Marion County vs Sarasota County

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

Marion 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 387,697 in Marion County). Sarasota County has the higher median household income ($80,633 vs $58,535 in Marion County). Sarasota County has the higher median home value ($373,100 vs $220,800 in Marion County).

Population, income & housing

	Marion County	Sarasota County
Population	387,697	449,011
Median age	48.2 yrs	57.3 yrs
Median household income	$58,535	$80,633
Median home value	$220,800	$373,100
Median gross rent	$1,174	$1,715
Housing units	183,453	260,272
Homeownership rate	76.7%	76.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.4%	39.7%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	3.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Marion County	Sarasota County
Population	353,526 → 387,697 (+9.7%)	419,496 → 449,011 (+7.0%)
Median household income	$45,371 → $58,535 (+29.0%)	$62,236 → $80,633 (+29.6%)
Median home value	$139,900 → $220,800 (+57.8%)	$251,600 → $373,100 (+48.3%)
Median gross rent	$896 → $1,174 (+31.0%)	$1,277 → $1,715 (+34.3%)

Marion County

Population

353,526387,697

Median household income

$45,371$58,535

Median home value

$139,900$220,800

Median gross rent

$896$1,174

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)

	Marion County	Sarasota County
Under 5	4.7%	3.3%
5 to 17	14.1%	10.7%
18 to 24	6.5%	5.6%
25 to 34	10.9%	8.3%
35 to 44	10.4%	8.6%
45 to 54	10.8%	10.5%
55 to 64	13.8%	15.6%
65 to 74	15.5%	18.7%
75 and over	13.3%	18.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Marion County	Sarasota County
White (non-Hispanic)	66.8%	80.6%
Black or African American	12.2%	4.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.5%	1.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.0%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	15.9%	10.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Marion County	Sarasota County
No high school diploma	10.4%	5.6%
High school graduate	34.8%	25.9%
Some college or associate's	32.5%	28.8%
Bachelor's degree	14.3%	22.8%
Graduate or professional degree	8.1%	16.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Marion County	Sarasota County
Drove alone	77.1%	72.9%
Carpooled	10.7%	8.5%
Public transit	0.1%	0.5%
Walked	0.6%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.5%
Worked from home	10.1%	15.2%
Other means	1.1%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Marion County	Sarasota County
1-unit, detached	67.2%	57.3%
1-unit, attached	2.7%	9.6%
2 to 4 units	4.3%	4.2%
5 to 19 units	4.3%	8.3%
20 or more units	2.2%	11.9%
Mobile home & other	19.4%	8.6%

Poverty & households

	Marion County	Sarasota County
Poverty rate	14.6%	8.2%
Average household size	2.37	2.15
Mean commute (minutes)	26	24
Median year structure built	1992	1987