county

Cortland County, NY

Demographic and economic profile of Cortland County, NY, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Cortland County, NY is a small upstate county of 46,401 residents with a mixed goods-and-services economy, reflected in a GDP per capita of $38,170 and median worker earnings of $37,383. The labor force participation rate stands at 63.3%, with 28.3% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 5.7%. Housing costs are low—median home value of $158,100 and median gross rent of $911/month—though the county has seen a population decline of 3.6% over five years.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

46,401

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$70,418

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

37.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.6% since 2018

Cortland County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone41,609 (90.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,275 (2.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,264 (2.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone861 (1.9%)
  • Asian Alone656 (1.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone550 (1.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish620
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic465
  3. 3.Other Indo-European359
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)271
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic185

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

64.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,343

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$38,170

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,818

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance7,286
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services2,724
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,515
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)2,302
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,828

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations8,901
  2. 2.Service Occupations4,525
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations4,463
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,072
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,204

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.45×)2,963
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.37×)509
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.35×)7,329
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.02×)2,590
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 0.99×)2,288

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$158,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$911/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

66.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,9991,954 (15.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,626 (12.9%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,398 (11.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9991,282 (10.2%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999986 (7.8%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999927 (7.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

28.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

63.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,383

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

10.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone16,285 (72.3%)
  • Carpooled2,649 (11.8%)
  • Worked At Home1,765 (7.8%)
  • Walked1,275 (5.7%)
  • Public Transit208 (0.9%)
  • Other163 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.