Photo: publichall · CC BY-SA 3.0At 6.1%, unemployment in Mountain Home is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Mountain Home for work; outside it, Boise City is the main destination (24%, 42 miles). The two grades for Mountain Home are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Idaho.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Mountain Home, in brief
Mountain Home’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mountain Home is Boise City, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (1,435) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Mountain Home workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Idaho. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Mountain Home
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mountain Home is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #48 of 59 in Idaho. The poverty rate holds Mountain Home’s grade up (11.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mountain Home could be anywhere from D to C+.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Mountain Home
About 24% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Time on the road from Mountain Home: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain Home workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,347 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 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.
How a workday changes Mountain Home
On a workday 4,183 residents head out to work, 1,725 work right here, and 2,287 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Mountain Home on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where the trip to work from Mountain Home ends
Where Mountain Home clocks in
24% of workers
4% 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.
The 4,012 jobs based in Mountain Home
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain Home, 2013 → 2023: 3,411 → 4,012. 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 Home’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Mountain Home is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mountain Home is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #42 of 59 in Idaho. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.5% across Idaho.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,618 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). 5.4% of Mountain Home households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mountain Home’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mountain Home is 1,799th among 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 950 | Hayden ID | 17,363 | $83K | 7.8% | 3.1% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 956 | Middleton ID | 12,600 | $89K | 7.9% | 4.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 995 | Ammon ID | 20,119 | $86K | 5.4% | 5.1% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,797 | Gantt SC | 15,401 | $47K | 25.2% | 8.2% | 3% | C− |
| 1,798 | Hannibal MO | 16,804 | $54K | 19.5% | 5.2% | 45% | C− |
| 1,799 | Mountain Home ID | 16,779 | $63K | 11.4% | 6.1% | 29% | C− |
| 1,800 | Centralia WA | 19,375 | $56K | 19.6% | 5.7% | 16% | C− |
| 1,801 | Wawarsing NY | 12,448 | $64K | 22.0% | 5.3% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Home, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
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 Home: questions
What is the median household income in Mountain Home?
$63,125 (±$5,277) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain Home?
11.4%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain Home?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain Home work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boise City (24%, 42 mi), Meridian (6%, 48 mi), Nampa (4%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mountain Home walkable?
Mountain Home is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mountain Home without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mountain Home, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mountain Home
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.