Cortland is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Cortland to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
One of the benefits of Cortland is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.33 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
In terms of college education, Cortland is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 27.06% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Cortland in 2022 was $26,198, which is low income relative to New York, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $104,792 for a family of four. However, Cortland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Cortland is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Cortland home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cortland residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Cortland include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Cortland is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
