Cortland is an

incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United States An incorporated town o ...

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The population was 4,398 at the 2020 Census. It was previously 4,270 at the 2010 census, up from 2,066 in 2000. Because of its status as an incorporated town, Cortland has adopted the slogan, "The Third Largest Town in Illinois". Only the towns of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and Normal are larger, in terms of population. Most municipalities in Illinois are defined as "cities" or "villages."

History

A post office called Cortland has been in operation since 1892. The town was named after

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York, United States. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of 2024, the estimated population of Cortland, New York, is 17,196, reflecting a dec ...

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Cortland has a total area of , of which (or 99.78%) is land and (or 0.22%) is water. The town is located immediately east of the city of DeKalb and just south of the city of

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 4,398 people, 1,419 households, and 939 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 73.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.19%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.48% Native American, 1.39% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 5.82% from other races, and 10.37% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 17.03% of the population. There were 1,419 households, out of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.30% were married couples living together, 6.77% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.83% were non-families. 21.35% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.85% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.00. The town's age distribution consisted of 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 40.9% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 120.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $74,821, and the median income for a family was $98,984. Males had a median income of $51,393 versus $26,688 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $32,578. About 0.6% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

* Charles W. Nash (1864–1948), automobile industry entrepreneur, born in Cortland

References

External links

History of Cortland, IL
{{authority control 1865 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1865 Towns in DeKalb County, Illinois Towns in Illinois