Is my home inside city limits? Jurisdiction lookups for Tampa Bay
Short answer
Your mailing address follows post office routes, not city limits, so it cannot tell you which government runs your hurricane recovery program. In Pinellas County this matters most: homes inside St. Petersburg city limits use Sunrise St. Pete, while every other home, including Lealman and other areas with a St. Petersburg address, uses the county's People First programs. Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg each publish an address lookup that answers this directly. In Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota, one county program covers the whole county, so city limits matter mainly for permits and city-only help.
On this page
Why your mailing city can be wrong
The Postal Service names delivery areas after the main post office, not the local government. That is why Lealman, Bay Pines, Tierra Verde and parts of Kenneth City, Pinellas Park, Gulfport and South Pasadena get “St. Petersburg” mail, Feather Sound gets “Clearwater” mail, and much of Town ‘n’ Country, Carrollwood and Citrus Park gets “Tampa” mail. None of those homes is inside St. Petersburg or Tampa city limits. Pinellas County addresses this directly: if you have a St. Petersburg mailing address and are unsure, it asks you to enter your address in its lookup to see which program serves you.
Where the answer changes your program
| County | Does city vs. unincorporated change the recovery program? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pinellas | Yes, for St. Petersburg only | St. Petersburg city limits use Sunrise St. Pete (paused); everywhere else uses Pinellas People First (open) |
| Hillsborough | No | Rebuilding for Tomorrow covers the whole county, including Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City |
| Pasco | No | Better Future covers the whole county |
| Manatee | No | Lasting Manatee covers the whole county |
| Sarasota | No | Resilient SRQ covers the whole county |
| Hernando | No | The state’s Rebuild Florida program served the county (closed) |
Even where the program is countywide, city limits decide who issues your building permits and whether city-only programs, such as the City of Tampa’s housing programs, apply. See the Tampa page.
Official lookups
| Area | Tool | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Pinellas County | Address lookup on the Pinellas Recovers “People First Hurricane Recovery Programs” page (recover.pinellas.gov) | Whether to apply to the county or to Sunrise St. Pete |
| St. Petersburg | Sunrise St. Pete “Check Your Address” lookup (csp.maps.arcgis.com) | Whether your address is inside city limits |
| Pinellas (backup) | Pinellas County Property Appraiser (pcpao.gov) parcel record and tax district | The taxing city for your parcel |
| City of Tampa | GIS Address Look-up, linked from tampa.gov/city-limits | Whether your address is inside Tampa city limits |
| Hillsborough County | Map Hillsborough property locator (maps.hillsboroughcounty.org) | Parcel details and jurisdiction |
| Hillsborough (backup) | Hillsborough County Property Appraiser property search (hcpafl.org) | Parcel record and taxing authorities |
| Pasco | Pasco Property Appraiser search (search.pascopa.com) | Parcel record shows a “Jurisdiction” field (the county commission means unincorporated) |
| Manatee | Manatee Property Appraiser search (manateepao.gov) | Parcel record; note that the county’s open data shows the postal city, which is not the same as jurisdiction |
| Sarasota | Sarasota Property Appraiser property search (sarasotapropertyappraiser.gov) | Search can filter by municipality (Sarasota, Venice, North Port, Longboat Key or unincorporated county); Resilient SRQ verifies location this way |
| Hernando | Hernando Property Appraiser property search (propsearch.hernandocountypa-florida.us) | Parcel record; Brooksville is the county’s only city, so anything outside it is unincorporated |
The programs make the final call using your property address and their own mapping. If a lookup and a program disagree, ask the program in writing and keep its answer.
Communities people often get wrong
| Community | Mailing city | Actually | Recovery program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lealman | St. Petersburg | Unincorporated Pinellas | Pinellas People First |
| Bay Pines, Tierra Verde | St. Petersburg / Tierra Verde | Unincorporated Pinellas | Pinellas People First |
| Kenneth City, Gulfport, South Pasadena | Often St. Petersburg | Their own cities | Pinellas People First |
| Feather Sound | Clearwater | Unincorporated Pinellas | Pinellas People First |
| Palm Harbor, East Lake | Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs | Unincorporated Pinellas | Pinellas People First |
| Town ‘n’ Country, Carrollwood, Citrus Park | Tampa | Mostly unincorporated Hillsborough | Rebuilding for Tomorrow |
| Weeki Wachee | Weeki Wachee | Unincorporated Hernando (no longer a city since 2020) | Hernando options |
| Odessa | Odessa | Pasco (Census place); some Odessa addresses are in Hillsborough | Better Future or Rebuilding for Tomorrow, by parcel county |
| Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key | Bradenton, Sarasota, Longboat Key | Split between Manatee and Sarasota | Lasting Manatee or Resilient SRQ, by parcel county |
The full county-by-county routing table is in the Tampa Bay directory. All topics are on the recovery assistance hub.
Questions people ask
Can I go by my ZIP code?
No. ZIP codes cross city and county lines. Several Pinellas ZIP codes include homes inside St. Petersburg and homes in unincorporated Lealman or small cities. Use the official address lookups instead.
My property tax bill lists a city. Is that reliable?
It is a better clue than your mailing address, because property taxes are levied by the government that actually covers your parcel. The program lookups are still the authority for the program's own decision.
My parcel sits on a county line. Which county program do I use?
The county the parcel is in. Lutz and Odessa addresses span Hillsborough and Pasco, Lakewood Ranch straddles Manatee and Sarasota, and Longboat Key is split between Manatee and Sarasota. Check your property appraiser record.
Sources
- People First Hurricane Recovery Programs (address lookup), Pinellas County (Pinellas Recovers) (October 13, 2026)
- Sunrise St. Pete address lookup, City of St. Petersburg (accessed 2026-10-19)
- City limits, City of Tampa (August 20, 2025)
- Rebuilding for Tomorrow: Single Family Housing, Hillsborough County (accessed 2026-10-19)
- CS/HB 1215 (2020): Abolishes the City of Weeki Wachee, The Florida Senate (June 9, 2020)
- 2020 Census place-by-county reference file, Florida, U.S. Census Bureau (accessed 2026-10-19)
- Map Hillsborough, Hillsborough County (accessed 2026-10-19)
About this guide. DisasterServices.com is an independent publisher. We are not a government agency or a program administrator, we do not take applications or documents, and we cannot tell you whether you qualify. Program rules, income limits and intake status change; confirm everything with the official administrator linked on this page before you act, and apply only through their official website, phone line or help center.
How this page was made. Drafted with AI assistance from the public agency, statute and industry sources listed above, then edited and published by Vincent Wallace. An independent expert has not yet reviewed this page; when one does, their name and the review date will appear at the top. See our editorial policy. Spotted an error? Tell us.