Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Portland earn less than those in 86% of U.S. towns
17.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.3% across Indiana. The two grades for Portland are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in three work in Portland; the top destination outside it is Indianapolis (6%, 76 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Portland at work: what stands out
Portland makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Portland are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Portland residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 43%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Portland are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Portland gains people on a workday
About 7,500 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 6,200 who live here: 3,100 come in to work and 1,800 head out. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Portland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Portland is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #536 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Portland’s grade up (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($51,513, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Portland could be anywhere from D to C+.
45% of the jobs in Portland make or build things
3,928 jobs are based in Portland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portland, 2014 → 2024: 5,136 → 3,928. 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.
The daily trip from Portland: 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 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,666 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who commutes out of Portland, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,818 residents head out to work, 863 work right here, and 3,065 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Portland to work: where people go
Where Portland clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Portland
About 26% 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.
Driving is how Portland gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Portland is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #118 of 593 in Indiana. 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 2,763 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.7% of Portland households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Portland’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Portland ranks: 2,785th of 3,297 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,783 | Pikeville KY | 7,270 | $40K | 27.1% | 3.2% | 47% | C− |
| 2,784 | Jan Phyl Village FL | 5,708 | $54K | 27.0% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,785 | Portland IN | 6,237 | $52K | 17.3% | 5.0% | 32% | C− |
| 2,786 | Selma NC | 7,406 | $41K | 24.7% | 4.9% | 5% | C− |
| 2,787 | Jonesboro GA | 6,046 | $51K | 35.3% | 10.8% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,297 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Indiana.
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 median household income in Portland?
$51,513 (±$4,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Portland?
17.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portland?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portland work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (6%, 76 mi), Wayne Township (5%, 1 mi), Berne (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Portland walkable?
Portland is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Portland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% 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. 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.