Sarasota is a larger medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Florida. With a population of 52,537 people and 25 constituent neighborhoods, Sarasota is the 47th largest community in Florida.

Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Sarasota is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Sarasota is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Sarasota who work in sales jobs (13.30%), office and administrative support jobs (13.25%), and food service (8.82%).

Of important note, Sarasota is also a city of artists. Sarasota has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Sarasota's character.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Sarasota are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Sarasota is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. The bus helps to get a lot of people to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Sarasota area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Sarasota Information and Demographics

The education level of Sarasota citizens is substantially higher than the average US city or town, as 25.68% of adults in Sarasota have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Sarasota in 2000 was $23,197, which is upper middle income relative to Florida and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $92,788 for a family of four.

Sarasota is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Sarasota home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Sarasota is White, followed by African-American. Sarasota also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.16% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Sarasota include German, English, Irish, Italian, Polish, and French.

The most common language spoken in Sarasota is English. Some people also speak Spanish.