Work & commute · Portage

Work & commute in Portage, IN

Most working residents leave Portage for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Valparaiso (8%), Gary (7%) and Merrillville (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

2,511 of 16,656 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 14,145 Portage residents head out of town to work, 2,511 work right here, and 12,537 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portage.

14,145live here, work elsewhere

2,511live and work here

12,537work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portage goes to work

Portage (in town)right here

15%2,511

Valparaiso10 mi away

8%1,347

Gary8.7 mi away

7%1,249

Merrillville10.7 mi away

5%846

Hobart7.2 mi away

5%832

Hammond16.4 mi away

5%818

Chicago, IL31.2 mi away

5%780

East Chicago14.7 mi away

4%664

Michigan City18.2 mi away

3%497

Porter5.7 mi away

3%489

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%6,623

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Portage commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

41%

36%

14%

41%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portage is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Portage are

15,048 jobs are based in Portage. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Portage’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Portage

15,048 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Portage residents hold

16,656 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+10%

Jobs based in Portage, 2013 → 2023: 13,716 → 15,048. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.