Most of Cortland commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole. There are 1,000 jobs in Cortland; 1,997 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Cortland is better than 48% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cortland in brief
Cortland makes and builds things
80% of the jobs based in Cortland are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Cortland residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Cortland has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Cortland went from 620 in 2013 to 1,000 in 2023, +61%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Cortland pay better than its residents’ jobs
80% of the jobs based in Cortland pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 62% of the jobs Cortland residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Cortland. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Cortland earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Cortland’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (8.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cortland could be anywhere from C− to A.
80% of the jobs in Cortland make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cortland, 2013 → 2023: 620 → 1,000. 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 Cortland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Cortland for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,958 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 961 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Cortland on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in DeKalb
Where Cortland clocks in
15% of workers
4% 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.
The daily trip from Cortland: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cortland workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,982 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Cortland commutes
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.
Most of Cortland commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,192 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.8% of Cortland households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Cortland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cortland is 2,107th of 3,798 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,105 | Upper Yoder Township PA | 4,985 | $67K | 5.2% | 6.0% | 5% | B− |
| 2,106 | West Mead Township PA | 4,937 | $65K | 12.6% | 2.0% | 8% | B− |
| 2,107 | Cortland IL | 4,676 | $74K | 7.0% | 8.2% | 2% | B− |
| 2,108 | Washington Township IN | 5,238 | $67K | 9.8% | 2.4% | 20% | B− |
| 2,109 | Manchester VT | 4,413 | $95K | 16.8% | 2.4% | 37% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | 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 Cortland, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 15% of Cortland
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to DeKalb. Darker towns draw more of Cortland’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 Cortland: questions
What is the median household income in Cortland?
$73,971 (±$18,270) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cortland?
7.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cortland?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cortland work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are DeKalb (15%, 3 mi), Sycamore (10%, 4 mi), Aurora (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cortland walkable?
Cortland is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cortland without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cortland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cortland
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.