Cócorit reported a 2005 census population of 7,953 inhabitants, and is the fifth-largest town in the municipality of Cajeme (after Ciudad Obregón, Esperanza, Pueblo Yaqui, and Tobarito).
The town was founded in 1617 by the Spanish Jesuit missionaries Andrés Pérez de Ribas and Tomás Basilio as Espíritu Santu Cócorit.
In 1867, the governor of Sonora (Pesqueira) organized two successful military expeditions to control the Yaquis in Cócorit, and in neighboring Guaymas.
Under the protection of the Mexican army, Cócorit was repopulated in 1885 with inhabitants from the neighboring towns of El Quiriego and Baroyeca.
After an interview with Ramón Corral, Cajemé was taken in the custody of a Mexican army detachment led by Lieutenant Clemente Patiño to El Médano on the steamboat "Demócrata."