Sarasota, FL (population: 52,304) has eight hospitality management schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Florida Southern College, the highest ranked school in this group with a hospitality management program, has a total student population of 2,426. It is the 413th highest ranked school in the USA and the 14th highest in the state of Florida (#1 is University of Miami).
Hospitality Management students from Sarasota schools who go on to become hospitality managers, hospitality professionals, hospitaly managers, hotel and hospitality managers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 334,310 people working as hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $19,190. Also, Food preparation and serving related employees make on average $20,880 per year and there are about 11,218,260 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area alone, there are 28,460 employed food preparation and serving related employees earning an average salary of $21,380. Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in this area earn $18,330/yr and there are 880 employed.
Sarasota lies in Sarasota county, which is one of the 49 counties in Florida. Overall, the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area has 247,060 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $18/hr average worker wage, and a $37,750 average annual salary. Thus, about 4 out of every 1000 jobs in Sarasota are held by hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, and 115/1000 are held by food preparation and serving related employees.
Of the 8 hospitality management schools with a 100-mile radius of Sarasota, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Schiller International University comes out as the most expensive ($24,710/yr) for hospitality management students, with South Florida Community College as the lowest, reported at only $4,082/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Sarasota |
| Bradenton | FL | 54,123 | 4 | 19.43 | 124 | 10.5 miles |
| Saint Petersburg | FL | 243,829 | 7 | 28.1391 | 139 | 29.6 miles |
| North Port | FL | 58,777 | 0 | - | 0 | 29.9 miles |
| Port Charlotte | FL | 49,392 | 1 | 23.17 | 24 | 36.3 miles |
| Pinellas Park | FL | 46,971 | 2 | 19.8178 | 18 | 37.3 miles |
| Largo | FL | 71,859 | 6 | 16.9483 | 118 | 41.9 miles |
| Tampa | FL | 351,091 | 21 | 26.1721 | 513 | 43.1 miles |
| Brandon | FL | 91,683 | 0 | - | 0 | 43.8 miles |
| Clearwater | FL | 104,782 | 7 | 23.3042 | 195 | 46.3 miles |
| Cape Coral | FL | 161,428 | 1 | 26.0313 | 32 | 59.1 miles |
| North Fort Myers | FL | 51,280 | 0 | - | 0 | 59.6 miles |
| Lakeland | FL | 95,327 | 5 | 27.1628 | 186 | 60.4 miles |
| New Port Richey | FL | - | 2 | 22.9424 | 46 | 63.4 miles |
| Fort Myers | FL | 68,373 | 7 | 23.467 | 192 | 65.4 miles |
| Saint Leo | FL | - | 1 | 24.1963 | 100 | 71.2 miles |
| Bonita Springs | FL | 44,290 | 0 | - | 0 | 83.6 miles |
| Naples | FL | - | 4 | 7.38552 | 63 | 95.1 miles |
| Kissimmee | FL | 64,069 | 3 | 25.1875 | 43 | 96.3 miles |