Lookout Mountain has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any work in Lookout Mountain; the top destination outside it is Gadsden (31%, 8 miles). Lookout Mountain has 100 jobs, and 551 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Lookout Mountain are C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lookout Mountain: the gist
Lookout Mountain and Gadsden trade workers both ways
Gadsden is the top workplace for Lookout Mountain residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Lookout Mountain come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Lookout Mountain is a place people come home to
There are 100 jobs based in Lookout Mountain, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lookout Mountain has about 670 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 551 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lookout Mountain
On income, poverty and job access, Lookout Mountain is better than 40% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Lookout Mountain’s grade up ($80,362, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Lookout Mountain’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lookout Mountain could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Where the trip to work from Lookout Mountain ends
Where Lookout Mountain clocks in
31% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In and out of Lookout Mountain on a workday
On a workday 546 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 95 people come in from elsewhere.
About 670 people are in Lookout Mountain on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Lookout Mountain
100 jobs are based in Lookout Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lookout Mountain, 2014 → 2024: 119 → 100. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lookout Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Lookout Mountain: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lookout Mountain workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 456 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Lookout Mountain’s commute, mile by mile
About 28% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Lookout Mountain commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lookout Mountain is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lookout Mountain near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 466 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Lookout Mountain households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lookout Mountain’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,663rd of 3,771: where Lookout Mountain ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Rock Creek AL | 1,103 | $84K | 2.5% | 2.8% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Blue Ridge AL | 1,190 | $128K | 6.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,661 | Houston PA | 1,126 | $65K | 20.0% | 3.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,662 | Rock Springs NM | 1,013 | $97K | 10.9% | 2.0% | 0% | C+ |
| 1,663 | Lookout Mountain AL | 1,120 | $80K | 12.8% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,664 | Monona IA | 1,444 | $74K | 7.3% | 0.9% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,665 | Spring Grove MN | 1,206 | $60K | 4.0% | 7.2% | 18% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lookout Mountain, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lookout Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Lookout Mountain?
$80,362 (±$12,132) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lookout Mountain?
12.8%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lookout Mountain?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lookout Mountain work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gadsden (31%, 8 mi), Birmingham (5%, 63 mi), Centre (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lookout Mountain walkable?
Lookout Mountain is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lookout Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lookout Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lookout Mountain
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.