Tampa is a very diverse city. The first residents were the members of the Seminole Indian tribe that was relocated there from northern Florida and the soldiers stationed at Fort Brook to control the reservation. The town remained a mostly military town until the 1880s when Tampa saw its first major waves of immigration from Cuba and Italy. The major growth of the area did not occur until air conditioning became common in the years after World War II, but the region has been growing steadily since then. Tampa is now home to many native Floridians, including Seminoles, Cubans, and Italians, as well the residence of many 'transplants' from the Midwest and other areas of the states and new immigrants from the Caribbean and central America. Tampa's population swells during the winter months with the arrival of the 'snow birds,' retired persons from the northern U.S. and Canada who come down for a few months to enjoy the relative warmth.

Like much of Florida, Tampa's economy is heavily based on services and tourism. There is a huge net influx of cash into the area. Many wealthy people have winter houses here, and the upscale Tampa Palms neighborhood is a desirable destination for retired professional athletes. Many corporations, such as large banks and telecommunications companies, maintain regional offices in Tampa, and the city is an extremely popular location for call centers.

The downtown area is also undergoing a large transformation to be mostly completed in time for the hosting of the Super Bowl in 2009 with over 43 condo, hotel, and mixed-use developments proposed/approved/under construction as of October 2005. An earlier list by the city of Tampa includes large developments that have been approved and/or are under construction. A large portion of these projects have multiple towers to compensate for the high land values in Downtown Tampa. The next tower currently under construction in the central business district is the Trump Tower Tampa, the largest residential tower on the Gulf Coast according to The Tampa Bay Business Journal.

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