Best PlacesSarasota County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sarasota County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sarasota County ranks 379th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $87,116, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are summer heat, disaster risk, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Sarasota County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Sarasota County
The parts of Sarasota County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Fruitville & Bee Ridge
Fewer homes sit empty, crime runs lower, and more households have young kids.
Venice, Nokomis & Laurel
More adults hold degrees and schools score higher.
Gulf Gate Estates & Osprey
Transit reaches more jobs and streets are more walkable.
South Venice, Englewood & Venice Gardens
Prices have run up less.
Sarasota
Biking is better, though fewer residents vote.
North Port
Homes cost less.
Scores across Sarasota County run from about the 17th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sarasota County's strengths and weaknesses
Sarasota County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low crime and biking follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Disaster risk and car insurance costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Sarasota County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
Where Sarasota County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$945 a month, better than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sarasota County
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sarasota County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,116, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Sarasota County's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sarasota County
Sarasota County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sarasota County.
Who works in Sarasota County, and how
Work in Sarasota County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sarasota County
Sarasota County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties. The coast is about 11 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Sarasota County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sarasota County growing, and who is moving in?
Sarasota County has grown about 20% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Sarasota, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sarasota County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sarasota County, month by month
Sarasota County sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 77° | 70° |
Flying in and out of Sarasota County
The nearest airport, Sarasota/Bradenton International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sarasota County
Schools across Sarasota County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ashton Elementary SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Southside Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Phillippi Shores Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sarasota Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Student Leadership AcademyA+ · 70% proficient
- Sarasota School Of Arts/sciencesA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Suncoast Polytechnical High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Venice Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Riverview High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sarasota County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sarasota County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Sarasota County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sarasota County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 93% of counties and health care access beats 92%.
Common questions about living in Sarasota County
Is Sarasota County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sarasota County ranks 379th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sarasota County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $466,622. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $87,116 median income, cost of living beats 80% of counties.
Is Sarasota County safe?
Yes, Sarasota County is safer than 98% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $136 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sarasota County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 51. That works out to about 155 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sarasota County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fruitville & Bee Ridge, Venice, Nokomis & Laurel, and Gulf Gate Estates & Osprey. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sarasota County good for families?
Schools beat 92% of counties, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $945 a month.
Is Sarasota County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sarasota County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sarasota County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sarasota County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Sarasota County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sarasota County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sarasota County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sarasota County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sarasota County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sarasota County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.