Homer, New York.
. Cortland, NY metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,478 (+116%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- New York$2,755
- United States$1,922
Living in Homer, Cortland County, New York
Homer is a village of 3,210 people in Cortland County. Half its households earn more than $72,472 a year and half less, against $70,418 across Cortland County; 6% of its people live below the poverty line. 69% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 31% are rented. Unemployment in Cortland County was 4.5% in August 2026, and the county had 3.3% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then finance and property.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Homer is a village in Cortland County, home to a small community of people. Incomes run a little above the county's, and most homes are lived in by their owners. Winters are cold and very snowy, with January the coldest month, while July brings warm days, and rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in banks, insurance and property, in restaurants and hotels, or in professional and business services. Across Cortland County, the largest workplaces include State University of New York at Cortland, Guthrie Cortland Medical Center and the Homer Central School District. A good share of adults hold a four-year degree, and the typical commute is a short one.
Things to do. A few waterways are a short drive away, including Lake Como, a lake, and Beaver Creek and Webster Brook, both rivers. For a longer outing, Skaneateles Lake and Cayuga Lake are lakes a longer drive away, and Buttermilk Falls State Park is a protected area a longer drive away as well.
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- 1,463households
- 43%of adults have a degree
- 6%below the poverty line
- 22 mintypical commute
- 8%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Cortland County had 17,469 jobs in 2025, 3.3% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 29° and lows near 11°; warmest in July, with highs near 77° and lows near 57°. About 117 inches of snow and 49 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Tully Heiberg Forest weather station, 10 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Cortland County
- State University of New York at CortlandUniversity or college1,262
- JM Murray CenterHabilitation job counseling and training, vocational537
- Guthrie Cortland Medical CenterGeneral hospital482FTE
- Cortland City School DistrictSchool district394FTE
- Homer Central School DistrictSchool district376FTE
- Pall CortlandAngle irons, metal, manufacturing373
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters361
- Auxiliary Services Corporation of Suny CortlandCafeteria food services contractors329
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 37 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 4,412 people in all across the county; Homer has two of its own. Colleges come from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24), hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Homer’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Cortland County and the Cortland, NY metro.
Homer home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Homer listings — the market is roughly in balance.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Homer21.30%
- United States25.56%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Homer18
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Homer7
Zip codes with a Homer address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Homer — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.