Photo: Artsistra · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Portland commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
There are 2,242 jobs in Portland, against 4,555 working residents. The two grades for Portland are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Portland is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Portland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Portland is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #21 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($118,929, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Portland could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Portland
On a workday 4,145 residents head out to work, 410 work right here, and 1,832 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
11% of working residents work in Middletown
Where Portland clocks in
10% 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.
What Portland’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portland, 2013 → 2023: 2,128 → 2,242. 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 Portland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes each way for Portland’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Portland workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,108 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Portland goes to work
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.
For most of Portland, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Portland is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #112 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Portland near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,042 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Portland households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Portland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,800, Portland ranks 322nd of 2,831 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 221 | Granby CT | 11,963 | $120K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 245 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 306 | Durham CT | 7,209 | $159K | 3.4% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 320 | Scenic Oaks TX | 10,569 | $175K | 7.8% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| 321 | River Edge NJ | 12,159 | $159K | 4.4% | 4.7% | 3% | A |
| 322 | Portland CT | 9,449 | $119K | 3.9% | 3.3% | 9% | A |
| 323 | Buck Creek Township IN | 10,674 | $111K | 2.9% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| 324 | Solana Beach CA | 12,602 | $152K | 5.5% | 3.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,831 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Portland, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
14% of Portland works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Middletown (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Portland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | – | A | C+ | 28 min | $118,929 |
| Cromwell | under 3% | A | A− | 24 min | $110,596 |
| East Hampton | under 3% | A | C | 30 min | $124,577 |
| Middletown | 11% | B | A | 23 min | $79,438 |
| Glastonbury | 3% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $157,192 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Portland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Portland: questions
What is the median household income in Portland?
$118,929 (±$15,490) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Portland?
3.9%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portland?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portland work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middletown (11%, 5 mi), Hartford (10%, 12 mi), East Hartford (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Portland walkable?
Portland is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Portland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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), 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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.