Best PlacesCortland, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cortland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cortland ranks 20,660th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Cortland
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Cortland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cortland ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of towns
- Short commute22.6 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
Where Cortland ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cortland
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cortland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,630, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Cortland's effective rate of 0.52%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cortland
Cortland's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cortland.
Who works in Cortland, and how
Work in Cortland centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cortland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cortland.
What the weather is like in Cortland, month by month
Cortland sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Cortland
Indianapolis International sits about 53 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Cortland
Schools across Cortland average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cortland Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seymour Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Seymour Senior High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cortland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cortland measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Cortland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cortland
Is Cortland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cortland ranks 20,660th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state infrastructure, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cortland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,037. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $79,630 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Cortland safe?
Cortland is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
Compare Cortland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cortland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cortland represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Cortland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cortland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cortland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cortland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cortland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cortland detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.