Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetFL-CORTEZ-FL · Cortez, FL 5,323 pop · income 58th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Cortez
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Cortez on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Okeechobee · lowest
50,365
Okeechobee · lowest
50,365 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #1
Otego · near
76,908
Otego · near
76,908 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #2
Wallkill · near
76,908
Wallkill · near
76,908 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #3
Hideout · near
76,912
Hideout · near
76,912 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #4
Cortez · this city
76,915
Cortez · this city
76,915 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #5
South San Gab… · near
76,921
South San Gab… · near
76,921 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #6
Englewood Cli… · highest
222,192
Englewood Cli… · highest
222,192 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Cortez on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 5,323.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Cortez lands in the 58th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
58th
percentile, household income
76th
percentile, home value
73rd
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Cortez, FL
Florida's Cortez is a small town, with 5,323 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Cortez report a median income of $76,915 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.1%. Home values in Cortez run a median of $388,500, and the median resident age is 62.8 years. About 46.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 33.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Florida carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,526 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Florida run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 75.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Cortez's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Cortez, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Cortez?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Cortez?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Cortez?
Within Florida, the closest population matches are South Pasadena (5,324 residents, $51,369 income); Whiskey Creek (5,298 residents, $99,242 income); Palm Springs North (5,291 residents, $97,083 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Canal Fulton, OH (5,326 residents); St. Robert, MO (5,327 residents); Ashland City, TN (5,318 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Above median income · poverty 8.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Florida average
C-
City profile score · Cortez, FL
51/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A-
46.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$76,915
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
103.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Cortez profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 81/100 (A-) · 46.4%
Household income: 56/100 (C) · $76,915
Poverty rate: 47/100 (D) · 8.1%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
How does Cortez compare to other US cities?
Here's how Cortez stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income58% higher than other cities
Home value76% pricier than other cities
Median rent73% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Cortez against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Florida only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Florida-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Cortez near the bottom of Florida's cities
Among the 930 Florida cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Cortez ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Cortez only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#351 of 903
61st percentile in Florida
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 930
0th percentile in Florida
Median Home Value
#244 of 894
73rd percentile in Florida
Poverty Rate
#454 of 930
51st percentile in Florida
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#176 of 930
81st percentile in Florida
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Florida only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
58th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Cortez's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$388,50024th percentilemore affordable than 24% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Cortez's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#12,982 of 15,516
More affordable than 16% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,813 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.1×, Cortez sits in the pressured band:
national rank #12,982 of 15,516 and #9,813 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$76,915Cortez, FL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Cortez, FL median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Cortez, FL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)46.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)33.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,323
Median Income
$76,915
Median Home Value
$388,500
Median Age
62.8
Poverty Rate
8.1%
Labor force participation
33.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
46.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
4.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
11.1%
Other
5.5%
Based on 1,667 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Florida statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Florida at $225 (electricity about $145 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Florida statewide averages, not a meter reading for Cortez. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Florida's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Cortez is $1,526/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Florida statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 75.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Florida statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Cortez sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Cortez compares to similar-size Florida cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.