George Jackson House · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainWith 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Portland works elsewhere
Hardly any work in Portland itself; outside it, Ridgway draws the most (28%, 6 miles). Employers in Portland report 24 jobs for 46 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 52% of workers (Colorado 21%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Portland
On a workday 46 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 24 people come in from elsewhere.
About 100 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 18% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The places Portland commutes to
Where Portland clocks in
28% of workers
17% of workers
7% 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.
67% of the jobs in Portland pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portland, 2014 → 2024: 4 → 24. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Portland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Portland’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Portland workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29 commuters (the 52% who work from home are left out). Across Colorado: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Portland to work
About 24% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Portland: questions
What is the poverty rate in Portland?
0.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portland?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 52% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portland work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ridgway (28%, 6 mi), Ouray (17%, 4 mi), Telluride (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Portland 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 Portland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Portland
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.