Portage is a tiny village located in the state of Ohio. With a population of 414 people and just one neighborhood, Portage is the 710th largest community in Ohio. Portage has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country.
Unlike some villages where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Portage is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Portage is a village of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Portage who work in sales jobs (23.93%), management occupations (8.55%), and computer science and math (5.56%).
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.
And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Portage has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.
In terms of college education, Portage is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 28.74% of adults 25 and older in the village have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Portage in 2022 was $25,792, which is lower middle income relative to Ohio and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $103,168 for a family of four. However, Portage contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Portage is an extremely ethnically-diverse village. 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. Portage also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.67% of the village’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Portage include German, African, Irish, English, and Swedish.
The most common language spoken in Portage is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Of particular note, 4.3% of the people in the neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.
In addition, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 95.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 10.8% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
While most Americans do drive to work alone each day, the neighborhood stands out by having 90.2% of commuters doing so, which is a higher proportion of people driving alone to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.6% of all American neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swiss and Belgian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Swiss ancestry and 0.7% have Belgian ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Portage are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 71.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 2.1% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 74.7% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 32.7% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 28.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (28.1%), and 9.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.7% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Portage, OH, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (34.3%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (12.0%), and residents who report Mexican roots (10.4%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (8.1%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (2.7%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (90.2%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (6.4%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.