Photo: JamesPFisherIII · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Lookout Mountain top those of 96% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in Lookout Mountain; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (38%, 9 miles). The poverty rate is 2.2%, where Georgia as a whole has 13.4%. Jobs and income earn Lookout Mountain A−; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lookout Mountain apart on work
Many Lookout Mountain workers cross into Tennessee
63% of Lookout Mountain workers work outside Georgia, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga trade workers both ways
Chattanooga is the top workplace for Lookout Mountain residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Lookout Mountain come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lookout Mountain
61% of Lookout Mountain residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Lookout Mountain pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 563 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Lookout Mountain’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Lookout Mountain is better than 76% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Lookout Mountain’s grade up ($158,000, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Lookout Mountain’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lookout Mountain could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Where people from Lookout Mountain work
Where Lookout Mountain clocks in
38% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Lookout Mountain
451 jobs are based in Lookout Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lookout Mountain, 2014 → 2024: 416 → 451. 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 commute in and out of Lookout Mountain
On a workday 534 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 422 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 (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How long Lookout Mountain spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lookout Mountain workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 526 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% 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.
The commute from Lookout Mountain, by distance
About 23% 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.
Few in Lookout Mountain walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lookout Mountain is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Georgia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 658 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). 0.5% of Lookout Mountain households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lookout Mountain’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lookout Mountain is 767th of 5,381 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Union Township PA | 1,612 | $89K | 3.5% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| 766 | Meeme WI | 1,446 | $99K | 4.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| 767 | Lookout Mountain GA | 1,662 | $158K | 2.2% | 1.6% | 5% | A− |
| 768 | Alton IA | 1,254 | $98K | 2.6% | 2.5% | 7% | A− |
| 769 | Red Hook NY | 1,956 | $107K | 7.9% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Georgia.
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?
$158,000 (±$19,038) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lookout Mountain?
2.2%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lookout Mountain?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lookout Mountain work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (38%, 9 mi), LaFayette (4%, 18 mi), Trenton (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lookout Mountain walkable?
Lookout Mountain is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% 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.