Best PlacesCortland, NY 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. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cortland ranks 1,274th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
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
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Short commute18.5 minutes each way, better than 92% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of cities
Where Cortland ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cortland
A household needs to earn about $52,000 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 $71,428, 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 2.41%, 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 6 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 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
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 education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Cortland
Cortland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cortland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cortland, month by month
Cortland sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Cortland
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cortland
Schools across Cortland average an A−, better than 89% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mcgraw Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Groton Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Homer Intermediate SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Randall Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Homer Junior High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Dryden Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Dryden High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Homer Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Cortland High SchoolA+ · 90% 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 2,097 cities.
Who Cortland suits
Common questions about living in Cortland
Is Cortland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cortland ranks 1,274th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on heat safety, short commutes, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and internet speeds. 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 $162,432. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $71,428 median income, cost of living beats 22% of cities.
Is Cortland safe?
Cortland is safer than 45% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cortland?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of cities.
Is Cortland good for families?
Schools beat 89% of cities, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,091 a month.
Compare Cortland with other cities
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.