The complete genome sequence data of S. aureus SJTUF_J27 isolated from seaweed in China is reported here. The size of the genome is 2.8 Mbp with 32.9% G+C content, consisting of 2614 coding sequences and 77 RNAs. A number of virulence factors, including antimicrobial resistance genes (fluoroquinolone, beta-lactams, fosfomycin, mupirocin, trimethoprim, and aminocoumarin) and the egc enterotoxin cluster, were found in the genome. In addition, the genes encoding metal-binding proteins and associated heavy metal resistance were identified. Phylogenetic data analysis, based upon genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and comparative genomic evaluation with BLAST Ring Image Generator (BRIG) were performed for SJTUF_J27 and four S. aureus strains isolated from food. The completed genome data was deposited in NCBI's GenBank under the accession number CP019117, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CP019117. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: NCBI GenBank Accession CP019117.1: Staphylococcus aureus strain SJTUF_J27 chromosome, complete genome. File Name: Web Page, url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CP019117 With an average of 331-fold sequencing coverage, a genome size of 2,804,759 bp constituting 32.9% of G+C content was generated. RAST annotation of the genome revealed a total of 399 subsystems, 2614 coding sequences (80 of them related to virulence, disease and defense), and 77 RNAs. PathogenFinder showed the probability of this strain being a human pathogen was 98%. Bacteria and source DNA available from Xianming Shi, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, China, 200240. Annotation was added by the NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (released 2013).