Facebook Groups/Events and Marketplace are central for local news, buy/sell, schools, and storm/hurricane updates
• Tourism and hospitality fuel Instagram Reels/TikTok discovery (beaches, dining, events), with seasonal spikes during spring/summer
• Daypart patterns: weekday daytime and early evening peaks; retirees active mid-day, younger adults evenings/weekends
• Video-first consumption: YouTube (including on connected TVs) and short-form video dominate; cross-posted Reels/Shorts perform best for completion
• Social commerce: high reliance on Facebook/Instagram for local purchases and lead generation (home services, pet care, health/beauty)

Notes: Platform percentages are from recent Pew Research Center findings for U.S. adults and are applied to the Pinellas 18+ population to yield local counts. The overall user base estimate similarly applies national “any social media” adoption to the local adult population.