Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,237, platted in 1837. 3.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Indiana town.
Portland gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $168K for a typical one, or 3.1 years of the county’s $55K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 465th of 585 in Indiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 88% of the country, and the median household income is $52K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. 36% of working residents work locally in Portland, where Indiana’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 7 of Indiana’s 1,043 towns score higher on civic life. The biggest park or preserve is Hudson Family Park, at 45 acres.
Where Portland beats most towns.
Jay County CourthouseWhere Portland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Portland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 462 in 1870, 6,320 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 3 maps from 1960 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Portland, 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 Portland.
Portland draws workers from Wayne Township and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has property taxes about half the Indiana norm.
4,065 jobs are based in Portland, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Portland’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Portland is 19 minutes. Jobs based in Portland fell to 4,065 in 2023, 595 fewer than in 2013.
| Portland | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,312 U.S. towns with household incomes like Portland’s, it is less healthy than 73%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
43% of Portland adults have obesity. Portland beats the Indiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 16% of Portland adults report frequent physical distress.
| Portland | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 39% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Portland | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 8.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 11.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 30.5% | 24.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $581, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Portland’s median rent is $763 a month. The typical Portland home is worth about $168,000, up 2% in a year, 35% below the Indiana typical home. 68% of households own their home in Portland.
| Portland | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $763 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 76% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Portland has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 19 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 2003, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Portland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Portland | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hudson Family Park | 0.5 mi | 45 |
| 2. Portland Memorial Park | — | 18 |
| 3. Haynes Park | 0.1 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Portland; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Portland residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
3 places in Portland on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Portland.
City in Indiana, United States
Portland is a city in and the county seat of Jay County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,320 at the 2020 census,
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Portland grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #465 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D for health and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A−.
Portland was platted in 1837 and has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 13 notable people were born here, including Twyla Tharp and Kevin A. Ford.
