Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Portage’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and schools and an A− for walkability; its weakest is a C− for incomes. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Portage, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (7.6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 140 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on incomes. Portage has 1 place on the National Register. The biggest park or preserve is Crichton McCormick Park, at 43 acres. Portage has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Portage beats most towns.
Portage Historic District| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Portage Area JSHS | 7–12 | 339 |
Where Portage’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Portage is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 274 in 1880, a peak of 4,804 in 1920, 2,459 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1856 and 5 maps from 1902 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Portage, 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 Portage.
Its public schools are run by Portage Area SD. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Portage Area JSHS, with 339 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portage Area JSHSLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 339 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Portage for work: only 7% work in town. At $46,000, Portage’s median household income is below both the Pennsylvania town median ($81,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Since 2013, Portage has added 101 jobs, to 440 in 2023.
| Portage | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $46,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Portage beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 20% of adults smoke cigarettes in Portage.
| Portage | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Portage | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 8% | 5.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.3% | 7.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.9% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Portage has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Portage’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crichton McCormick Park | — | 43 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Portage's reported crime rate is well below Pennsylvania's. The property crime rate in Portage is 1.3 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Portage | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Portage.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Portage. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi National MemorialFlight 93 National Memorial286K visitors a year
6 mi DamSouth Fork Dam
8 mi National Historic SiteAllegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site163K visitors a year
35 mi LakeRaystown Lake
16 mi Theme parkLakemont Park
6 mi National MemorialJohnstown Flood National Memorial75K visitors a yearFlight 93 National Memorial: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0 · South Fork Dam: Ernest Walter Histed, Public domain · Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site: Matthew A. Lynn; Original uploader was Mosamiazaz at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Raystown Lake: Tex Jobe, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public domain · Lakemont Park: Bhakta Dano. Original uploader was Oldano at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Johnstown Flood National Memorial: David Brossard, CC BY-SA 2.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Portage
About 2 of every 100 Portage residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $95,000, 67% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
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