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Cost of living, pay and housing

27.29° N · 82.43° W · GEOID 1238690

Lake Sarasota

Sarasota County, Florida · part of the North Port, FL metro

Limited data population under 5,000

FloridaLake Sarasota, FLLake SarasotaLake Sarasota

The short answer

Lake Sarasota is home to 3,595 people. Median household income is $92,429 a year and median rent is $1,986 a month, 25.8% of income (a ratio of two medians, not any one household's burden). Rent pressure is moderate. The median home is valued at $381,000, about 4.1x annual median household income.

Median gross rent
$1,986
45% above the median place
Median household income
$92,429
15% above the median place
Median home value
$381,000
19% above the median place
Unemployment
3.7%
24% below the median place

Compared with the median of the 6,645 places we track. The bundle was checked 2026-11-14; each measure may refer to an older release.

What stands out about Lake Sarasota

  • Owning with a mortgage costs about $100 a month less than the median rent, which is rarer than in 96% of the 2,469 places under 10,000 people we track.
  • Only 30% of renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, a lower share than in 93% of places its size.
  • The median rent takes 25.8% of the median household's income, a bigger share than in 85% of places its size.
01

Moving to Lake Sarasota

Sarasota County gains about 13.3 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.

Moved in30,767
Moved out26,003
Net+4,764

Where people come from and where they go, top counties

Within Florida, other states or abroad

Arrivals
Leavers
Within FloridaOther statesAbroad

Income per tax return

Arrivals$141K
Leavers$87K

People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Sarasota County; flows under 20 returns are not published.

Who moves here
2.6% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 4.7% from another state.
Who arrives and who leaves
Households moving into Sarasota County report $141,400 a year in income on average; those leaving, $86,700, so newcomers earn more than leavers.
Income you would need
$79,400 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
Rent or buy
Median rent is $1,986 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $1,886 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $381,000.
Getting to work
25 minutes each way on average; 16.6% work from home.
If it is close but not quite
Maricopa, AZ matches it on character. Compare the two
Moved here in the past year1
2.6%
54% below the median place
Income of households moving in7
$141,412
100% above the median place
Moved from another state1
4.7%
138% above the median place
All 5 moving measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Moved here in the past year12.6%54% below
Moved from another state1County figure4.7%138% above
Net movers per 1,000 people7County figure13.3above (median -0.6)
Income of households moving in7County figure$141,412100% above
Income of households moving out7County figure$86,68923% above
02

What it costs to live here

Renters paying 30%+ is 29.6%, 41% below the median place.

Lake Sarasota25.8%
Typical place20.4%

Share of the median household income that goes to the median rent. Above 30% is the usual stress line.

Income needed to rent
$79,440
a year, at the 30% line
Rent to income
25.8%
26% above the median place
Home price to income
4.1x
8% above the median place

Could you afford it?

The median rent would take
26%
just under the 30% line
Left after rent, in US prices
$70,100
a year
Vs the typical household here
Same
as the median household

Uses the median rent in Lake Sarasota, $1,986 a month, and local prices for everything else (97.2 against a US average of 100). It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Like Lake Sarasota, but easier on the budget

Close matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, where rent takes a clearly smaller share of income.

PlaceRent to incomeMore left a year
Haledon, NJ21.9% vs 25.8%$600Compare
Tanglewilde, WA22.1% vs 25.8%$7,100Compare
Chesapeake Ranch Estates, MD22.8% vs 25.8%$8,600Compare

Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Lake Sarasota.

Sponsored · exampleMoving to Lake Sarasota? Compare quotes from licensed movers. No partner is signed yet. Sponsored offers are always labelled and never change the data.
Renters paying 30%+1
29.6%
41% below the median place
Property tax rate1
0.6%
35% below the median place
Property tax paid (median)1
$2,262
31% below the median place
All 16 cost and housing measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median gross rent1$1,98645% above
Rent to income125.8%26% above
Property tax rate10.6%35% below
Home price to income14.1x8% above
Prices vs US average2Metro figure102.42% above
Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms3County figure$2,18835% above
HUD area median income4County figure$109,7002% above
Property tax paid (median)1$2,26231% below
Median home value1$381,00019% above
Home prices, 1-year change5County figure-4.4%below (median 3.2%)
Home prices, 5-year change5County figure52.1%1% above
Homeownership171.0%7% above
Renters paying 30%+129.6%41% below
Owner costs with a mortgage1$1,8861% above
Vacant homes1County figure20.4%189% above
Median year built119840% above
03

Work and pay

Commutes by transit is 0.0%, below the median place (median 0.8%).

Commutes by transit1
0.0%
below the median place (median 0.8%)
Median household income1
$92,429
15% above the median place
Poverty rate1
10.0%
7% below the median place
All 10 work and pay measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median household income1$92,42915% above
Income per person1$40,6832% above
Unemployment1County figure3.7%24% below
Average annual pay6County figure$67,6032% above
Pay growth, 1 year6County figure3.8%3% above
Jobs6County figure194,49929% above
Poverty rate110.0%7% below
Mean commute125 min1% below
Works from home1County figure16.6%33% above
Commutes by transit10.0%below (median 0.8%)
04

Who lives here

Homes with broadband is 96.8%, 5% above the median place.

Homes with broadband1
96.8%
5% above the median place
No health insurance1
12.6%
97% above the median place
Household size1
2.8
11% above the median place

More about who lives here, against the typical place

Bachelor's or higher24.2% −25%
Median age36.8 −6%
High school or higher91.0% −1%
Born abroad8.5% −4%
All 8 people measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Population13,5956646th largest
Median age136.86% below
Bachelor's or higher124.2%25% below
High school or higher191.0%1% below
Household size12.811% above
Born abroad18.5%4% below
No health insurance112.6%97% above
Homes with broadband196.8%5% above
05

Life in Lake Sarasota

104 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Out the door, against the typical place

Parks per 10k residents11.1 +9%
Playgrounds per 10k0.0 −100%
Grocery stores per 10k0.0 −100%
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k0.0 −100%
Libraries per 10k0.0 −100%
Named paths and bike trails0 km −100%
Bus and rail stops per sq mi0.0 −100%

Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)

Restaurants and bars22.2 +7%
Shops38.2 +26%
Arts, recreation and fitness6.0 +46%
Doctors' offices and clinics33.4 +65%
Child care centers1.4 −39%

Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.

Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k8
33.4
65% above the median place
Child care centers per 10k8
1.4
39% below the median place
Shops per 10k8
38.2
26% above the median place
All 16 schools and local life measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Public schools11County figure63above (median 9)
Public school students11County figure45,253above (median 4,897)
Students per teacher11County figure16.04% above
Restaurants and bars per 10k8County figure22.27% above
Shops per 10k8County figure38.226% above
Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k8County figure6.046% above
Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k8County figure33.465% above
Child care centers per 10k8County figure1.439% below
Parks per 10k911.19% above
Playgrounds per 10k90.0below (median 9.4)
Grocery stores per 10k90.0below (median 2.1)
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k90.0below (median 11.2)
Libraries per 10k90.0below (median 0.9)
Named paths and bike trails90.0below (median 2.0)
Transit stops per sq mi90.0below (median 0.2)
National Register listings10County figure104above (median 13)
06

Safety, weather and risk

Average temperature is 74°F, 34% above the median place.

No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Lake Sarasota. Larger places are fetched first.

Average temperature12
74°F
34% above the median place
January average low12
51°F
102% above the median place
Hurricane risk13
99.5
41% above the median place
All 11 weather and risk measures
MeasureLake SarasotaAmong 6,645 placesVs median
July average high12County figure92°F6% above
January average low12County figure51°F102% above
Average temperature12County figure74°F34% above
Annual precipitation12County figure53.7 in23% above
Natural hazard risk13County figure98.26% above
Hurricane risk13County figure99.541% above
Tornado risk13County figure92.514% above
Wildfire risk13County figure93.352% above
Heat wave risk13County figure89.80% below
Median air quality index14County figure467% above
Good air days14County figure64.7%6% below
08

Lake Sarasota in 2030: where the trends point

If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 26% of the median income in 2030, about the same as 26% now.

Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.

MeasureLatest2030 projectionLikely rangeAvg. per year
Median rent$1,986/mo (2024)$2,540/mo$2,080 to $3,100/mo+4.2%
Median household income$92,429 (2024)$116,500$98,500 to $137,500+3.9%
Median home value$381,000 (2024)$556,000$404,000 to $766,000+6.5%

The median home would be worth 4.8 years of the median income in 2030, against 4.1 now.

A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.

09

Places like Lake Sarasota

The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.

PlaceRentIncome
Maricopa, AZ$1,998$96,391Compare
Bound Brook, NJ$1,973$90,571Compare
Ferndale, MD$2,022$94,948Compare
Buckeye, AZ$1,963$99,486Compare
Buckeye, AZFerndale, MDBound Brook, NJMaricopa, AZLake Sarasota, FLLake SarasotaMaricopaBound BrookFerndaleBuckeyeLake SarasotaMaricopaBound BrookFerndaleBuckeye

Common questions

Is Lake Sarasota a good place to live?

It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. Owning with a mortgage costs about $100 a month less than the median rent, which is rarer than in 96% of the 2,469 places under 10,000 people we track. Only 30% of renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, a lower share than in 93% of places its size. On cost, space and class size it scores 50 out of 100 for families. See how it ranks with your own weights.

Is Lake Sarasota expensive to live in?

The median rent takes 25.8% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a heavier load here than usual. The median home is valued at $381,000.

What salary do you need to live in Lake Sarasota?

To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $79,440 a year. Work it out from your current city.

What places are similar to Lake Sarasota?

On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Maricopa, AZ, Bound Brook, NJ, Ferndale, MD and Buckeye, AZ.

Sources and methods

The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.

  1. American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
  2. Regional Price Parities · US Bureau of Economic Analysis · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  3. Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
  4. Income Limits · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2026
  5. House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  6. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
  7. SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
  8. County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
  9. OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
  10. National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
  11. Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
  12. 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
  13. National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps
  14. Air Quality System, annual AQI by county · US Environmental Protection Agency · 2025 dataAirData download files

Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).

What stands out compares Lake Sarasota with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Lake Sarasota itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/lake-sarasota-florida

Citytistics. “Lake Sarasota, Florida.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/lake-sarasota-florida/

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.