Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Mountain View are higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 6.0% of residents (California 12.0%). Jobs and income earn Mountain View A; getting around on foot earns it A+. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.6 in San Jose.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Mountain View in brief
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
85% 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, and so do 90% of the jobs based in Mountain View. The jobs ↓
Mountain View is where the jobs are
Mountain View has 86,219 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 130,000 people are in town, 52% more than the 85,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Mountain View
31% of Mountain View workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most Mountain View residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Commutes from Mountain View are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California 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.
The figures behind Mountain View’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mountain View is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #41 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($189,917, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mountain View could be anywhere from A to A+.
Mountain View is a services town
86,219 jobs are based in Mountain View.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain View, 2013 → 2023: 75,766 → 86,219. 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.
Mountain View on a workday afternoon
On a workday 34,725 residents head out to work, 6,820 work right here, and 79,399 people come in from elsewhere.
About 130,000 people are in Mountain View on a workday afternoon, 52% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Mountain View: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 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 33,417 commuters (the 31% 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.
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.
The towns that send workers to Mountain View
Where Mountain View clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
Mountain View is easy on foot, hard by bus
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, #17 of 847 in California. 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 48,164 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, 54% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 8.1% of Mountain View households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Mountain View’s commuters take a bus or train.
34th of 531: where Mountain View ranks among U.S. towns of 60,000 to 115,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Washington Township IN | 62,740 | $100K | 4.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| 33 | Johns Creek GA | 80,401 | $160K | 4.2% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| 34 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| 35 | Lenexa KS | 60,506 | $103K | 5.4% | 2.8% | 17% | A |
| 36 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 531 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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.
Bordering towns draw 19% of Mountain View’s workers
The biggest share goes to Palo Alto (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain View workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | – | A | A+ | 23 min | $189,917 |
| Palo Alto | 10% | A | A+ | 21 min | $231,101 |
| Sunnyvale | 9% | A | A+ | 23 min | $186,170 |
| Los Altos | under 3% | A | A+ | 22 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$189,917 (±$10,319) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain View?
6.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain View?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain View work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (10%, 16 mi), Palo Alto (10%, 4 mi), Sunnyvale (9%, 3 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 15.2 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mountain View without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 54% 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.