Work & commute · Cortland

Work & commute in Cortland, NY

About one in 4 of Cortland’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Cortlandville (13%), Ithaca (5%) and New York (4%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23%

1,393 of 6,040 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,647 Cortland residents head out of town to work, 1,393 work right here, and 5,454 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cortland.

4,647live here, work elsewhere

1,393live and work here

5,454work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cortland goes to work

Cortland (in town)right here

23%1,393

Cortlandville3.1 mi away

13%776

Ithaca22.5 mi away

5%289

New York177 mi away

4%229

Dryden12.6 mi away

4%219

Syracuse30.5 mi away

3%211

Ithaca19.7 mi away

3%205

Lansing18.1 mi away

3%186

DeWitt31.8 mi away

2%117

Homer4.3 mi away

2%114

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%2,301

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Cortland commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

42%

17%

18%

23%

42%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cortland is balanced between jobs and homes

1.13jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cortland are

6,847 jobs are based in Cortland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cortland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cortland

6,847 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)89%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Cortland residents hold

6,040 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−14%

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.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.