IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Cortland, IL
Cortland is a small town of 4,564 people in DeKalb County, Illinois. It's about 29 miles from Rockford, IL and 52 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 83°F and winter highs 28°F, with about 35 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $233k and rent runs about $2k a month.
4,564people
$233kTypical home
$1,552/moRent
83° / 28°Summer / winter
35"Snow
224Sunny days
119Rain/snow days
Is Cortland right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small town of 4,564
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,270 people per sq mi
- 52 mi to Chicago, IL
- 29 mi to Rockford, IL
- 3 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $233k (≈$1,471/mo)
- Median rent $1,552/mo
- Median household income $74k
- Property tax about 2.8% of value
- 8.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 83°F
- Winter highs around 28°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 63°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (79 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 47 of 90 winter days are gray
- 119 days a year with rain or snow
- 35" of snow a year
- 11 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 32 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (122 per 100k)
- Very low property crime (814 per 100k)
People
- Median age 32
- 41% of households have kids
- 9% are 65 or older
- 27% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 7% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 27 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 27 mi to RFD airport
- 40 mi to ORD (major hub)
- 30 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 81% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1998
- 95% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 889 ft
- 644 mi to the ocean
- 49 mi to a big lake
- 9 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 25 mi to the nearest ski area
- 15 mi to the nearest campground
- 48 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 598 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 119 bars within 25 mi
- 163 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 1 music venue or club within 25 mi
- 39 museums within 25 mi
- 7 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 17 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 30% of Illinois districts (reading)
- 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 4 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 4 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 2 mi to the nearest vet
- 3 mi to the nearest dog park
- 6 congregations per 10k people
- 4 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- DeKalb County: Purple — split almost evenly
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk