Work & commute · Portage

Work & commute in Portage, MI

Most working residents leave Portage for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are McMillan (13%), Garfield (12%) and Sault Ste. Marie (5%). Half commute less than 54 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 237 working residents

Typical commute

54 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 217 Portage residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 92 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portage.

217live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

92work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portage goes to work

McMillan25.9 mi away

13%31

Garfield13 mi away

12%29

Portage (in town)right here

8%20

Sault Ste. Marie69.9 mi away

5%13

St. Ignace53.9 mi away

3%8

Pentland18.4 mi away

3%8

Marquette81.5 mi away

3%6

Manistique27.5 mi away

2%5

Kentwood227.9 mi away

2%5

Breen93.4 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%107

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.

16%

25%

53%

16%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

53%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portage is a commuter town

0.47jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.47 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Portage are

112 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

112 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month47%

Over $3,333 a month28%

Jobs Portage residents hold

237 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−11%

Jobs based in Portage, 2011 → 2021: 126 → 112. 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 2021. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.