(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- A new study by Eaton Realty has quantified one of Tampa Bay's biggest real estate trade-offs: commute time versus home value. The Tampa Commute Cost Index reveals exactly how much homebuyers are paying (or saving) for every minute of drive time to downtown Tampa.

The analysis, which compares average home sale prices across Hillsborough County ZIP codes for the past year against driving distance to Tampa's 33602 zip code, found striking disparities. In some neighborhoods, each minute of commute time equates to over $100,000 in home value, while in others, buyers can drive nearly an hour and pay less than $6,000 per minute.

Top Findings:

● Residents of Downtown Tampa (33602) pay over $1 million to be within a minute of the city center.
● Davis Islands (33606) follows at $195,747 per minute, reflecting its luxury waterfront location.
● Zephyrhills (33540) ranks as the most affordable, costing just $5,647 per minute of commute (nearly 190× cheaper than downtown).
● The“minute value” drops sharply beyond the 20-minute mark, indicating that the willingness to pay for shorter commutes declines steeply after that point.

“Our goal was to put hard numbers to something every buyer and seller in Tampa intuitively understands: location has a measurable cost,” said Shawn Eaton, Director of Operations at Eaton Realty.“This index provides a clear way to see how commute time directly translates into home price, and where you might find value if you're willing to trade a few extra minutes on the road.”

The interactive map and complete dataset visualize how each ZIP code in Hillsborough County stacks up in commute cost and home value. Explore the full interactive map and analysis here: Tampa Bay Commute Cost Index

About Eaton Realty

Eaton Realty is an award-winning real estate brokerage serving Hillsborough County since 2003. With a dedicated team of agents and property managers, Eaton provides end-to-end real estate services.

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