Photo: Nonvirtual · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Mount Rainier commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Mount Rainier has 587 jobs, against 3,399 working residents. The two grades for Mount Rainier are B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Only 1% work in Mount Rainier; the top destination outside it is Washington (44%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Mount Rainier apart on work
Many Mount Rainier workers cross into Washington, D.C.
54% of Mount Rainier workers work outside Maryland, most of them in Washington, D.C., the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
44% of Mount Rainier works in Washington
1,491 working residents, 44%, have their main job in Washington, DC, 3.8 miles away. That’s 44 times as many as work in Mount Rainier itself. The commute map ↓
Mount Rainier is a place people come home to
There are 587 jobs based in Mount Rainier, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mount Rainier has about 5,500 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Mount Rainier residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
Why Mount Rainier gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mount Rainier is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #179 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Mount Rainier’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Rainier could be anywhere from B− to A.
The towns that employ Mount Rainier’s residents
Where Mount Rainier clocks in
44% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Who commutes out of Mount Rainier, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,361 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 549 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,500 people are in Mount Rainier on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Mount Rainier’s commute, mile by mile
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 kinds of work in Mount Rainier
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Rainier, 2013 → 2023: 673 → 587. 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 Mount Rainier’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Mount Rainier: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Rainier workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,643 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Mount Rainier is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mount Rainier is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #12 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Mount Rainier 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 4,473 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, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 21.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 16.0% of Mount Rainier households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 20% of Mount Rainier’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mount Rainier is 1,263rd among 3,012 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Scaggsville MD | 10,564 | $207K | 2.9% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Chevy Chase MD | 9,445 | $212K | 4.3% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Fairwood MD | 7,526 | $181K | 6.5% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,261 | Howland Center OH | 6,266 | $86K | 7.0% | 4.9% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,262 | Hapeville GA | 7,410 | $96K | 9.3% | 6.7% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,263 | Mount Rainier MD | 8,307 | $69K | 6.3% | 5.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,264 | Centerville SC | 7,049 | $64K | 8.8% | 1.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,265 | Union Township OH | 9,918 | $69K | 9.0% | 2.4% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Mount Rainier, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Mount Rainier and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Rainier workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Rainier | – | B+ | A+ | 32 min | $68,505 |
| Chillum | under 2% | B− | A+ | 37 min | $79,864 |
| Brentwood | under 2% | B− | A+ | 34 min | $69,572 |
| Hyattsville | 1% | B+ | A+ | 34 min | $91,941 |
| Cottage City | under 2% | B+ | A | 35 min | $80,795 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hyattsville. Darker towns draw more of Mount Rainier’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 Mount Rainier: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Rainier?
$68,505 (±$4,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Rainier?
6.3%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Rainier?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Rainier work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (44%, 4 mi), Bethesda (3%, 9 mi), Baltimore (3%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Rainier walkable?
Mount Rainier is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Rainier without a car?
20% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mount Rainier, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Rainier
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.