Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Portage gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $266K, 2.9 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 466th among Indiana's 585 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 79% of the country. On the plus side, it has 27 miles of trail. 13% of the land in Portage is conserved, where Indiana’s towns sit at 1.9% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 87 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns score lower on history. Indiana Dunes National Park, at 1,700 acres with 9.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Portage beats most towns.
12.5% of the town is conserved land, across 13 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Portage is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,116 in 1950, 37,926 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 5 maps from 1940 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Portage. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw25 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
2 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaUnited CenterSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Portage, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Portage.
Portage trades workers with Valparaiso and other neighbors and is one of Indiana’s best towns for the outdoors.
Its A for the outdoors ranks #13 of 593 in Indiana.
Portage’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, against 0.2 in Indiana’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Imagination Glen Park | 11.7 mi | 260 |
| 2. Indiana Dunes National Park | 9.3 mi | 1,700 |
| 3. John Merle Coulter Nature Preserve | 0.9 mi | 94 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
43% of adults have obesity in Portage. Portage beats the Indiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Portage.
| Portage | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 39% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Portage | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 13.6% | 11.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.8% | 8.9% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 29.6% | 24.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Portage.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Portage has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Only 10 of the 593 Indiana towns we compare have a lower July high than Portage.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Portage has about as many jobs (15,048) as working residents, but only 2,511 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Portage for work: only 15% work in town. Jobs based in Portage grew to 15,048 in 2023, 1,332 more than in 2013. Portage’s average trip to work is 27 minutes.
| Portage | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 5.5% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 11% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The violent crime rate in Portage is 2.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Portage | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.3 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Portage
About 4 of every 100 Portage residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
City in Indiana, United States
Portage ( POR-tij) is a city in Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 37,926 as of the 2020 census. It is the largest city in Porter County and third largest in Northwest Indiana. Portage lies within Portage and Westchester townships, on the border with Lake County, Indiana.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Portage.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage | #466 | C+ | B+ | B− | C+ | C− |
| Burns Harbor | — | — | B | — | A | B− |
| Portage Township | #444 | C+ | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Ogden Dunes | — | — | C− | — | C+ | A− |
| Westchester Township | #74 | A | B | — | A | B− |
| Chesterton | #103 | A | B− | — | A | B− |
| Gary | #585 | D− | A− | D− | D− | D− |
| Calumet Township | #573 | D | A− | — | D− | D− |
Burns Harbor and Ogden Dunes have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Burns Harbor, Portage Township, Ogden Dunes, Westchester Township, Chesterton and Calumet Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Portage with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Portage grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #466 of 585 in Indiana. It grades C− for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
2 notable people were born here, including Gable Steveson and Keith Wisniewski.
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