Manatee County vs Sarasota County

A side-by-side comparison of Manatee County and Sarasota County: population, income, housing, and more.

Manatee County and Sarasota County are counties in Florida. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Sarasota County has the higher population (449,011 vs 416,020 in Manatee County). Sarasota County has the higher median household income ($80,633 vs $75,792 in Manatee County). Sarasota County has the higher median home value ($373,100 vs $359,800 in Manatee County).

Population, income & housing

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
Population	416,020	449,011
Median age	49.4 yrs	57.3 yrs
Median household income	$75,792	$80,633
Median home value	$359,800	$373,100
Median gross rent	$1,549	$1,715
Housing units	214,510	260,272
Homeownership rate	74.7%	76.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.3%	39.7%
Unemployment rate	5.1%	3.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
Population	384,213 → 416,020 (+8.3%)	419,496 → 449,011 (+7.0%)
Median household income	$59,009 → $75,792 (+28.4%)	$62,236 → $80,633 (+29.6%)
Median home value	$238,500 → $359,800 (+50.9%)	$251,600 → $373,100 (+48.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,144 → $1,549 (+35.4%)	$1,277 → $1,715 (+34.3%)

Manatee County

Population

384,213416,020

Median household income

$59,009$75,792

Median home value

$238,500$359,800

Median gross rent

$1,144$1,549

Sarasota County

Population

419,496449,011

Median household income

$62,236$80,633

Median home value

$251,600$373,100

Median gross rent

$1,277$1,715

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
Under 5	4.4%	3.3%
5 to 17	13.3%	10.7%
18 to 24	6.5%	5.6%
25 to 34	10.3%	8.3%
35 to 44	10.7%	8.6%
45 to 54	11.7%	10.5%
55 to 64	14.9%	15.6%
65 to 74	15.2%	18.7%
75 and over	13.0%	18.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
White (non-Hispanic)	68.4%	80.6%
Black or African American	7.8%	4.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	2.1%	1.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.3%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	17.9%	10.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
No high school diploma	9.0%	5.6%
High school graduate	28.2%	25.9%
Some college or associate's	28.5%	28.8%
Bachelor's degree	21.1%	22.8%
Graduate or professional degree	13.3%	16.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
Drove alone	71.0%	72.9%
Carpooled	9.8%	8.5%
Public transit	0.5%	0.5%
Walked	1.4%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.5%
Worked from home	14.9%	15.2%
Other means	1.8%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
1-unit, detached	53.9%	57.3%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	9.6%
2 to 4 units	6.4%	4.2%
5 to 19 units	10.4%	8.3%
20 or more units	8.6%	11.9%
Mobile home & other	14.1%	8.6%

Poverty & households

	Manatee County	Sarasota County
Poverty rate	10.4%	8.2%
Average household size	2.44	2.15
Mean commute (minutes)	27	24
Median year structure built	1990	1987