With 0.0 jobs for every working resident, most of Porter Township works elsewhere
Porter Township grades C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. There are 12 jobs in Porter Township, and 484 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Porter Township itself; outside it, Midland draws the most (15%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Porter Township and work: the main findings
Porter Township is a place people come home to
There are 12 jobs based in Porter Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Porter Township has about 800 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Porter Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (24 to 27 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published; with 484 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Porter Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Porter Township is better than 41% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Porter Township’s grade up (7.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.9%) is left out: Porter Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Porter Township could be anywhere from C− to B.
Porter Township by day and by night
On a workday 484 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 12 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Porter Township on a workday afternoon, 37% 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 2021, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Porter Township: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Porter Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 410 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% 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 places Porter Township commutes to
Where Porter Township clocks in
15% of workers
12% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Porter Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Porter Township, 2011 → 2021: 30 → 12. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Porter Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Porter Township
About 23% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Porter Township is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Porter Township is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Porter Township 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 489 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). 8.8% of Porter Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Porter Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Porter Township ranks 2,096th of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 151 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 175 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,094 | Amherst WI | 1,119 | $65K | 6.6% | 0.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,095 | Parker Township KS | 1,055 | $93K | 9.7% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,096 | Porter Township MI | 1,269 | $76K | 7.9% | 3.9% | 0% | C+ |
| 2,097 | Willing NY | 1,246 | $69K | 4.0% | 7.4% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,098 | Minong WI | 1,029 | $75K | 5.4% | 5.5% | 19% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Porter Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Porter Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter Township | – | C+ | D− | 34 min | $76,316 |
| Jasper Township | under 2% | B− | D | 24 min | $80,417 |
| Lee Township | under 2% | C− | D | 26 min | $54,144 |
| Wheeler Township | under 2% | C | B− | 27 min | $61,149 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Porter Township’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 2021, 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 Township: questions
What is the median household income in Porter Township?
$76,316 (±$10,816) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Porter Township?
7.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Porter Township?
34 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Porter Township work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Midland (15%, 13 mi), Mount Pleasant (12%, 19 mi), Union Township (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Porter Township walkable?
Porter Township is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Porter Township 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 Porter Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Porter Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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.