Ithaca is a medium-sized city located in the state of New York. With a population of 32,870 people and 18 associated neighborhoods, Ithaca is the 41st largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Ithaca was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Housing costs in Ithaca are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New York.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Ithaca has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Ithaca has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Ithaca is also a city of artists. Ithaca has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Ithaca’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 23.24% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Ithaca is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Ithaca have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Ithaca’s economy is one such example of this.

Ithaca, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

Ithaca has a lot of people who ride the bus to and from work. In fact, for its size, Ithaca has quite a high level of public transit users. Ithaca’s need for inexpensive transportation options for its citizens is quite high.

If knowledge is power, Ithaca is a pretty powerful place. 69.41% of the adults in Ithaca have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Ithaca in 2022 was $28,566, which is low income relative to New York, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $114,264 for a family of four. However, Ithaca contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Ithaca also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 33.06% of its population below the federal poverty line.

Ithaca is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ithaca home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ithaca residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ithaca include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Polish.

In addition, Ithaca has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (19.69%).

The most common language spoken in Ithaca is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.