Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0How Mountain View works: jobs, income and commuting
A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, next to 25 for Colorado and 26 for the U.S. 29% of workers have no commute at all, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole. Hardly any work in Mountain View; the top destination outside it is Denver (38%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mountain View
Mountain View and Denver trade workers both ways
Denver is the top workplace for Mountain View residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Mountain View come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Mountain View residents work close to home
70% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Commutes from Mountain View are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado 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; with 257 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Mountain View goes to work
Where Mountain View clocks in
38% of workers
6% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Mountain View
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.
Commuting from Mountain View: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain View workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 232 commuters (the 29% who work from home are left out). Across Colorado: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who works in Mountain View, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 256 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 228 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Mountain View’s employers do
229 jobs are based in Mountain View.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain View, 2013 → 2023: 137 → 229. 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.
Work in the towns next to Mountain View
The biggest share goes to Wheat Ridge (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain View workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | – | — | — | 18 min | $106,875 |
| Wheat Ridge | 6% | B+ | A | 23 min | $90,564 |
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?
$106,875 (±$31,814) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain View?
11.7%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain View?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain View work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (38%, 9 mi), Wheat Ridge (6%, 3 mi), Lakewood (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mountain View without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.