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 touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Sarasota use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Sarasota's citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

Sarasota Information and Demographics

The overall education level of Sarasota citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 25.68% of adults in Sarasota have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 14.96%.

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.