A Hillsborough County Florida map needs more than a single Tampa marker. Tampa’s downtown, airport, and port occupy the west; large unincorporated communities such as Brandon and Riverview spread across the center and southeast; and the separate incorporated city of Plant City anchors the eastern edge. The bay shoreline, three river systems, and highway corridors establish how those places relate to one another.
The county is the population center of the Tampa Bay region, yet much of its developed land lies outside municipal limits. A Tampa postal address may not be inside the City of Tampa, and Pinellas County can look close across the water even though road access concentrates at three principal bridge corridors. The sections below keep administrative boundaries, transportation, watersheds, port geography, and hazard layers conceptually separate.
Download the Hillsborough County map
- Map file: County reference map
- File format: ZIP
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
- State and county: Hillsborough County, Florida
- County seat: Tampa
- Incorporated cities: Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace
- Major unincorporated communities: Brandon, Riverview, Gibsonton, Ruskin, Apollo Beach, Sun City Center, Lutz, Thonotosassa, and Lithia
- 2025 population estimate: 1,574,115
- 2020 census population: 1,459,762
- Change from the 2020 estimates base: 7.8% increase
- 2020 land area: 1,021.89 square miles
- FIPS code: 12057
- Major waters: Hillsborough River, Alafia River, Little Manatee River, and Hillsborough Bay
The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate is 1,574,115, while 1,459,762 is the count from the 2020 census. The reported 7.8% change compares the April 1, 2020 estimates base with the July 1, 2025 estimate; it is not an annual growth rate. A reliable citation should therefore identify whether a figure is a decennial census count or a later estimate.
County government identifies only Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace as incorporated cities. Brandon and Riverview are major population and commercial centers, but they remain under unincorporated county jurisdiction. Postal names, Census-designated places, and municipal limits can differ, so permitting, taxes, elections, and service jurisdiction require an official boundary or parcel lookup.
What the Map Shows
On the west side, downtown Tampa, Ybor City, and the Westshore district occupy the land between Hillsborough Bay and Old Tampa Bay. Tampa International Airport sits about five miles west of downtown on the bay’s eastern shore, close to SR 60 and the eastern end of the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Port Tampa Bay facilities extend southeast of downtown around Channelside and Hillsborough Bay; the airport and seaport should not be treated as one map point.
The port itself is not one point. Cruise terminals cluster around Channelside, cargo facilities occupy Hookers Point and adjacent channels, and Port Redwing lies farther south on the Big Bend Channel. Port Redwing is an approximately 270-acre expansion site in southern Hillsborough County, so placing every Port Tampa Bay function beside downtown would conceal the county’s extended industrial waterfront.
Temple Terrace is northeast of central Tampa along a bend of the Hillsborough River. Brandon spreads east of I-75 along SR 60, while Riverview and Gibsonton occupy the US 301 and I-75 corridor around and south of the Alafia River. Apollo Beach, Ruskin, and Sun City Center provide the principal orientation points for the southwestern and southern parts of the county.
Temple Terrace is a small incorporated city but an important boundary marker between north Tampa, the unincorporated University area, and Thonotosassa. New Tampa and Lutz approach the Pasco County line, where a postal place name alone may not identify the county. The northern boundary, I-275 and I-75, and the Hillsborough River offer more dependable geographic references.
Plant City is an incorporated city near the Polk County line. I-4 and US 92 connect it westward to Tampa, and SR 39 supplies a north–south axis through the city. Thonotosassa and Lutz mark the northeastern interior, whereas Lithia and Fish Hawk identify southeastern communities closer to streams, wetlands, and conservation lands.
Plant City’s central street grid lies south of I-4 around US 92 and SR 39. Dover, Seffner, and Mango occupy the unincorporated interval between Tampa and Plant City, while Durant and Lithia form a transition toward tributaries of the Alafia River and mixed rural-suburban land. Including those names prevents eastern Hillsborough from appearing as an empty gap between two cities.
County Layout and Location
Hillsborough County occupies the inner side of Tampa Bay on Florida’s west-central peninsula. Pasco County lies to the north, Polk County to the east, a short Hardee County boundary reaches the southeast, and Manatee County borders the south. Pinellas County is across the water to the west, so a boundary map and a bridge map communicate different kinds of proximity.
Relatively straight land boundaries on the north and east contrast with an indented western and southwestern shore of bays, mouths, and tidal creeks. Hillsborough and Pinellas do not share a land boundary, but the Courtney Campbell Causeway, Howard Frankland Bridge, and Gandy Bridge connect them. Around the bay, actual road corridors matter far more than straight-line distance.
I-4 begins in Tampa and angles northeast through Plant City toward Central Florida. I-75 forms the principal north–south freeway through the eastern suburbs, intersecting I-4, SR 60, the Selmon Expressway, US 301, Big Bend Road, and SR 674 within the Tampa Bay area. I-275 serves central and north Tampa before crossing Old Tampa Bay toward Pinellas County.
The three interstates serve different movements: I-4 is the regional east–west axis, I-75 is a suburban north–south bypass of central Tampa, and I-275 ties downtown and north Tampa to Pinellas County. The Selmon Expressway supplements the downtown-to-Brandon corridor, while the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway extend northwest from the airport side toward Pasco County.
Among the surface routes, US 301 runs from Thonotosassa past eastern Brandon and Riverview, while US 41 follows the port-industrial and coastal corridor toward Gibsonton, Apollo Beach, and Ruskin. SR 60 crosses the county from Westshore and central Tampa through Brandon and Valrico. For route study, mark both the road number and its river or interstate crossing; those junctions are more dependable orientation points than neighborhood edges.
In southern Hillsborough, Big Bend Road links I-75 with US 41 and Apollo Beach, and SR 674 runs inland from Sun City Center. Housing, farms, utility and port facilities, and tidal wetlands occupy nearby but distinct zones. Riverview is oriented toward US 301 and I-75, whereas Apollo Beach and Ruskin are oriented toward US 41 and the bay shore.
Local Context
The Hillsborough River begins in the Green Swamp in southeastern Pasco County, flows south through northeastern Hillsborough County, and reaches Hillsborough Bay in downtown Tampa. Reading its upper corridor, Temple Terrace, the Tampa reservoir, and the downtown mouth in sequence ties the county’s northeastern watershed to the urban core. The Tampa Bypass Canal east of the river is part of the regional flood-management system and should be distinguished from the natural channel.
The Tampa Bypass Canal system is more than a drainage ditch. Southwest Florida Water Management District figures describe a 16,000-acre Hillsborough Flood Detention Area, a 450-square-mile contributing watershed, a 15.7-mile canal, and five flood-control structures. During high water, it diverts flow toward McKay Bay to reduce flood risk in Tampa and Temple Terrace, and it also supports regional water supply.
The Alafia River flows west from tributaries near Polk County, passes the Lithia and Riverview area, and enters Hillsborough Bay. Its watershed covers about 418 square miles, most of it in Hillsborough County, and is the county’s largest watershed. Near the southern edge, the Little Manatee River separates the Ruskin–Sun City Center area from communities associated with the Alafia corridor.
The Alafia reaches the bay between the Gibsonton and Apollo Beach areas. Mapping Lithia and Durant upstream, then Riverview and Gibsonton downstream, connects the southeastern interior to the industrial bay shore. The Little Manatee is farther south near the Manatee County boundary and crosses a different wetland and conservation corridor; the two rivers should not be collapsed into a single drainage line.
The shoreline is a sequence of embayments, tidal creeks, marshes, and mangrove margins rather than a simple western edge. Apollo Beach and the Cockroach Bay preserve near Ruskin illustrate how southern coastal landscapes differ from Tampa’s developed waterfront. For evacuation or flood decisions, pair this reference map with current official evacuation-zone and flood-hazard products.
Hurricane evacuation zones and FEMA flood zones serve different purposes. County evacuation zones A through E support storm-surge evacuation orders; FEMA flood zones concern year-round flood risk, insurance, and building requirements. An address can fall in one flood classification and a different evacuation classification, so neither layer substitutes for the other.
Ways to Use This Map
- Separate jurisdictions: mark the incorporated limits of Tampa, Temple Terrace, and Plant City separately from unincorporated community labels.
- Compare east–west corridors: trace I-4 and US 92 toward Plant City, then compare SR 60 through Brandon.
- Compare north–south corridors: note how I-75, US 301, and US 41 serve different suburban and coastal districts.
- Separate downtown, airport, and port: label Tampa International Airport, downtown, Channelside, Hookers Point, and Port Redwing at their distinct locations.
- Read the drainage pattern: distinguish the Hillsborough River, Bypass Canal, Alafia River, and Little Manatee River.
- Study cross-bay access: match the Courtney Campbell, Howard Frankland, and Gandy crossings with their Tampa approaches.
- Review South Shore: use Big Bend Road, US 41, and SR 674 to orient Apollo Beach, Ruskin, and Sun City Center.
- Keep hazard layers separate: compare the latest evacuation and FEMA flood layers independently.
- Prepare for field use: annotate destinations, river crossings, and interchanges, then verify official live traffic and closure information.
Postal place names do not always define local government jurisdiction. A mailing address labeled Tampa may fall outside Tampa’s city limits, so property, permitting, or service questions require a municipal-boundary or address lookup in addition to the county reference map.
A general county map is not sufficient for parcel-level decisions. Hillsborough County’s Map Viewer combines more than 50 data sources, including parcels, zoning, flood information, and future land use. GeoHub publishes additional boundary, roads, parks, schools, utilities, stormwater, and emergency data. For an address near a boundary, check the official layer legend and update date before drawing a jurisdictional conclusion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do routes from Tampa to Pinellas County appear concentrated in only a few places?
Old Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay separate the counties, concentrating road travel on three principal crossings. SR 60 uses the Courtney Campbell Causeway in the north, I-275 uses the Howard Frankland Bridge in the central bay, and US 92 uses the Gandy Bridge farther south. Each connects to a different Tampa approach, so the best crossing depends on the origin and destination.
Are Brandon and Riverview cities within Hillsborough County?
They are large, widely used community names, but Hillsborough County’s incorporated cities are Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace. Brandon occupies the SR 60 corridor east of Tampa; Riverview lies farther south around US 301, I-75, and the Alafia River. Their practical boundaries are less distinct than municipal limits.
Does every Tampa mailing address lie within the City of Tampa?
No. A postal city name supports mail delivery and does not establish incorporated boundaries. Some addresses in northern and eastern unincorporated Hillsborough use Tampa, so questions about city services, permits, tax jurisdiction, or voting districts require a parcel check in the county GeoHub or an official municipal address tool.
Are Tampa International Airport, downtown, and Port Tampa Bay in the same area?
No. The airport is west of downtown in the Westshore area; downtown is at the mouth of the Hillsborough River; and Channelside port facilities are southeast of downtown. Cargo facilities also extend through Hookers Point and south to Big Bend Channel and Port Redwing, so the correct route depends on the specific terminal or facility.
Are hurricane evacuation zones the same as FEMA flood zones?
No. Hillsborough County’s A–E evacuation zones primarily guide storm-surge evacuations, while FEMA flood zones support flood-risk, insurance, and building decisions. Check the county evacuation lookup and FEMA flood information separately for a current address; a general location map cannot determine whether a property is safe.
Is the Tampa Bypass Canal a natural branch of the Hillsborough River?
No. It is a 15.7-mile engineered canal integrated with a flood-detention area and control structures. During high water, the system can divert part of the Hillsborough watershed toward McKay Bay to reduce flooding in Tampa and Temple Terrace, and it also supports water supply. It should be symbolized separately from the natural river.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Hillsborough County
- U.S. Census Bureau — current estimate and 2020 land area
- Hillsborough County government — county profile and incorporated cities
- Hillsborough County GeoHub — boundary, infrastructure, and emergency data
- Hillsborough County Map Viewer — parcels, zoning, and land use
- Hillsborough County — evacuation zones versus flood zones
- Florida Department of Transportation — official transportation map
- Florida Department of Transportation — I-4 exits and intersecting roads
- Florida Department of Transportation — I-75 exits and intersecting roads
- Southwest Florida Water Management District — Alafia River watershed
- Southwest Florida Water Management District — Hillsborough River headwaters and course
- Southwest Florida Water Management District — Tampa Bypass Canal system
- Port Tampa Bay — Big Bend Channel and Port Redwing
- Tampa International Airport — location and access routes
Related County Maps
- Pasco County Florida map
- Polk County Florida map
- Hardee County Florida map
- Manatee County Florida map
- Pinellas County Florida map
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