WalletHub, an online personal finance tool, dubbed Tampa the fifth overall best U.S. city for recreation and St. Petersburg the sixth in another installment of its best and worst rankings.
A couple months ago, St. Pete and Tampa made WalletHub’s list of the 100 Best and Worst Cities for Staycations. This time around, landing in the top 10, they join locales like Cincinnati (No. 1), Orlando (No. 2) and St. Louis (No. 7) on the 100 Best and Worst Cities for Recreation list.
Twenty-four factors — including average food and drink costs, coffee and tea shops per capita and the prevalence of affordable four-and-a-half-star-and-up restaurants — were considered by WalletHub during its deliberation.
Tampa and St. Pete ranked 11th for food price and 53rd for drink price, and although St. Pete ranked 56th for coffee and tea spots, Tampa was 40th.
The country’s most populous cities spent more than $6.2 billion combined on parks and recreation last year, according to WalletHub.
Here’s a full list of how Tampa and St. Pete’s offerings scored:
Tampa(1=best)
44 - Acres of parkland per capita
53 - Average drink price (beer and wine)
11 - Average food price (pizza and burgers)
45 - Bowling costs
40 - Coffee and tea shops per capita
25 - Number of attractions per capita
13 - Number of beaches per capita
27 - Park playgrounds per capita
19 - Spending on parks per capita
15 - Swimming pools per capita
St. Pete
23 - Acres of parkland per capita
53 - Average drink price (beer and wine)
11 - Average food price (pizza and burgers)
45 - Bowling costs
56 - Coffee and tea shops per capita
33 - Number of attractions per capita
4 - Number of beaches per capita
19 - Park playgrounds per capita
20 - Spending on parks per capita
18 - Swimming pools per capita