Work & commute · Porter

Work & commute in Porter, IN

Most working residents leave Porter for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Chesterton (10%), Valparaiso (9%) and Portage (8%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

181 of 2,390 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,209 Porter residents head out of town to work, 181 work right here, and 4,933 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Porter.

2,209live here, work elsewhere

181live and work here

4,933work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Porter goes to work

Chesterton2.4 mi away

10%244

Valparaiso10.3 mi away

9%218

Portage5.7 mi away

8%184

Porter (in town)right here

8%181

Chicago, IL34.3 mi away

5%109

Michigan City12.5 mi away

5%108

Gary13.9 mi away

4%101

East Chicago19.2 mi away

4%93

Merrillville16.2 mi away

3%79

Hammond21.3 mi away

3%78

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%995

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

How far

How far Porter commutes

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

37%

39%

10%

14%

37%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Porter is a job hub

2.14jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Porter are

5,114 jobs are based in Porter. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Porter’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Porter

5,114 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)72%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)13%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month85%

Jobs Porter residents hold

2,390 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−15%

Jobs based in Porter, 2013 → 2023: 6,001 → 5,114. 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.