In addition, Portales is a college town. There are a lot of students in Portales attending college, and as a result Portales provides a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared to the needs and activities of students.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Portales spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 14.34 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
As is often the case in a small city, Portales doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The overall education level of Portales is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 25.41% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Portales in 2022 was $21,996, which is low income relative to New Mexico and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $87,984 for a family of four. However, Portales contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Portales is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Portales home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Portales, accounting for 49.82% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Portales residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Portales include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Portales is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
