Brocton Arch · Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0At 7.3%, unemployment in Portland is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Portland for work; outside it, Dunkirk is the main destination (11%, 10 miles). The two grades for Portland are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Portland
Portland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Portland is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #712 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Portland’s grade up ($66,333, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Portland could be anywhere from D to C+.
Commuting from Portland: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Portland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,227 commuters (the 7% 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 workday in Portland: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,217 residents head out to work, 182 work right here, and 748 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.66 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Portland: the destinations
Where Portland clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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.
What Portland’s employers do
930 jobs are based in Portland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portland, 2014 → 2024: 816 → 930. 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.
Miles to work from Portland
About 22% 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.
Most trips from Portland start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Portland is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #639 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,318 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). 3.8% of Portland households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Portland’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Portland ranks: 3,883rd of 4,364 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Pound Ridge NY | 5,057 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,881 | Rogersville TN | 4,690 | $48K | 15.7% | 9.9% | 27% | D |
| 3,882 | Wilton ME | 3,878 | $63K | 14.6% | 6.8% | 11% | D |
| 3,883 | Portland NY | 3,926 | $66K | 19.8% | 7.3% | 13% | D |
| 3,884 | St. Martinville LA | 5,229 | $36K | 22.3% | 9.0% | 10% | D |
| 3,885 | Ellenville NY | 4,201 | $43K | 35.0% | 4.5% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 New York.
The towns next door employ 15% of Portland
The biggest share goes to Pomfret (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Portland’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 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?
$66,333 (±$9,902) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Portland?
19.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portland?
19 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portland work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dunkirk (11%, 10 mi), Pomfret (8%, 7 mi), Dunkirk (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Portland walkable?
Portland is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 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 4% 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.