Mountain View has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.5 in San Francisco. There are 158 jobs in Mountain View for 1,131 working residents. Mountain View grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Mountain View apart on work
Mountain View is a place people come home to
There are 158 jobs based in Mountain View, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mountain View has about 1,400 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Three in four Mountain View workers earn over $40,000 a year
77% of Mountain View’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Mountain View workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Mountain View: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mountain View is better than 72% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Mountain View’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mountain View could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
A workday in Mountain View: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,126 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Mountain View 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 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 45% of the jobs in Mountain View
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain View, 2013 → 2023: 148 → 158. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mountain View’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain View workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,149 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
13% of working residents work in Martinez
Where Mountain View clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
How far Mountain View’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Mountain View
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mountain View is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Mountain View 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 1,345 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 35% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.1% of Mountain View households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 18% of Mountain View’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mountain View next to U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300: 1,164th of 5,207 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | Bunker Hill Township IL | 3,086 | $104K | 6.1% | 3.6% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,163 | Hope Township NJ | 1,875 | $106K | 8.7% | 3.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,164 | Mountain View CA | 2,418 | $94K | 11.0% | 3.9% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Seneca Township IL | 2,862 | $134K | 4.6% | 7.8% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,166 | Carmel Township MI | 2,851 | $95K | 6.7% | 3.9% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Mountain View, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 13% of Mountain View’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain View workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | – | B+ | A+ | 34 min | $94,046 |
| Martinez | 13% | A− | A | 28 min | $127,355 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Martinez. Darker towns draw more of Mountain View’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, 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 Mountain View: questions
What is the median household income in Mountain View?
$94,046 (±$20,816) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain View?
11.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain View?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain View work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Martinez (13%, 1 mi), San Francisco (9%, 23 mi), Concord (8%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mountain View walkable?
Mountain View is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.3 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mountain View without a car?
18% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 35% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mountain View, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mountain View
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.