Pinellas County, Florida

Pinellas County is a located in the  of. Its is, and its largest  is. The county is contained entirely within (727), except for sections of, which has area code 813. It shares area code 727 with parts of West. Pinellas along with and Pasco County comprises the -St.Petersburg-Clearwater, often called the.

History


Pinellas County seceded from in, and was named for the  Punta Piñal ("Point of Pines" or "Piney Point"). The, dividing from the , and a small part of the  were incorporated into the county.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,574 (608 ). 725 km² (280 sq mi) of it is land and 849 km² (328 sq mi) of it (53.94%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - east and south (center span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which links St. Petersburg of Pinellas County to the Bradenton area of Manatee County is Hillsborough County so no portion of Pinellas County actually touches Manatee County)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 921,482 people, 414,968 households, and 243,171 families residing in the county. The was 1,271/km² (3,292/sq mi), making it the most densely populated county in Florida. There were 481,573 housing units at an average density of 664/km² (1,720/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 85.85%, 8.96% or , 0.30% , 2.06% , 0.05% , 1.14% from , and 1.64% from two or more races. 4.64% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 414,968 households out of which 22.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.80% were living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.40% were non-families. 34.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.30% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 91.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,111, and the median income for a family was $46,925. Males had a median income of $32,264 versus $26,281 for females. The for the county was $23,497. About 6.70% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the, including 13.90% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.

Incorporated municipalities

 * 1) Town of
 * 2) City of
 * 3) City of
 * 4) Town of
 * 5) City of
 * 6) City of
 * 7) City of
 * 8) City of
 * 9) Town of
 * 10) Town of
 * 11) City of
 * 12) City of
 * 13) Town of
 * 14) City of
 * 15) City of
 * 16) Town of
 * 17) Town of
 * 18) City of
 * 19) City of
 * 20) City of
 * 21) City of
 * 22) City of
 * 23) City of
 * 24) City of

Unincorporated

 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)
 * (Lealman)

Unincorporated Area - Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) Budget
Roughly 280,000 people reside in unincorporated Pinellas County, which represents the 36 percent of the County not located within one of the 24 municipalities. The unincorporated areas include communities from the Pasco County line to Tierra Verde. As an unincorporated resident, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners serves as your local government. A portion of the County budget (Municipal Services Taxing Unit) is paid by residents of the unincorporated area and is devoted to providing municipal services to the unincorporated area that are over and above the services provided to the county as a whole.

Pursuant to 218.64(1) Florida Statute, the county will receive approximately $16,000,000 from the Local Government Half-Cent Sales Tax Program on behalf of Pinellas County’s unincorporated area population for Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08). This is sales tax dollars that the state returns to the unincorporated area via their default local government the Pinellas County BOCC. The county is intending to only allocate $3,000,000 of it to the FY08 Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) Budget (a $2,000,000 reduction from FY07). The accumulated effect of having such a huge portion of one of the major revenue sources diverted from the MSTU Budget is having a detrimental impact on basic public safety and quality of life in the unincorporated area.


 * FY08 is Request and FY07 to FY03 is Budget

Unincorporated communities not

 * (portion annexed by the city of )
 * (portion in CDP)

Unincorporated communities part of Palm Harbor CDP

 * - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Crystal Beach is 34681.
 * - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Ozona 34660.
 * - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Ozona 34660.
 * - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Ozona 34660.

Airports

 * Clearwater Air Park
 * Clearwater Air Park
 * Clearwater Air Park

Mass transit
Pinellas County has the (PSTA) as the public transit provider, with major stops at all local malls and employment centers. There are 197 buses and trolleys that serve 43 routes, in addition to the 2 express routes to downtown Tampa via the Howard Frankland and Gandy Bridges, connecting with HartLine. The 2 main bus terminals are located in downtown Clearwater and downtown St. Petersburg, with routes bisecting and crossing the entire county. During fiscal year 2005-06 PSTA transported 11,400,484 passengers.

Railroads
operates a branch line which sees daily rail traffic from north Tampa though Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Largo, and into downtown St. Petersburg and the adjacent industrial areas.

The former Seaboard Coast Line branch from the western coastal portion of the county was abandoned in the latter portion of the 20th century and converted to a popular recreational trail called the Pinellas Trail.

Major highways

 * including the which connects northern  to  and the  which connects southern  to the  area
 * - 4th Street North/Gandy Boulevard including the which connects southern  to eastern
 * including the which connects eastern  to the  area and northwestern
 * - 4th Street North/Gandy Boulevard including the which connects southern  to eastern
 * including the which connects eastern  to the  area and northwestern
 * including the which connects eastern  to the  area and northwestern
 * including the which connects eastern  to the  area and northwestern

Education
The county is served by the district.

Government Links

 * Pinellas County Government / Board of County Commissioners
 * Pinellas County Property Appraiser
 * Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
 * Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections
 * Pinellas County Tax Collector
 * Pinellas Planning Council
 * Pinellas County GIS Maps

Special districts

 * Pinellas County Public Schools
 * Southwest Florida Water Management District

Judicial branch

 * Clerk of the Circuit Court, Pinellas County
 * Public Defender for the 6th Judicial Circuit serving Pinellas and Counties
 * Office of the State Attorney, 6th Judicial Circuit
 * Circuit and County Court for the 6th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Links of interest

 * Hillsborough County Maps from when Pinellas was part of Hillsborough\
 * Maps of early Pinellas County
 * Pinellas County Florida Cooperative Extension Service
 * Pinellas County Master Gardener Program
 * The Florida Botanical Gardens - A Pinellas County Government Program
 * The Florida Botanical Gardens - A Pinellas County Government Program