county

Tompkins County, NY

Demographic and economic profile of Tompkins County, NY, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Tompkins County, NY is a university-anchored economy of 105,602 residents, with 59.2% holding a bachelor's degree or higher — well above national norms — and a notably young median age of 32.3 years reflecting its student and academic population. The labor force participation rate sits at 58.2% with median worker earnings of $37,870, and a 5.3% unemployment rate, while GDP per capita reaches $59,092 against a median household income of $74,024. Population has been essentially flat (−0.1% over five years), median home values stand at $271,500, and a 15.3% poverty rate points to the income inequality common in college-dominated counties.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

105,602

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$74,024

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

32.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.1% since 2018

Tompkins County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone78,663 (75.2%)
  • Asian Alone10,646 (10.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone4,358 (4.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races3,913 (3.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race3,431 (3.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone3,206 (3.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish3,414
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)3,367
  3. 3.Other Indo-European2,748
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island1,691
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic1,188

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

14.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

69.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

12.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

3,260

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$59,092

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$42,505

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance23,550
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services6,102
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services4,323
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)4,135
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)3,002

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations29,356
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations7,763
  3. 3.Service Occupations7,455
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,444
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,473

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 2.05×)23,695
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.01×)795
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 0.99×)4,310
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 0.94×)5,714
  5. 5.Information (LQ 0.89×)828

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$271,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,374/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

54.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9995,138 (21.9%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9993,145 (13.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9993,115 (13.3%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9992,434 (10.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9992,231 (9.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,511 (6.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

59.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,870

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

20.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

13.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone25,562 (51.7%)
  • Worked At Home9,886 (20.0%)
  • Walked5,637 (11.4%)
  • Carpooled4,602 (9.3%)
  • Public Transit2,296 (4.6%)
  • Bicycle882 (1.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Tompkins County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.