Cortland, Illinois

Cortland
Town
Motto:  The Third Largest Town in Illinois
Location of Cortland in DeKalb County, Illinois.
Coordinates: 41°55′10″N 88°39′12″W / 41.91944°N 88.65333°W / 41.91944; -88.65333[2]
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	DeKalb
Incorporated	February 16, 1865 (1865-02-16)
Government
• Mayor	Mark Pietrowski
Area [1]
• Total	3.66 sq mi (9.47 km2)
• Land	3.65 sq mi (9.45 km2)
• Water	0.0077 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation [2]	869 ft (265 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,398
• Density	1,205.3/sq mi (465.37/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	60112
Area code	815
FIPS code	17-16470
GNIS feature ID	2396662[2]
Website	www.cortlandil.org
[3]

Cortland is an incorporated town in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. 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 and Normal are larger, in terms of population. Most municipalities in Illinois are defined as "cities" or "villages."

A post office called Cortland has been in operation since 1892.^[4] The town was named after Cortland, New York.^[5]

According to the 2010 census, Cortland has a total area of 3.638 square miles (9.42 km²), of which 3.63 square miles (9.40 km²) (or 99.78%) is land and 0.008 square miles (0.02 km²) (or 0.22%) is water.^[6] The town is located immediately east of the city of DeKalb and just south of the city of Sycamore.

As of the 2020 census, Cortland had a population of 4,398. The median age was 33.0 years. 28.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 7.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.9 males age 18 and over.^[8][9]

94.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 5.9% lived in rural areas.^[10]

There were 1,521 households in Cortland, of which 45.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 54.9% were married-couple households, 14.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[8]

There were 1,561 housing units, of which 2.6% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 2.7%.^[8] The population density was 1,202.63 inhabitants per square mile (464.34/km²), and housing density was 426.85 per square mile (164.81/km²).^[11]

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 for the town was $32,578. About 0.6% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

• Charles W. Nash (1864–1948), automobile industry entrepreneur, born in Cortland^[12]

• History of Cortland, IL