Moving to
Palm River-Clair Mel.

All Palm River-Clair Mel data Compare Palm River-Clair Mel

27,844people live here $71,787median household income▼ 11% below US $1,525median rent per monthNear US average $271,700median home value▼ 18% below US

Palm River-Clair Mel is an unincorporated community in Hillsborough County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Palm River-Clair Mel

Palm River-Clair Mel is an unincorporated community in Florida with home prices that remain within reach and a population that has grown fast since 2020. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Palm River-Clair Mel deals with commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, larger class sizes than the national average, and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin.

The good

Affordable home prices
Fast-growing population

The not so good

Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters
Hot summers

How Palm River-Clair Mel compares

Median household income

Palm River-Clair Mel$71,787

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Palm River-Clair Mel$1,525

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Palm River-Clair Mel$271,700

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Palm River-Clair Mel

Based on Palm River-Clair Mel's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,050

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $61,000 a year
60% of Palm River-Clair Mel renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$54,340

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $27,170
Homes cost 3.8× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,525/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,525 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $271,700. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.

Median home value $271,700 · 60% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Hillsborough County is 4.0%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Hillsborough County (county-wide)

Safety

126 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Palm River-Clair Mel doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 436/100k · Policed by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 18% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.6 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 17% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

68%

Work from home

17%

Carpool

12%

Other

1.8%

Walk

0.9%

Public transit

0.6%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 91°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 55°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 31% below US

25% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 25%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

6 public schools inside the boundary

There are 6 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is De Soto National Memorial (32 miles away).

Bottom line

Palm River-Clair Mel's strongest points are home prices that remain within reach and a population that has grown fast since 2020; the main tradeoffs are commute times longer than most cities and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. A year of median rent ($1,525/mo) equals 25% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (17% of workers here already work from home).

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