Survey: Aging in Florida is a mediocre proposition

Sarasota officials and business leaders have played up the area's older demographics as a source of widespread potential economic development.

The most pertinent fact in that quest: The U.S. Census reports that Sarasota County has the oldest population out of 3,850 largest counties nationwide. That's the genesis behind the formation of the Institute for the Ages, a Sarasota-based think tank that studies how to tap into elderly demographics. Charlotte County is the oldest small county in the country, census data shows.

But while the more mature set clearly has a hold on raw numbers, that doesn't necessarily mean the region is the best place for them to live. Indeed, the Milken Institute ranked the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice region a middling 47th out of 100 in a nationwide list of the Best Cities for Successful Aging. Cape Coral-Fort Myers ranked one spot ahead of Sarasota-Bradenton, officially North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region came in 65th place.