Tompkins County is a county in New York, United States, home to Cornell University and the city of Ithaca on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake. It had a population of 105,740 at the 2020 census and covers 492 square miles (1,274 km2) — 475 square miles (1,230 km2) of land and 17 square miles (44 km2) of water — centred near 42°27′N 76°28′W.<\/p>\n
Ithaca is the county seat, and its postal code is 14850. The county has one city, six incorporated villages, and nine towns, plus more than a dozen unincorporated hamlets. It sits in the Eastern time zone and carries FIPS code 36109.<\/p>\n
Tompkins County is organised into nine towns (New York’s version of townships), one city, and six villages that sit inside those towns. Census-designated places (CDPs) below are unincorporated but Census-Bureau-recognised; Unincorp. entries are hamlets with no formal boundary or population count.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Township<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 32,108<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cayuga Heights<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 4,114<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lansing<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Lansing<\/td>\n | 3,648<\/td>\n | 14882<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dryden<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Dryden<\/td>\n | 1,987<\/td>\n | 13053<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Trumansburg<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Ulysses<\/td>\n | 1,754<\/td>\n | 14886<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Groton<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Groton<\/td>\n | 2,231<\/td>\n | 13073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Freeville<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | Dryden<\/td>\n | 458<\/td>\n | 13068<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Hill<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 7,245<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Northeast Ithaca<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Dryden<\/td>\n | 2,701<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| East Ithaca<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 3,175<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Northwest Ithaca<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 2,231<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Lansing<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Lansing<\/td>\n | 1,078<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Varna<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 767<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Newfield<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Newfield<\/td>\n | 725<\/td>\n | 14867<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jacksonville<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Newfield<\/td>\n | 516<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Danby<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Danby<\/td>\n | 506<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| McLean<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Dryden<\/td>\n | 378<\/td>\n | 13102<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Brooktondale<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Caroline<\/td>\n | 261<\/td>\n | 14817<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| West Danby<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Danby<\/td>\n | 211<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Slaterville Springs<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | Caroline<\/td>\n | 208<\/td>\n | 14881<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Etna<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | Dryden<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 13062<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Enfield<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | Enfield<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Speedsville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | Caroline<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| North Lansing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | Lansing<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Forest Home<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | Ithaca<\/td>\n | 1,168<\/td>\n | 14850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Cayuga Heights is a village that lies entirely inside the town of Ithaca, and the CDPs of East Ithaca, Northeast Ithaca, Northwest Ithaca, South Hill, and Varna are all unincorporated growth around the city rather than separate settlements — each is counted in its own town’s population, not the city’s. The village of Trumansburg sits inside the town of Ulysses, not a separate township of its own name.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nSmaller hamlets such as Speedsville, North Lansing, West Danby, Danby, and Jacksonville use a neighbouring post office’s ZIP code rather than one of their own.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nTompkins County sits in New York’s Finger Lakes region, at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake, where the terrain rises from lakeshore flats into the steep, gorge-cut hills of the Appalachian Plateau. Ithaca sits at the mouth of the Cayuga Inlet, flanked by Fall Creek and Six Mile Creek, and Taughannock Falls in the town of Ulysses drops 215 feet, higher than Niagara Falls. The county borders Cayuga County<\/a> to the north, Cortland County to the east, Tioga County<\/a> to the south, Chemung County<\/a> to the southwest, Schuyler County<\/a> to the west, and Seneca County to the northwest.<\/p>\n Tompkins County had 105,740 residents at the 2020 census, spread across a land area of 475 square miles for a density of about 223 people per square mile. Ithaca is by far the largest community at 32,108, followed by the South Hill CDP at 7,245, much of it Cornell student housing. The county’s large student population — Cornell and Ithaca College together enroll tens of thousands — skews its median household income figures; the county trails behind the New York median of $82,095 in Census Bureau estimates because student households report little income, even though the county’s non-student workforce is well paid.<\/p>\n Higher education dominates the county economy: Cornell University is the largest employer in the region by a wide margin, followed by Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. Tourism built around the Finger Lakes wine trail, state parks, and gorge trails brings seasonal business, and Ithaca’s Downtown Commons and the Ithaca Farmers Market anchor the local retail and food scene. The GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, held each July in Trumansburg, is the county’s best-known annual event.<\/p>\n Tompkins County was formed on April 7, 1817, from parts of Cayuga and Seneca counties, and named for Daniel D. Tompkins, then Vice President of the United States and a former Governor of New York. Ithaca grew around water-powered mills at the head of Cayuga Lake in the early 1800s, and the arrival of Cornell University in 1865 and Ithaca College in 1892 reshaped the county into an education-centred economy that still defines it today.<\/p>\n New York Route 13 is the county’s main north-south corridor through Ithaca, with Routes 34, 79, 89, and 96 fanning out to the surrounding towns and lakeshore villages.<\/p>\n Ithaca Tompkins International Airport, in the town of Lansing, offers commercial flights; Syracuse Hancock International Airport is the nearest larger hub.<\/p>\n Where is Tompkins County, New York?<\/strong> What is the population of Tompkins County?<\/strong> How big is Tompkins County?<\/strong> What is the county seat of Tompkins County?<\/strong> How many towns and villages are in Tompkins County?<\/strong> What ZIP codes are in Tompkins County?<\/strong> |