Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetPA-PORTLAND-PA · Portland, PA 695 pop · income 52nd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Portland
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Portland on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Maguayo comun… · lowest
12,604
Maguayo comun… · lowest
12,604 median HH income
11.6% of the leader · rank #1
Portland · this city
71,667
Portland · this city
71,667 median HH income
66.1% of the leader · rank #2
Akiak · near
71,667
Akiak · near
71,667 median HH income
66.1% of the leader · rank #3
Dietrich · near
71,667
Dietrich · near
71,667 median HH income
66.1% of the leader · rank #4
Pulaski · near
71,667
Pulaski · near
71,667 median HH income
66.1% of the leader · rank #5
Woodburn · near
71,667
Woodburn · near
71,667 median HH income
66.1% of the leader · rank #6
Pocono Pines · highest
108,356
Pocono Pines · highest
108,356 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Portland on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 695.
Nationally, Portland sits in the 52nd percentile for household income and the 99th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
52nd
percentile, household income
57th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
99th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Portland, PA
Portland is a small town in Pennsylvania, home to 695 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $71,667 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 17.3%. Portland's housing stock carries a median value of $258,600, and the median resident age is 34.5 years. Educational attainment runs 12.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits). Portland reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 0.0 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Pennsylvania scores 97.6 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,225 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Portland's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to comparison shortlist to reported crime to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Portland, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Portland?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Portland?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are New Milford (695 residents, $51,250 income); Penn (695 residents, $70,833 income); Marion Heights (694 residents, $41,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fuller Acres, CA (695 residents); Lenox, GA (695 residents); Sorrel, LA (695 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Portland?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 0.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 100% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Is Portland growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Portland?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$71,667
Home value
$258,600
Value / income
3.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 17.3% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Portland, PA
48/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income C-
$71,667
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
17.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Portland profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Household income: 51/100 (C-) · $71,667
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Poverty rate: 18/100 (F) · 17.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 13/100 (F) · 12.4%
How does Portland compare to other US cities?
Portland measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income52% higher than other cities
Home value57% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety99% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Pennsylvania, Portland ranks #13 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Portland against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Pennsylvania-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Portland near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Portland ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Portland only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#744 of 1,765
58th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#344 of 1,790
81st percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#240 of 1,856
87th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,503 of 1,861
19th percentile in Pennsylvania
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
52nd percentile nationally for median household income · 99th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Portland's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Portland's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Portland's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$258,60043rd percentilemore affordable than 43% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Portland's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,390 of 15,516
More affordable than 39% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,526 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Portland sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,390 of 15,516 and #7,526 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$71,667Portland, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Portland, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Portland, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
695
Median Income
$71,667
Median Home Value
$258,600
Median Age
34.5
Poverty Rate
17.3%
Labor force participation
58.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Portland's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
486 residents
2021
485 residents
2022
480 residents
2023
482 residents
2024
485 residents
2025
485 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.3M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.0%
Carpool
11.3%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
2.9%
Based on 275 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for Portland. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Portland is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Portland sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Portland compares to similar-size Pennsylvania cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.