Tampa Doomed in Zombie Apocalypse, Study Says

Just in time for Halloween, the folks at CareerBuilder and EMSI got together to put a serious question to the test.

Hoping to find out what might happen if there were an actual zombie apocalypse in the country, they crunched numbers related to 53 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. Looking at eight different factors, such as defense, ability to contain a virus, food supplies, and ability to find a cure, they scored the regions based on their potential for survival.

The result is the Zombie Apocalypse Index, which CareerBuilder, dubs “a totally necessary and 100 percent practical survey of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas most equipped to survive an actual night (or day) of the living dead.”

When all was said and done, New York City came in dead last (pardon the pun) at 53. Tampa, however, didn’t fare much better, earning 52nd place in the study. Tampa’s downfalls, according to the survey, include a poor ability to contain the virus, a short food supply and a low ability to find a cure for the virus. (We’re betting the folks at the University of South Florida might have a thing or two to say about that last point).

Boston is the best place to be in the event of an actual zombie invasion, the study concluded. That city is followed closely by Salt Lake City, Utah, Columbus, Ohio, and Baltimore, Md. Others who might find themselves dead in the water include residents of Los Angeles, Calif., Chicago and Miami.

More information on the study can be found online.

Patch file photo by Beth Dalby

How do you think Tampa would fare? Share your thoughts by commenting below!