About Us: Our Market

Population: More than 800,000 (2005 Census Bureau estimate).

Income: The market ranks second in per capita income in the state; only Palm Beach is more affluent.

Growth: Already Florida's seventh-largest market, more than 1,000 people a month move to the Sarasota-Manatee-Charlotte region, as they have for more than 20 years. In the next decade, as many as 50,000 new households are expected, driving the metropolitan area's population over a million. Today much of the growth is inland, among the pines and palmettos along Interstate 75, not along the coastline.

Employment: Though early baby boom retirees are starting to trickle in, most growth in the Sarasota-Manatee-Charlotte market comes from people with salaries, not nest eggs. Jobs are being created at a faster pace than in any major Florida market except Orlando. In the last 10 years, the market's workforce grew four times faster than total population. White-collar and professional employment more than doubled. The growth has created an extraordinary demand for housing. Construction employment has grown faster — and now accounts for a larger portion of the workforce — than in any other Florida market.

Major employers: The largest private employers in the region include Publix supermarkets (3,300 employees); Bradenton-based Tropicana (1,800 employees); PGT Industries, a window and door manufacturer based in Venice (1,800 employees); Beall's, a department-store chain based in Bradenton (1,600 employees); Hoveround Corp., a power wheelchair and scooter manufacturer (1,100 employees); and Nielsen Media Research (more than 700 employees). Health care is one of three major industries in the region. The region's major hospitals employ more than 10,000 people. Retirees. Despite the number of working-age people arriving, the Sarasota-Manatee-Charlotte market remains the oldest market in the country, though by a smaller margin than in the past. More than a third of the population is 65 years old or older. Yet at the same time, the number of children in the market grew at triple the national average.

Climate: Visitors often describe Sarasota as paradise, and its climate is a big part of that. The average annual temperature is 73 degrees; the average annual high is 83 degrees and the average annual low 63 degrees. Summers are warm — from June to September, the average high temperature is 90 degrees — but gulf breezes moderate the “feels like” temperature. Winters are dry and summers rainy.

Culture: Sarasota has been called “Florida's Cultural Coast.” It has a professional opera, ballet and symphony. There are more than 10 other theaters in the area and more than 30 art galleries in Sarasota. Sarasota is also home to the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, which is Florida's state museum, and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, a 1,700-seat theater.

Education: 34 percent of residents are college graduates or pursued post-graduate education; 31 percent attended some college; and 35 percent have a high school graduates or less.

Higher learning: A burgeoning higher education community is taking shape in Sarasota, where more than 5,000 students take classes at four highly regarded colleges: New College of Florida, rated the nation's best public college value by The Princeton Review; Ringling School of Art & Design, considered one of the best art schools in the country; the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee; and the Florida State University/Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts. Also in the market are several community colleges, including Manatee Community College and Edison Community College, and other for-profit schools such as Keiser College.

Tourist attractions: Area attractions include Mote Marine Laboratory and aquarium; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens; G-WIZ, a hands-on children's science and technology museum; Sarasota Jungle Gardens; Historic Spanish Point; two state parks, Myakka River State Park and Oscar Scherer State Park; the Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary; Southwest Florida Museum; Crowley Museum and Nature Center; and, of course, miles of beach and waterfront. Sarasota is about an hour from St. Petersburg and Tampa, where attractions include the Dali Museum and Busch Gardens, and less than two hours from major theme parks in the Orlando area, including Disney, Sea World and Universal.

Sports: Sarasota is the spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and home of the Class A Sarasota Reds and a Reds rookie-league team. Bradenton is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and home of the Pirates rookie-league team. IMG Academies in Bradenton is an internationally renowned training facility that caters to tennis, golf, soccer, basketball, baseball and many other athletes. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL and major league baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays play less than an hour away.

Recreation: Sarasota is a mecca of healthy living opportunities. Because of the moderate temperatures year-round, residents enjoy all walks of outdoors activities, including swimming, surfing, kayaking, diving, tennis, golf, volleyball, softball, baseball, basketball, boating, football, soccer, jogging, cycling, hiking, canoeing. The region has miles of open beaches, two major state parks and water, water everywhere.

Famous residents: Some of the luminaries who call Sarasota home: ESPN basketball commentator Dick Vitale; talk show host Jerry Springer; fiction writer Stephen King; Smothers brother Dick Smothers; Brian Johnson of rock band AC/DC; Allman Brothers Band drummer Dicky Betts; former network reporter and A&E host Jack Perkins; baseball pitcher Wilson Alvarez; actresses Audrey, Judy and Ruth Landers; Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge; professional golfer Paul Azinger; tennis greats Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova; former baseball all-star Robbie Alomar, married to tennis pro Mary Pierce; cartoonists Chris Browne and Mike Peters; Bobby Vinton; and mystery author Stuart Kaminsky.

Transportation: Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) is located on the border of Sarasota and Manatee counties. Tampa International Airport is an hour north of downtown Sarasota and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is 45 minutes south of Charlotte County. Interstate 75 is the main north-south route through the region.