Photo: ILoveCortlandNewYork · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Cortland earn less than those in 75% of U.S. towns
20.8% of residents are in poverty; New York has 14.0%. The two grades for Cortland are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Home is the office for 7% of workers (New York 15%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Cortland stands out on work
Commutes from Cortland are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Cortland trades workers with the towns around it
Cortland has about as many jobs (6,847) as working residents (6,040), but they are mostly different people: 4,647 residents leave for work each day while 5,454 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Cortland are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Cortland is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 5% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Inside Cortland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cortland is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #601 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Cortland’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cortland could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Commuting from Cortland: about 17 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cortland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,815 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% 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 Cortland, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,647 residents head out to work, 1,393 work right here, and 5,454 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Cortland
6,847 jobs are based in Cortland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cortland, 2013 → 2023: 7,977 → 6,847. 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.
13% of working residents work in Cortlandville
Where Cortland clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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 commute from Cortland, by distance
About 23% 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.
In Cortland, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cortland is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #161 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,392 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). 19.7% of Cortland households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Cortland’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cortland is 1,645th of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,643 | Farmington MO | 19,226 | $54K | 15.9% | 4.1% | 35% | C |
| 1,644 | Sulphur Springs TX | 17,054 | $62K | 14.7% | 5.0% | 45% | C |
| 1,645 | Cortland NY | 17,394 | $59K | 20.8% | 4.2% | 23% | C |
| 1,646 | Lealman FL | 20,567 | $45K | 15.6% | 7.2% | 3% | C |
| 1,647 | Cañon City CO | 17,030 | $65K | 13.4% | 4.2% | 35% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 New York.
Cortland and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cortland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortland | – | C | A | 17 min | $59,482 |
| Munsons Corners | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Cortland West | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Munsons Corners and Cortland West: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$59,482 (±$3,769) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cortland?
20.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cortland?
17 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cortland work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cortlandville (13%, 3 mi), Ithaca (5%, 22 mi), New York City (4%, 177 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cortland walkable?
Cortland is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cortland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 20% 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.