Portage is a medium-sized city located in the state of Michigan. With a population of 48,978 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Portage is the 30th largest community in Michigan.Unlike some cities, Portage isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Portage are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Portage is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Portage who work in management occupations (13.21%), office and administrative support (9.70%), and sales jobs (9.37%). Also of interest is that Portage has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Portage telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.45% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Portage is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 47.64% of adults in Portage have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher. The per capita income in Portage in 2022 was $42,122, which is wealthy relative to Michigan, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $168,488 for a family of four. However, Portage contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Portage is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Portage home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Portage residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Portage include German, English, Irish, Dutch, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Portage is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
