The central region ofNew York state includes:

• Auburn inCayuga County
• Cortland inCortland County
• Oneida inMadison County
• Syracuse, the largest city of Central New York, inOnondaga County
• Fulton andOswego inOswego County

With a population of about 784,283 as of 2020 and an area of 3,715 square miles (9,620 km²), the region includes theSyracuse metropolitan area.^[1][2]

TheNew York State Department of Transportation's definition of the Central and Eastern region of New York state includes the counties of Albany, Broome, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, and Washington, but does not commit itself to a definition of Central New York.^[3]

Cortland County and Tompkins County are often considered part of the New York State region called theSouthern Tier; theski country demarcation line runs through Cortland County. Tompkins County, which includesIthaca at the edge ofCayuga Lake, is considered part of theFinger Lakes. Oneida County and Herkimer County are often considered part of New York state'sMohawk Valley, although Central New York and Mohawk Valley's geographic definitions overlap. Only Onondaga County, Cayuga County, Oswego County, and Madison County are always considered Central New York.^{[citation needed]}

Daniel Koch writes in his book,Land of the Oneidas: Central New York State and the Creation of America, published in 2023, that "the term 'central New York' is a confounding one, which has been defined differently by various writers and agencies at different times."^[4] His work on central New York focuses on the homeland of theOneida people along with the neighboring homelands of theOnondaga people to the west and theMohawk people to the east.

During the early historic period, theIroquois (Haudenosaunee, Five Nations) successfully excludedAlgonquian tribes from the region.

TheCentral New York Military Tract (land reserved for soldiers of theAmerican Revolution) was located here. Many towns derived from the tracts have classical names.

Major colleges and universities in the region include:

• Cornell University
• Colgate University
• Hamilton College
• Le Moyne College
• SUNY Cortland
• SUNY ESF
• SUNY Morrisville
• SUNY Oswego
• SUNY Polytechnic Institute
• SUNY Upstate Medical University
• Syracuse University
• Utica University
• Wells College

Major newspapers in the region include theOneida Daily Dispatch,Syracuse Post-Standard,Auburn Citizen,Rome Daily Sentinel,Ithaca Journal, andUtica Observer-Dispatch.

The region is served by several television stations based inSyracuse (including ABC affiliateWSYR-TV, NBC affiliateWSTM-TV, CBS affiliateWTVH, Fox affiliateWSYT and PBS member stationWCNY-TV) andUtica (NBC/CBS affiliateWKTV, ABC affiliateWUTR and Fox TV affiliateWFXV).

Central New York is near the eastern edge of the dialect region known as theInland North, which stretches as far west as Wisconsin. The region is characterized by the shift in vowel pronunciations known as theNorthern Cities Vowel Shift, although in recent decades the shift has begun to fade out among younger generations.^{[citation needed]}

Many Central New Yorkers pronounce words likeelementary,documentary andcomplimentary withsecondary stress on the-ary, soelementary becomes/ɛləˈmɛntˌɛri/, instead of the more widespread pronunciations of/ɛləˈmɛntəri/ and/ɛləˈmɛntri/. This feature is shared with the rest ofUpstate New York.^[5]

The wordsoda is used forsoft drink in Central New York; this distinguishes it linguistically fromWestern New York, wherepop is used.^[6]

• Syracuse metropolitan area

43°00′N75°48′W / 43°N 75.8°W /43; -75.8