Cortez Historic District · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Cortez (11.0%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 31.0 in Miami. Cortez grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Only 5% stay in Cortez for work; outside it, Bradenton is the main destination (12%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cortez and work: the main findings
Income, poverty and work: Cortez’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cortez is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #444 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Cortez’s grade up ($79,895, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cortez could be anywhere from C− to A−.
About 33 minutes to work from Cortez
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cortez workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,273 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who works in Cortez, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,263 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 571 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Cortez on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.48 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Cortez’s residents
Where Cortez clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Inside Cortez’s 638 jobs
638 jobs are based in Cortez.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cortez, 2013 → 2023: 521 → 638. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cortez’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Cortez’s commute, mile by mile
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cortez
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cortez is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #77 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Cortez near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,500 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Cortez households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cortez’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Cortez is 2,499th among 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Vineyards FL | 3,849 | $131K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Highland Beach FL | 4,328 | $145K | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,497 | Manchester IA | 5,357 | $61K | 11.4% | 3.5% | 37% | C+ |
| 2,498 | St. John MO | 6,441 | $54K | 15.4% | 6.3% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,499 | Cortez FL | 5,205 | $80K | 10.5% | 11.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,500 | Dardanelle AR | 4,521 | $51K | 11.1% | 3.5% | 17% | C+ |
| 2,501 | Mount Morris Township IL | 3,639 | $50K | 12.6% | 2.8% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Cortez, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
The towns around Cortez
The biggest share goes to Bradenton Beach (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cortez workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortez | – | C+ | A | 33 min | $79,895 |
| Bradenton Beach | 2% | — | — | 46 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bradenton Beach: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cortez’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Cortez: questions
What is the median household income in Cortez?
$79,895 (±$11,086) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cortez?
10.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cortez?
33 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cortez work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bradenton (12%, 6 mi), Sarasota (5%, 12 mi), Tampa (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cortez walkable?
Cortez is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cortez without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cortez, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cortez
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.