Balm, Florida
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Wimauma-Riverview census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33598. The Survey maps it on the Riverview quadrangle. 6,541 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 131 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1921 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 67 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresBalm grew from 1,457 to 6,541 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,457 | |
| 2020 | 6,541 | +5,084 (+349%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1921 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Balm quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Riverview quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1956 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS St Petersburg quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS St Petersburg quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
164 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 164 fires within 5 miles of Balm between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,642 acres in total. 40 started naturally. 20 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 40 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Smoking | 3 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2014 | Natural | 1.6 acres | Florida Forest Service | MC GRADY RD. (29) |
| 17 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.5 acres | Florida Forest Service | 29 ROCKLEDGE 2 |
| 16 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | 29 DELIA 2 |
| 13 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | 29 DELIA |
| 5 August 2005 | Natural | 20 acres | Florida Forest Service | 29 SESAME STREET |
| 20 August 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | SILVER CREEK (29) |
| 2 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 9 July 2000 | Natural | 30 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Balm: 2 unknowns, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Uranium, Iron, Magnesite, Aluminum, Water, Free, Fluorine-Fluorite, Aluminum, Fluorine-Fluorite, Magnesite, Uranium, Water, Free, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boyette-Fishhawk | Phosphorus-Phosphates, Aluminum, Fluorine-Fluorite, Magnesite, Uranium, Water, Free, Iron | Prospect | ||
| Farmland Hillsborough Reserve | Phosphorus-Phosphates, Uranium, Iron, Magnesite, Aluminum, Water, Free, Fluorine-Fluorite | Unknown | 1930 | |
| Hurley Enterprises, Inc. - Hurley Tailwater Rec | Sand | Producer | ||
| Phillips and Jordan - Rhodine Rode Pit | Sand | Producer | ||
| The Cone Corp. - Balm Road Mine | Sand | Unknown | Sand |
Storms near this place
3 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Balm in 3 storm reports between 1999 and 2018: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2009 | Flood | Balm | $75,000 | The river stage on the Little Manatee River near Wimauma reached 14.15 feet during the evening of July 2nd. Flood stage is 11 feet. The flooding was a result of two days of heavy rain. The total rainfall at the National Weather Service in Ruskin from June 30 through July 1 was 4.53 inches. Fire Rescue reported Owens Road was washed away in the area of the river and numerous roads were inaccessible due to flooding. The damage amount listed is a rough estimate of the road damage. |
| December 2018 | Tornado (EF1) | Balm | $10,000 | Tree damage and minor structural damage was found in the vicinity of Carlton Lake Road and Florida 674. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balm | $1,000 | Amateur Ham radio operators reported that two large trees were downed by thunderstorm winds near the intersection of County Road 672 and Balm Boyette Road. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wimauma | 3.8 miles | 14 | |
| Boyette | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Sun City Center | 5.6 miles | 14 | |
| Fish Hawk | 6.8 miles | 12 | |
| North Ruskin | 7.1 miles | 18 | |
| Fort Lonesome | 7.2 miles | 12 | |
| Adamsville | 7.5 miles | 18 | |
| Lithia | 7.8 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Balm | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4852326 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 294664. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








