PORTER COUNTY LABOR MARKET PROFILEPorter County is located in Northwest Indiana. The county is bordered on the south by Jasper County. The County is adjacent to LaPorte County on the east, Lake Michigan is to the north, and Lake County to the west. Porter County is one of the seven counties located in the area designated by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development as Indiana Economic Growth Region 1.
Porter County’s population estimate for 2010 was 164,343, up 12.0 percent from the 2000 Census total. During this same time period, Indiana’s total 2010 population estimate of 6,445,295 was up by 5.8 percent.
Population pageAccording to the 2000 Census, 83,372 people twenty-five years of age and over were high school high school graduates and/or had post-high school education. This amount represented 88.3 percent of Porter County’s twenty-five and over population. For the twenty-five years of age and over population, 21,341 or 22.6 percent were four-year college graduates or higher, ranking Porter County 10th highest among Indiana counties for percentage of this population who were college graduates or higher. In 2007, 1,781 persons graduated high school and 1,507 or 84.6 percent intended to go on to higher education.
Education pagePorter County’s estimated average unemployment rate for 2010 was 8.9 percent, below Indiana’s annual average of 10.2 percent. The county’s unemployment rate was based on an estimated average residential labor force of 81,418. Of that labor force, 74,153 were employed and 7,265 were unemployed. Porter County’s unemployment rate reached a decade low of 2.7 percent in 2000. The rate rose to 9.2 percent by 2009.
Labor force pageIn 2009 persons living in but commuting to work out of Porter County was 30,311 or 28.5 percent of the labor force. Approximately 71.5 percent of Porter County’s working residents work in the county. The area outside Porter County where the largest number of residents went to work was Lake County. In 2009 person commuting to work into the county from outside areas was 13,159 or 14.7 percent of the work force. The area sending the most number of persons into the county to work was Lake County.
Commutting pageIn 2010, Porter County businesses had an average of 54,456 jobs. Three major industry sectors: Manufacturing, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Government (all levels) dominated the county in terms of employment. These three industry sectors accounted for 42.4 percent of the county’s 2010 industry employment. The largest employing industry in the county was Manufacturing with 8,870 jobs, accounting for 16.3 percent of total employment. Total covered employment was up 0.3 percent between 2005 and 2010. Health Care and Social Assistance showed the most job growth between 2005 and 2010, increasing 791 jobs or 12.1 percent. Accommodation & Food Services was second, adding 433 jobs or 8.4 percent. Management of Companies and Enterprises had the largest percentage gain at 51.4 percent.
Industry employment pageThe average 2010 earnings for Porter County was $37,971 per year versus Indiana’s $39,255. The average industry wage rose by $2,465 or 6.9 percent from 2005 to 2010. The Utilities industry had the highest average earnings at $83,076 per year, with the Management of Companies and Enterprises industry second at $73,128, while the industry with the lowest annual earnings number was Accommodation & Food Services at $12,168. Per capita income for 2009 was $41,110 in Porter County, up 17.4 percent since 2004.
Industry earnings pagePorter County has 3,528 firms, with 90 firms or about 2.6 percent employing 100 or more workers, while firms employing fewer than 10 workers account for 73.1 percent. The number firms employing fewer than 10 workers rose 14.0 per cent or 317 firms between 2001 and 2011 to total 2,579 firms in 2011. Total firms had a net gain of 76 or 11.3 percent from 1st quarter 2001.
Firms page