Work & commute · Portland

Work & commute in Portland, NY

Most working residents leave Portland for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Dunkirk (11%), Pomfret (8%) and Westfield (7%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

183 of 1,350 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 1,167 Portland residents head out of town to work, 183 work right here, and 848 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portland.

1,167live here, work elsewhere

183live and work here

848work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portland goes to work

Portland (in town)right here

14%183

Dunkirk10 mi away

11%146

Pomfret6.8 mi away

8%112

Westfield10 mi away

7%96

Dunkirk9.9 mi away

5%72

Chautauqua9.2 mi away

5%63

Buffalo47.3 mi away

4%50

Jamestown22 mi away

4%49

Amherst56.9 mi away

3%42

Evans30.4 mi away

3%41

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%496

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

How far

How far Portland commutes

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

41%

23%

13%

24%

41%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portland is balanced between jobs and homes

0.76jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Portland are

1,031 jobs are based in Portland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Portland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Portland

1,031 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Portland residents hold

1,350 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+37%

Jobs based in Portland, 2013 → 2023: 755 → 1,031. 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.