Lithia is an unincorporated community in southeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, set along the Alafia River east of Tampa between Riverview and Brandon. Long a landscape of ranch and farm land, Lithia's modern identity is defined by FishHawk Ranch, a roughly 3,800-acre master-planned community that began taking shape in the early 2000s and now anchors much of the area's housing, schools, and community life. The broader Lithia area counts close to 32,000 residents, the large majority of them families drawn by highly rated public schools, extensive trails and lakes, and a setting that keeps open countryside close at hand. The community stretches along the FishHawk Boulevard and Lithia Pinecrest Road corridors, which connect the neighborhoods to Riverview and Brandon and, beyond them, to the wider Tampa Bay region. FishHawk Ranch itself was designed as a lifestyle-oriented community, with an emphasis on outdoor recreation, family activities, and schools within or near the neighborhood. Multiple distinct sub-communities give the area a layered, varied residential feel rather than a single uniform subdivision. Life in Lithia leans heavily toward the outdoors. Alafia River State Park, a regional destination for mountain biking, sits within the community and offers miles of hilly, forested trails alongside the river's south prong. That combination of a top-rated school cluster, purpose-built recreation, and a relatively short drive to Tampa's job centers has made Lithia one of the most sought-after family communities in Hillsborough County. Residents who work in Tampa, Brandon, or Riverview generally commute by car along US-301 and the surrounding state and county roads.