Work & commute · Portsmouth

Work & commute in Portsmouth, NH

About one in 3 of Portsmouth’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Dover (4%), Manchester (4%) and Exeter (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

35%

4,086 of 11,559 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,473 Portsmouth residents head out of town to work, 4,086 work right here, and 31,766 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portsmouth.

7,473live here, work elsewhere

4,086live and work here

31,766work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portsmouth goes to work

Portsmouth (in town)right here

35%4,086

Dover10.1 mi away

4%489

Manchester33.9 mi away

4%437

Exeter10.4 mi away

3%353

Boston, MA51.7 mi away

3%347

Newington2.8 mi away

3%304

Durham8.1 mi away

2%280

Hampton8.8 mi away

2%240

Nashua41.9 mi away

2%213

Stratham6.9 mi away

2%189

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%4,621

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

How far

How far Portsmouth commutes

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

50%

17%

23%

10%

50%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portsmouth is a job hub

3.10jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Portsmouth are

35,852 jobs are based in Portsmouth. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Portsmouth’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Portsmouth

35,852 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month76%

Jobs Portsmouth residents hold

11,559 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+32%

Jobs based in Portsmouth, 2013 → 2023: 27,220 → 35,852. 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.