akashic
1876–2024
Cortland, NY·New York

Cortland, NY votes the way the country votes.

A small upstate metro where SUNY enrollment shapes the voter base

1876 — 2024·38 elections
NY
Latest
R+6
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
46,246
2024 ACS

Cortland, NY, New York: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted R+6%. Republican peak: R+60 in 1924.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+6MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
46,2462024 5-year
Median household income
$70,4182024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
90.0%2024 5-year
Black
1.9%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
3.6%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+29 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+60 in 1924MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
1 counties · 0 D · 1 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−6.4%
10,29011,70622,063
R
−1.9%
10,37010,78921,679
R
−5.6%
8,7719,90020,244
D
+9.1%
10,4828,69519,624
D
+10.0%
11,8619,67821,920
R
−4.1%
10,67011,61322,760
R
−0.8%
9,6919,85720,726
D
+7.8%
9,1307,60619,449
D
+0.2%
7,8157,78220,851
R
−17.4%
7,67310,93418,769
R
−35.9%
6,43813,69120,224
R
−20.6%
6,1769,88518,048
R
−23.4%
6,94711,22218,300
R
−42.1%
5,23412,88518,156
R
−26.3%
5,79110,20916,801
D
+28.7%
11,1106,14917,270
R
−35.0%
5,92112,30518,235
R
−59.2%
3,61214,08517,697
R
−54.8%
4,07913,98518,093
R
−38.1%
4,61410,43315,283
R
−35.5%
4,96710,45015,441
R
−40.7%
5,14712,23317,411
R
−42.7%
4,60611,71816,637
R
−37.3%
4,4259,85914,585
R
−52.3%
3,66211,96015,869
R
−60.3%
2,17010,03213,041
R
−56.4%
2,5419,60612,516
R
−23.9%
2,6934,5217,636
R
−9.1%
2,2832,9597,399
R
−30.3%
2,6165,0908,176
R
−31.2%
2,6495,2228,244
R
−26.4%
2,7734,8958,026
R
−30.4%
2,5744,9397,791
R
−15.9%
2,9074,1347,717
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
16.4%
English
15.8%
German
14.6%
Italian
9.8%
American
9.4%
Polish
2.6%
French
1.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 37.0 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.5%
85+
1.2%
2.4%
75–84
2.8%
4.9%
65–74
5.3%
6.7%
55–64
6.4%
5.8%
45–54
5.2%
5.6%
35–44
5.4%
5.7%
25–34
5.5%
8.4%
18–24
9.7%
7.2%
5–17
6.5%
2.4%
<5
2.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$70,418
Cortland, NY ranks near the middle of US counties.
Cortland, NY$70,418
New York$85,974
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.0%
Working age (18–64)13.5%
Seniors (65+)9.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.4%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.5%
Spanish1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.1%
Other languages0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
19.0%
Methodist
5.4%
Other Christian
4.5%
Mainline Protestant
2.5%
Baptist
0.7%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.6%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 67.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

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.

The Democratic margin in Cortland, NY has rarely exceeded twenty-nine points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded sixty points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Republican candidate by six points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 90% non-Hispanic-white share, a 13% poverty rate, and a median household income of $70,418 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Cortland, NY, New York — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/18660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Cortland, NY, New York vote in 2024?
In 2024, Cortland, NY, New York voted Republican by 6.4 points (R+6), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 22,063 votes cast, 10,290 went Democratic and 11,706 went Republican.
What is Cortland, NY, New York's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Cortland, NY, New York as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 29 times, and other 0 times.
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 38 presidential elections in Cortland, NY, New York from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.