What is the average commute in Portland city, Maine?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 19.4 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Portland city, Maine work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 24.8%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

PLACE · ME · GEOID 23605452024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Portland, Maine

Name: Commute estimates for Portland city, Maine
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 19.4 min one way; 24.8% worked from home, 53.9% drove alone, and 4.0% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip19.4 min±1.2 min MOE

Worked from home24.8%±1.8 pp MOE

Drove alone53.9%±2.3 pp MOE

60+ minute trip4.0%among commuters

U.S. Census Bureau ACS estimates for residents age 16+ who work. Commute time excludes people working from home.

01 / THE SHIFT

What changed in Portland city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.1 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +9.5 percentage points.

These periods overlap: 2021 covers 2017–2021 and 2024 covers 2020–2024. Changes are directional comparisons, not independent annual measurements.

Mean commute19.5 min → 19.4 min▼ 0.1 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home15.2% → 24.8%▲ 9.5 pp

Share of workers age 16+ who usually worked from home.

Public transit2.1% → 2.6%▲ 0.5 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone60.0% → 53.9%▼ 6.1 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Portland city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 53.9%; 2.6% used public transit and 24.8% worked from home.

Drive alone53.9% ±2.3 pp

Carpool5.4% ±1.1 pp

Public transit2.6% ±0.6 pp

Walk11.0% ±1.2 pp

Bicycle1.3% ±0.4 pp

Work from home24.8% ±1.8 pp

Each share uses 39,834 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Portland city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 15th percentile among covered 25k–100k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

Percentiles are single-metric context, never a “good commute” score.

15^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 85% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

87^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 87% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

78^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 78% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

25^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 75% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Portland city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 39,834 workers age 16+, including 29,965 workers with reported travel time and 9,869 home workers.

Population estimate68,854± 52 MOE

Workers age 16+39,834± 925 MOE

Workers with travel time29,965± 999 MOE

Estimated home workers9,869± 755 MOE

Why the ± matters

ACS values are survey estimates. The margin of error is the 90% confidence interval published by the Census Bureau or calculated for a share from published component margins. Small differences can be sampling noise.

05 / SAME STATE

Comparable Maine commute records for Portland city

These 3 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All Maine reports →