G.A.R. Memorial Hall · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainMost of Portage commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Portage has 28 jobs, against 312 working residents. Only 2% work in Portage itself; outside it, Nunda draws the most (21%, 6 miles). 4% of workers have no commute at all; New York has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Portage in brief
Portage is a place people come home to
There are 28 jobs based in Portage, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Portage has about 460 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Portage and Nunda trade workers both ways
Nunda is the top workplace for Portage residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Portage come from (36% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Portage workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 312 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Portage quiets down on a workday
On a workday 307 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 460 people are in Portage on a workday afternoon, 38% 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Portage’s residents
Where Portage clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
About 38 minutes each way, longer than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Portage workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 355 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A place that makes things: 50% of Portage’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portage, 2013 → 2023: 37 → 28. 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 Portage’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Portage commutes less than 22 miles
About 16% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Work next door: 25% of Portage’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Portage workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage | – | — | — | 38 min | $70,556 |
| Genesee Falls | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Nunda | 21% | C− | A | 32 min | $64,688 |
| Hume | under 2% | C− | B− | 27 min | $68,958 |
| Granger | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Mount Morris | 4% | C− | A− | 28 min | $56,799 |
Same-state neighbors only. Genesee Falls and Granger: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Nunda. Darker towns draw more of Portage’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 Portage: questions
What is the median household income in Portage?
$70,556 (±$27,363) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Portage?
13.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portage?
38 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portage work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nunda (21%, 6 mi), Rochester (8%, 46 mi), Geneseo (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Portage without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Portage, from the people who make the trip.
More of Portage
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.