Work & commute · Portland

Work & commute in Portland, OR

59% of Portland’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Beaverton (4%), Hillsboro (3%) and Gresham (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

59%

176,363 of 299,719 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 123,356 Portland residents head out of town to work, 176,363 work right here, and 257,220 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Portland.

123,356live here, work elsewhere

176,363live and work here

257,220work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Portland goes to work

Portland (in town)right here

59%176,363

Beaverton9.1 mi away

4%10,618

Hillsboro13.7 mi away

3%10,407

Gresham10.4 mi away

3%8,496

Tigard10.2 mi away

3%7,867

Vancouver, WA7.4 mi away

2%6,100

Lake Oswego8.9 mi away

2%5,301

Salem46.1 mi away

2%4,501

Tualatin12.6 mi away

1%4,296

Milwaukie6.5 mi away

1%3,263

Everywhere elseother towns and states

21%62,507

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.

77%

15%

77%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Portland is balanced between jobs and homes

1.45jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Portland are

433,583 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

433,583 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month72%

Jobs Portland residents hold

299,719 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+12%

Jobs based in Portland, 2013 → 2023: 387,816 → 433,583. 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.