Welcome to Sanford ...

The city of Sanford is located in Lee County<1> and is the County Seat for Lee County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Sanford, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1872.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Sanford has a population of 30,074 people<2> (see below for details).

Sanford is 370 feet [113 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Sanford lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Sanford: (919) and (984)<4>

Websites for Sanford ...

Official Website: www.sanfordnc.net/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Sanford had an population of 30,074 people. This is an increase of 7.05% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 29.52% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Sanford had a population of 28,094 people (which is 48.55% of the total population of Lee County). This makes Sanford the county's most populous community.

The population of Sanford represents 0.29% of the population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 31st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 28,094 people, the population of Sanford increased 20.99% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 23,220 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Sanford.

Communities Also Named Sanford ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two North Carolina communities named Sanford: This one is located in Lee County and the other is located in Moore County.

Beyond North Carolina, there are 26 communities that are also named Sanford - they are located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida (2), Georgia (2), Kansas (3), Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York (2), Pennsylvania, Quebec, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sanford.

Communities near Sanford ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Sanford.

• Pittsboro
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsboro
  • Pittsboro is located in Chatham County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,419 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pittsboro <5>
• Whispering Pines
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
  • Whispering Pines is located in Moore County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,461 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whispering Pines <5>
• Carthage
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
  • Carthage is located in Moore County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,595 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <5>
• Broadway
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadway
  • Broadway is located in Lee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,295 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Broadway <5>
• Vass
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vass
  • Vass is located in Moore County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 801 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vass <5>
• Cameron
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cameron have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
  • Cameron is located in Moore County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cameron <5>
• Goldston
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goldston have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldston
  • Goldston is located in Chatham County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goldston <5>
• Carolina Trace
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina Trace
  • Carolina Trace is located in Lee County
• Osgood
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osgood
  • Osgood is located in Lee County
• Cumnock
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumnock
  • Cumnock is located in Lee County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Sanford. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Sanford.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Sanford. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sanford.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Sanford. Our list includes 6 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Sanford.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Sanford ...

Looking for more information about Sanford? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Sanford, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Sanford.

Adding Sanford to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Sanford in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Sanford was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Sanford post office opened in 1872.

We also found Sanford on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Sanford.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Sanford: www.sanfordnc.net/

The official website for Lee County: www.leecountync.com/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/