Welcome to Sarasota ...

The coastal city of Sarasota is located in Sarasota County<1> and is the County Seat for Sarasota County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Sarasota, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1878.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Sarasota has a population of 58,442 people<2> (see below for details).

Sarasota is near sea level<3>.

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

The telephone area code for Sarasota: (941)

The ZIP codes for Sarasota: 34230-34243, 34276-34278<4>

Websites for Sarasota ...

Official Website:   www.sarasotagov.com/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.sarasotachamber.org/

Junior League:   www.juniorleagueofsarasota.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Sarasota had an population of 58,442 people. This is an increase of 12.57% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 10.86% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Sarasota had a population of 51,917 people (which is 13.66% of the total population of Sarasota County). This makes Sarasota the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Sarasota represents 0.28% of the population of Florida (which has 18,801,310 people), making it the state's 51st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 51,917 people, the population of Sarasota decreased 1.51% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 52,715 people).

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

Communities Also Named Sarasota ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Florida communities named Sarasota: This one is located in Sarasota County and the other is located in Manatee County.

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

Communities near Sarasota ...

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

• Bradenton
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradenton
  • Bradenton is located in Manatee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,737 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bradenton <5>
• Venice
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice
  • Venice is located in Sarasota County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,634 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Venice <5>
• Palmetto
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmetto
  • Palmetto is located in Manatee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,796 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmetto <5>
• Holmes Beach
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes Beach
  • Holmes Beach is located in Manatee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,304 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holmes Beach <5>
• Anna Maria
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna Maria
  • Anna Maria is located in Manatee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,775 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anna Maria <5>
• Bradenton Beach
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradenton Beach
  • Bradenton Beach is located in Manatee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bradenton Beach <5>
• Fruitville
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
  • Fruitville is located in Sarasota County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitville <5>
• The Meadows
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
  • The Meadows is located in Sarasota County
• Sarasota Springs
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sarasota Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarasota Springs
  • Sarasota Springs is located in Sarasota County
• Siesta Key
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siesta Key
  • Siesta Key is located in Sarasota County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Siesta Key <5>

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 Sarasota. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Sarasota.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Sarasota. 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 Sarasota.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Sarasota. See our Newspapers Page for Sarasota.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Sarasota ...

Looking for more information about Sarasota? 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 Sarasota, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Sarasota.

Adding Sarasota to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Sarasota 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 Sarasota was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Sarasota post office opened in 1878.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Sarasota.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Sarasota: www.sarasotagov.com/

The official website for Sarasota County: www.co.sarasota.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: https://www.myflorida.com/