Sarasota County's population rose by 1.5 percent between 2016 and 2017, while Manatee County's grew by almost 2.7 percent, according to new population estimates released by the United States Census Bureau on Thursday. Sarasota County's population stood at 419,119 in 2017, according to the Bureau, up from 412,879 in 2016. Manatee County's population was 385,571 last year, up from 375,563 in 2016. Overall, Florida's population grew by almost 1.6 percent during the same time span.