Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Porter has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 4,933 people come in to work
Working residents average 29 minutes each way, next to 24 for Indiana and 26 for the U.S. There are 5,114 jobs in Porter, against 2,390 working residents. Porter grades B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Porter in brief
Porter makes and builds things
72% of the jobs based in Porter are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Porter residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Porter is where the jobs are
Porter has 5,114 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,900 people are in town, 53% more than the 5,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Porter pay better than its residents’ jobs
85% of the jobs based in Porter pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 64% of the jobs Porter residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Porter. The jobs ↓
Porter workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Porter draws workers from far and wide
The 5,114 jobs in Porter are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 40%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Porter’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Porter is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #340 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Porter’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Porter could be anywhere from C to A−.
Making and building: 72% of jobs based in Porter
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Porter, 2013 → 2023: 6,001 → 5,114. 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 Porter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Porter: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,209 residents head out to work and 181 work right here.
About 7,900 people are in Porter on a workday afternoon, 53% more 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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Porter workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,131 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily trip into Porter
Where Porter clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Porter
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.
Porter is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Porter is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #335 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Indiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,490 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 1.2% of Porter households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Porter’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000, Porter comes 2,094th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 96 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,092 | Edgewater CO | 4,870 | $77K | 15.2% | 6.5% | 1% | B− |
| 2,093 | West Point GA | 3,661 | $57K | 12.7% | 0.5% | 14% | B− |
| 2,094 | Porter IN | 5,167 | $75K | 10.5% | 6.5% | 8% | B− |
| 2,095 | Breitung Township MI | 5,857 | $72K | 8.7% | 3.0% | 9% | B− |
| 2,096 | Peach Bottom Township PA | 5,108 | $85K | 2.9% | 7.8% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Porter, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Porter and its neighbors: 10% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Porter workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | – | B− | C+ | 29 min | $74,542 |
| Chesterton | 10% | B | B+ | 26 min | $91,060 |
| Dune Acres | under 4% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Burns Harbor | under 4% | A− | B | 25 min | $98,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Dune Acres: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chesterton. Darker towns draw more of Porter’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 Porter: questions
What is the median household income in Porter?
$74,542 (±$17,772) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Porter?
10.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Porter?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Porter work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chesterton (10%, 2 mi), Valparaiso (9%, 10 mi), Portage (8%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Porter walkable?
Porter is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Porter without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Porter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Porter
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.