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Towns / Michigan

Portland, Michigan

Portland is a small town of about 3,800 people in Ionia County, Michigan. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Grand Rapids, is about 39 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
3,770
down 1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$166,200
Ionia County prices up 20% since 2022
Household income
$65,845
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Grand Rapids area
95.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Ionia, MI
To Grand Rapids
39 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.5% below the U.S. average in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood8 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 8.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySparrow Ionia Hospital in Ionia, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGrand Rapids is about 39 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Portland meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$166,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 20%Ionia County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$972 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$65,845U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
71%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,478 a yearMichigan: $2,904
Homes built before 1940
38%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.5U.S. average = 100 (the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 20% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area, not Portland alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
3,7702020: 3,806
Median age
39.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
15%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
28%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (15%); finance, insurance and real estate (14%); schools, health care and social services (13%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Sparrow Ionia Hospital, Ionia, MI, about 10 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Edward W Sparrow Hospital, Lansing, MI, about 21 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Portland, run by Portland Public Schools.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Michigan's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
16°F
July average high
81°F
Days 90°F or hotter
7 a year
Nights at or below freezing
148 a year
Rain and melted snow
34.6 inches a year
Snow
37 inches a year
Elevation
717 feet

Weather stations: Ionia 2SSW (11 miles away) and Grand Ledge 1 NW (10 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Sparrow Ionia Hospital, Lansing, Grand Rapids.

Ionia County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Portland Downtown Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • North Country National Scenic Trail42 miles

Read about Portland's history on Wikipedia.

Know Portland?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Westphalia, MI947 people, 7 miles
  • Eagle, MI107 people, 7 miles
  • Mulliken, MI550 people, 7 miles
  • Lyons, MI780 people, 8 miles
  • Sunfield, MI543 people, 9 miles
  • Muir, MI651 people, 9 miles
  • Pewamo, MI517 people, 9 miles
  • Wacousta, MI (unincorporated)1,711 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.