El Portal Old Schoolhouse · Photo: John Joseph Crane · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of El Portal commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 1% work in El Portal itself; outside it, Yosemite Valley draws the most (20%, 12 miles). Employers in El Portal report 136 jobs for 299 working residents. The average commute takes 17 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where El Portal stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
71% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from El Portal are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 299 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
El Portal’s commute, mile by mile
About 71% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 17 minutes each way for El Portal’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Portal workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 221 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
El Portal on a workday afternoon
On a workday 296 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 133 people come in from elsewhere.
About 340 people are in El Portal on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ El Portal’s residents
Where El Portal clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in El Portal
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Portal, 2013 → 2023: 139 → 136. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs El Portal’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in El Portal: questions
What is the median household income in El Portal?
$55,847 (±$16,838) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Portal?
4.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Portal?
17 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Portal work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yosemite Valley (20%, 12 mi), San Jose (5%, 114 mi), Sacramento (4%, 110 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around El Portal without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Portal, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Portal
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.