The
Tampa Bay Area is a metropolitan
region of west central
Florida adjacent to
Tampa Bay. Definitions of the region vary. It is often considered equivalent to the
Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (or
MSA) defined by the
United States Census Bureau. A wider definition including additional adjacent counties is adopted by most other entities, including state agencies like Enterprise Florida and the
Florida Department of Transportation, and the Tampa Bay Partnership. The Tampa Bay media market also includes
Citrus,
Manatee,
Sarasota, and
Polk counties.