† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
1 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupCortland, NYNew YorkUnited States
Irish16.4%10.5%9.4%
English15.8%5.6%9.5%
German14.6%8.6%12.5%
Italian9.8%10.9%4.8%
American9.4%4.2%5.3%
Polish2.6%3.9%2.2%
French1.7%1.3%1.6%
Scottish1.7%—1.3%
Puerto Rican1.1%5.1%1.8%
Mexican0.5%2.5%11.3%
Spaniard0.5%——
Dominican0.3%4.6%0.7%
Colombian0.3%0.9%0.4%
Spanish0.2%——
African American†1.4%8.0%9.9%
Nigerian0.2%0.2%0.2%
Chinese0.7%3.6%1.3%
Asian Indian0.2%1.9%1.4%
Filipino0.2%0.6%0.9%
Japanese0.2%0.2%0.2%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Cortland, NY
New York
United States
Median age
37
39.9
39.1
Age 18–24
18.1%
9.0%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
17.1%
18.0%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Cortland, NY
New York
United States
Median household income
$70,418
$85,974
$84,427
Poverty rate
12.8%
14.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
29.1%
40.0%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Cortland, NY
New York
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
5.6%
30.9%
22.3%
Spanish
1.3%
14.8%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Cortland, NY
New York
United States
Catholic
19.0%
30.8%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
3.8%
5.1%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
67.2%
48.7%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
8.4%
3.8%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Cortland, NY
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−15.9%
1896
−30.4%
1900
−26.4%
1904
−31.2%
1908
−30.3%
1912
−9.1%
1916
−23.9%
1920
−56.4%
1924
−60.3%
1928
−52.3%
1932
−37.3%
1936
−42.7%
1940
−40.7%
1944
−35.5%
1948
−38.1%
1952
−54.8%
1956
−59.2%
1960
−35.0%
1964
+28.7%
1968
−26.3%
1972
−42.1%
1976
−23.4%
1980
−20.6%
1984
−35.9%
1988
−17.4%
1992
+0.2%
1996
+7.8%
2000
−0.8%
2004
−4.1%
2008
+10.0%
2012
+9.1%
2016
−5.6%
2020
−1.9%
2024
−6.4%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
46.6%Harris10,290
53.1%Trump11,706
0.3%
R+6.4
R+4.5
R+4.9
22,063
R
47.8%Biden10,370
49.8%Trump10,789
2.4%
R+1.9
D+3.6
R+6.4
21,679
R
43.3%Clinton8,771
48.9%Trump9,900
7.8%
R+5.6
R+14.7
R+7.7
20,244
D
53.4%Obama10,482
44.3%Romney8,695
2.3%
D+9.1
R+0.9
D+5.3
19,624
D
54.1%Obama11,861
44.2%McCain9,678
1.7%
D+10.0
D+14.1
D+2.7
21,920
R
46.9%Kerry10,670
51.0%Bush11,613
2.1%
R+4.1
R+3.3
R+1.7
22,760
R
46.8%Gore9,691
47.6%Bush9,857
5.7%
R+0.8
R+8.6
R+1.3
20,726
D
46.9%Clinton9,130
39.1%Dole7,606
13.9%
D+7.8
D+7.7
R+0.7
19,449
D
37.5%Clinton7,815
37.3%Bush7,782
25.2%
D+0.2
D+17.5
R+5.4
20,851
R
40.9%Dukakis7,673
58.3%Bush10,934
0.9%
R+17.4
D+18.5
R+9.6
18,769
R
31.8%Mondale6,438
67.7%Reagan13,691
0.5%
R+35.9
R+15.3
R+17.6
20,224
R
34.2%Carter6,176
54.8%Reagan9,885
11.0%
R+20.6
D+2.8
R+10.8
18,048
R
38.0%Carter6,947
61.3%Ford11,222
0.7%
R+23.4
D+18.8
R+25.4
18,300
R
28.8%McGovern5,234
71.0%Nixon12,885
0.2%
R+42.1
R+15.8
R+19.0
18,156
R
34.5%Humphrey5,791
60.8%Nixon10,209
4.8%
R+26.3
R+55.0
R+25.6
16,801
D
64.3%Johnson11,110
35.6%Goldwater6,149
0.1%
D+28.7
D+63.7
D+6.1
17,270
R
32.5%Kennedy5,921
67.5%Nixon12,305
0.0%
R+35.0
D+24.2
R+35.2
18,235
R
20.4%Stevenson3,612
79.6%Eisenhower14,085
0.0%
R+59.2
R+4.4
R+43.8
17,697
R
22.5%Stevenson4,079
77.3%Eisenhower13,985
0.2%
R+54.8
R+16.7
R+44.0
18,093
R
30.2%Truman4,614
68.3%Dewey10,433
1.5%
R+38.1
R+2.6
R+42.6
15,283
R
32.2%Roosevelt4,967
67.7%Dewey10,450
0.2%
R+35.5
D+5.2
R+43.0
15,441
R
29.6%Roosevelt5,147
70.3%Willkie12,233
0.2%
R+40.7
D+2.0
R+50.6
17,411
R
27.7%Roosevelt4,606
70.4%Landon11,718
1.9%
R+42.7
R+5.5
R+67.0
16,637
R
30.3%Roosevelt4,425
67.6%Hoover9,859
2.1%
R+37.3
D+15.0
R+55.0
14,585
R
23.1%Smith3,662
75.4%Hoover11,960
1.6%
R+52.3
D+8.0
R+34.8
15,869
R
16.6%Davis2,170
76.9%Coolidge10,032
6.4%
R+60.3
R+3.8
R+35.1
13,041
R
20.3%Cox2,541
76.7%Harding9,606
2.9%
R+56.4
R+32.5
R+30.3
12,516
R
35.3%Wilson2,693
59.2%Hughes4,521
5.5%
R+23.9
R+14.8
R+27.1
7,636
R
30.9%Wilson2,283
40.0%Taft2,959
29.2%
R+9.1
D+21.1
R+28.7
7,399
R
32.0%Bryan2,616
62.3%Taft5,090
5.7%
R+30.3
D+1.0
R+20.7
8,176
R
32.1%Parker2,649
63.3%Roosevelt5,222
4.5%
R+31.2
R+4.8
R+11.5
8,244
R
34.6%Bryan2,773
61.0%McKinley4,895
4.5%
R+26.4
D+3.9
R+18.9
8,026
R
33.0%Bryan2,574
63.4%McKinley4,939
3.6%
R+30.4
R+14.5
R+24.3
7,791
R
37.7%Cleveland2,907
53.6%Harrison4,134
8.8%
R+15.9
—
R+17.6
7,717
Congressional elections · 3 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
R
48.6%10,469
50.8%10,941
21,546
2022
R
46.5%7,469
52.8%8,485
16,065
2018
D
56.2%9,113
43.8%7,099
16,223
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2026R+7.5
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+6.4
Registration and the presidential vote track closely here — within 1.1 points.
Domestic migration in Cortland, NY in Cortland, NY: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
+39
2012
−375
2013
−91
2014
−280
2015
−523
2016
−426
2017
−193
2018
−136
2019
−210
2021
−191
2022
−227
2023
−119
2024
+40
2025
−194
Cortland County's electorate reflects the pull of a mid-size state university campus alongside a declining manufacturing workforce, producing a competitive mix that has shifted measurably in presidential cycles over the past two decades.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 28.7 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 60.3 points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 4.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 6.4 points.
A population of 46,246, a 89% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,418 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Oneonta, NY and Elmira, NY.
Akashic
Political twins — metros
The metros whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Cortland, NY, New York. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/18660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Cortland, NY, New York voted Republican by 6.4 points (R+6.4), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 22,063 votes cast, 10,290 went Democratic and 11,706 went Republican.
When did Cortland, NY, New York last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Cortland, NY, New York voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Cortland, NY, New York?
Cortland, NY, New York has a population of 46,246 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Cortland, NY, New York?
Median household income in Cortland, NY, New York is $70,418 — below the national median of $80,734. The New York state median is $85,974.
What is the political history of Cortland, NY, New York?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Cortland, NY, New York from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 29 went Republican.
