City Stats: government and finance biggest employers

Data prepared by former downtown economic development coordinator Randy Welker and Dr. Roger Barry, a professor emeritus of urban planning at the University of Cincinnati, revealed statistics about downtown Sarasota and how it stacks up to other comparative cities.

The study reveals that downtown Sarasota has a daytime employee population of 23,384 employees working in 2,424 businesses/organizations.

The largest downtown employer is government, with 8,236 people employed downtown in 51 governmental organizations.

Coming in second is services, with 6,341 people employed in 1,061 service-oriented businesses.
Third, was the finance/insurance/real-estate market, with 4,103 people employed by 486 downtown Sarasota businesses.

Coming in fourth was 340 retail businesses that employ 2,371 people downtown.

Downtown Sarasota’s population has also experienced a growth of 725 residents, according to the 2010 Census figures. The 2010 estimated population of downtown is 10,723, a 7.3% increase when compared to the 9,997 residents accounted for in the 2000 Census.

Click here to view city employment numbers.