Work & commute · Portsmouth

Work & commute in Portsmouth, OH

About one in 3 of Portsmouth’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Columbus (4%), New Boston (3%) and Wheelersburg (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

35%

2,229 of 6,414 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 4,185 Portsmouth residents head out of town to work, 2,229 work right here, and 9,690 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portsmouth.

4,185live here, work elsewhere

2,229live and work here

9,690work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portsmouth goes to work

Portsmouth (in town)right here

35%2,229

Columbus85.2 mi away

4%226

New Boston0.7 mi away

3%214

Wheelersburg5.7 mi away

3%203

Rosemount2 mi away

2%134

Scioto16.9 mi away

2%118

Waverly25.8 mi away

1%95

Ashland, KY26.1 mi away

1%92

Clay3.1 mi away

1%91

Cincinnati87.8 mi away

1%83

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%2,929

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.

52%

10%

30%

52%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portsmouth is a job hub

1.86jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Portsmouth are

11,919 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

11,919 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Portsmouth residents hold

6,414 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+4%

Jobs based in Portsmouth, 2013 → 2023: 11,442 → 11,919. 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.