Study: North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota among top metros for jobs

North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota ranked No. 4 among metros nationally for jobs and new talent in a recent analysis by LinkedIn. The professional networking site included the area on its list of the top 25 “Cities on the Rise” based on job market momentum and in-migration.

LinkedIn cited an “influx of Midwesterners, retirees and remote workers” driving post-pandemic population growth in the Sarasota metro as well as projects like Wellen Park and Sarasota Memorial’s developing $507M North Port hospital campus as drivers of new homes and jobs.

There were 2,600 new jobs added to the region last year, Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County Vice President Joshua Ewen writes on LinkedIn, in a post about the recognition from the social media site. 

Real estate, hospitals and healthcare and technology and internet were listed among the top industries hiring in the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metro, LinkedIn says. According to its study, 5.7% of those positions are hybrid, while 2.2% are remote. Median income for the Sarasota metro is $84,050, the analysis says.

There were 25 “Cities on the Rise” for hiring in 2026, according to LinkedIn, with Augusta, Georgia, topping the list.

"One common thread among the cities that made this list is healthcare," Inc. magazine says in an analysis of the study. "Hospitals and healthcare rank among three leading hiring industries in 23 of the 25 metros."

Sarasota Memorial is the largest employer in Sarasota County, with more than 10,700 employees, according to the county's annual financial report.

As for its methodology, LinkedIn says it measured job market momentum through year-over-year growth in hiring by looking at the number of its members who added a new position to their profile as well as the change in the number of job postings divided by the number of Linkedin members in that metro area. 

To be on the “Cities on the Rise” list, metros also had to have more workers moving in versus moving out, based on LinkedIn members’ profile locations. Only cities with fewer than 2.5 million LinkedIn users were considered for the list, which focused on small to mid-sized metros.