Sarasota County is located in Fort Myers District, Florida and has its county seat at Sarasota, but its largest city at North Port. Part of the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Sarasota County is also located in the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. Furthermore, the county, together with Manatee County and other counties to the north, are often considered part of the Tampa Bay Area.