Household incomes in Montreat top those of 86% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 13 minutes each way; North Carolina averages 25, the U.S. 26. Montreat grades A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 2% work in Montreat; the top destination outside it is Asheville (25%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Montreat, in brief
Where Montreat’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Montreat is better than 87% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Montreat’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (9.6%) is left out: Montreat’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Montreat could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Each way, about 13 minutes from Montreat
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montreat workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 223 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% 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.
Who commutes out of Montreat, and who commutes in
On a workday 347 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 254 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.
0.74 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where people from Montreat work
Where Montreat clocks in
21% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Montreat
262 jobs are based in Montreat.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montreat, 2014 → 2024: 175 → 262. 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 Montreat’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Montreat
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.
Most of Montreat commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montreat is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 52.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 259 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of Montreat households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Montreat’s commuters take a bus or train.
Montreat is 158th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Pleak TX | 1,202 | $72K | 4.7% | 1.5% | <1% | A |
| 157 | Elba WI | 1,027 | $111K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| 158 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 2% | A |
| 159 | Herman WI | 1,145 | $115K | 6.3% | 0.4% | 1% | A |
| 160 | Waupun WI | 1,390 | $113K | 2.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Brandywine Bay NC | 1,313 | $105K | 1.2% | 12.1% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 313 | Blowing Rock NC | 1,324 | $121K | 2.4% | 0.4% | 18% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Montreat, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 21% of Montreat’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Montreat workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreat | – | A | B+ | 13 min | $115,568 |
| Black Mountain | 21% | B | B+ | 21 min | $77,042 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Black Mountain. Darker towns draw more of Montreat’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 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 Montreat: questions
What is the median household income in Montreat?
$115,568 (±$60,290) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montreat?
0.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montreat?
13 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montreat work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Asheville (25%, 15 mi), Black Mountain (21%, 3 mi), Charlotte (4%, 88 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Montreat walkable?
Montreat is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 52% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montreat without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montreat, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montreat
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.