Sanford, NC -- U.S. city in North Carolina Population (2000): 23220 Housing Units (2000): 9223 Land area (2000): 24.069426 sq. miles (62.339525 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.082884 sq. miles (0.214669 sq. km) Total area (2000): 24.152310 sq. miles (62.554194 sq. km) FIPS code: 59280 Located within: North Carolina (NC), FIPS 37 Location: 35.475881 N, 79.175463 W ZIP Codes (1990): Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Sanford, NC Sanford