Portland has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Portland has 142 jobs for 515 working residents. For jobs and income Portland is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D). Only 1% work in Portland itself; outside it, Madison draws the most (17%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Portland apart on work
Portland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Portland is Madison, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (86) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Portland is a place people come home to
There are 142 jobs based in Portland, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Portland has about 720 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Portland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 515 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Portland’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Portland’s grade up ($81,429, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (4.0%) is left out: Portland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Portland could be anywhere from C to A−.
Short hops and long hauls from Portland
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.
Who works in Portland, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 508 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Portland on a workday afternoon, 34% 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 2024, primary jobs.
About 28 minutes each way for Portland’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Portland workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 381 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 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.
Out of Portland to work: where people go
Where Portland clocks in
17% 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.
Portland makes things: 76% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Portland, 2014 → 2024: 111 → 142. 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.
Few in Portland walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 3.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 433 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). 1.2% of Portland households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Portland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Portland next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500: 1,181st of 3,771 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,179 | Reid WI | 1,172 | $87K | 8.0% | 1.0% | 1% | B− |
| 1,180 | West Kittanning PA | 1,152 | $66K | 6.9% | 2.9% | 1% | B− |
| 1,181 | Portland WI | 1,094 | $81K | 11.5% | 4.0% | 1% | B− |
| 1,182 | Diamond Ridge AK | 1,329 | $88K | 3.9% | 2.3% | — | B− |
| 1,183 | Victor Township MN | 1,064 | $88K | 8.9% | 0.4% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Wisconsin.
Work in the towns next to Portland
The biggest share goes to Waterloo (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Portland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | – | B− | D | 28 min | $81,429 |
| York | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Elba | under 2% | A | D− | 31 min | $110,500 |
| Waterloo | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Lowell | under 2% | B+ | C | 30 min | $95,592 |
| Shields | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Waterloo | 4% | B+ | C+ | 32 min | $87,776 |
Same-state neighbors only. York and Waterloo: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Shields: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$81,429 (±$18,227) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Portland?
11.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Portland?
28 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Portland work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (17%, 26 mi), Reeseville (5%, 7 mi), Beaver Dam (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Portland walkable?
Portland is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Portland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% 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.