Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Cortlandt grades A− overall, ranked 155th of 745 in New York. It has 69 miles of trail. It is healthier than 94% of U.S. towns and its public schools beat 79% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $580K for a typical one and 5.8 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Cortlandt’s average trip to work is 38 minutes, against 25 minutes in New York’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Cortlandt is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Van Cortlandt Manor and Aaron Copland House.
Where Cortlandt beats most towns.
Van Cortlandt Manor is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,932 in 1790, a low of 1,932 in 1790, 42,545 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and a map from 1986 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Cortlandt is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 5%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cortlandt. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw33 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw34 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw33 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cortlandt, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Cortlandt.
Cortlandt has less food insecurity than most of New York and has household incomes well above the New York norm, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
The trail density in Cortlandt is 1.4 miles per square mile. Blue Mountain Reservation, at 1,163 acres with 12 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Blue Mountain Reservation | 12 mi | 1,163 |
| 2. Hudson Highlands Gateway Park | 4.7 mi | 359 |
| 3. Hudson Highlands State Park | 3.8 mi | 534 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrie E Tompkins SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 585 | B+ |
| Walter Panas High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 845 | A |
| Croton-Harmon High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 507 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 9.4% of its 12,482 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
16% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Cortlandt. Cortlandt beats the New York average on 23 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 25% of adults have obesity in Cortlandt.
| Cortlandt | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 21% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Cortlandt | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.1% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
74 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 74 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cortlandt.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Cortlandt for work: only 12% work in town. Cortlandt’s median household income is $140,000. The top destinations are New York (29%), Mount Pleasant (5%) and Yorktown (5%).
| Cortlandt | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $140,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 22% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Cortlandt has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
22 within 15 miles of the center of Cortlandt
About 7 of every 100 Cortlandt residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
18.2% of the town is conserved land, across 32 parks and preserves.
14 places in Cortlandt on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Cortlandt.
Town in New York, United States
Cortlandt is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located at the northwestern edge of the county, at the eastern terminus of the Bear Mountain Bridge. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,545. The town includes the villages of Buchanan and Croton-on-Hudson, as well as several hamlets and historic neighborhoods.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Cortlandt.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortlandt | #155 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Peekskill | #495 | C+ | D− | B− | C− | A− |
| Croton-on-Hudson | #24 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Ossining | #258 | B+ | D− | — | B− | A+ |
| Buchanan | #120 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Ossining | #433 | B− | D− | — | C− | A |
| Stony Point | #280 | B | D | A | C | A |
| Yorktown | #46 | A+ | D | A− | A− | A+ |
Cortlandt, Ossining, Buchanan and Ossining report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Cortlandt with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Cortlandt grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #155 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $580,000, 10% above the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
3 notable people were born here, including Melissa Gonzalez and Hiram Paulding.
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