IB in Tampa / St. Pete?

After starting FT quickly realized the big city life is not for me. I’ve been looking into long-term locations and Tampa seems like a great place to settle down. Warm weather, active lifestyle, ability to have a car, raise a family, etc.

Given I’ve never visited, would be great to understand the culture from someone familiar and why it’s great / not great. How is Tampa for someone in mid-to-late 20’s and beyond? Any other places I should consider as long-term options?

20 Comments
 

Nicer downtown and more to do. There are no bars in downtown tampa and the city is a ghost town at night. Most bars are in soho if you are looking to hang with college students. St Pete you are by Clearwater and the best beaches in America. Plenty of bars! It's more upscale and less "trashy"

 

I’ve lived in Tampa my whole life. Great city. Cost of living is low, economy is booming, and there’s a lot of development happening. I like to call Tampa a “big, small town”, where it has a large population but there’s a lot of inner circles and people who know each other. One of my favorite things about Tampa is how compact it is. You can get to anything from south Tampa/downtown radius within 20 minutes. When comparing Tampa and St Pete, I will say that St Pete has a better downtown, though that gap is narrowing. Outside of downtown and beaches, St Pete isn’t that nice. People there are a little more eclectic and the bar scene is better though, if that’s what you’re looking for.

As far as jobs go, Raymond James is here. My wife works there, and we live in Tampa and her commute is 20 minutes. You don’t need to live in st Pete to work there, but I would recommend being close to one of the bridges. Baird is also growing their office here. We also have Pwc, Accenture, JPM, BoA, and Citi with big presences.

 

Nobis quis commodi tenetur qui ullam impedit. Beatae repellendus similique eum. Consequuntur nesciunt vel nesciunt omnis temporibus iusto.

Odio sunt omnis numquam. Repudiandae similique quis molestiae quae tenetur. Nesciunt animi architecto quas. Dolores ut quia velit et.

Harum ut nihil quo rem neque recusandae iure. Laudantium itaque ut non quidem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”