Photo: G Keith Hall · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Mount Airy trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
Mount Airy grades C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Below the poverty line: 26.9% of residents (North Carolina 13.0%). 5% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Mount Airy
Mount Airy is where the jobs are
Mount Airy has 9,319 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 48% more than the 11,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Mount Airy draws workers from far and wide
The 9,319 jobs in Mount Airy are filled from a wide area. Mount Airy’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 74% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Mount Airy’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mount Airy is Winston-Salem, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (422) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Mount Airy are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina 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.
The figures behind Mount Airy’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mount Airy is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #232 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Mount Airy’s grade up (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($40,275, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Airy could be anywhere from D to C+.
Mount Airy fills up on a workday
On a workday 2,861 residents head out to work, 1,326 work right here, and 7,993 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Mount Airy on a workday afternoon, 48% more than live here.
2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Mount Airy’s workforce comes from
Where Mount Airy clocks in
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.
How far Mount Airy’s workers travel
About 25% 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.
Commuting from Mount Airy: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Airy workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,898 commuters (the 5% 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.
The kinds of work in Mount Airy
9,319 jobs are based in Mount Airy.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Airy, 2013 → 2023: 9,215 → 9,319. 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 Airy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Mount Airy: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mount Airy is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #87 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,107 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). 9.9% of Mount Airy households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mount Airy’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Mount Airy is 2,497th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 368 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,495 | Bloomingdale TN | 9,292 | $52K | 25.7% | 6.2% | <1% | C− |
| 2,496 | Pikeville KY | 7,270 | $40K | 27.1% | 3.2% | 45% | C− |
| 2,497 | Mount Airy NC | 10,682 | $40K | 26.9% | 4.1% | 32% | C− |
| 2,498 | Russellville AL | 10,904 | $58K | 20.0% | 4.9% | 23% | C− |
| 2,499 | Selma NC | 7,406 | $41K | 24.7% | 4.9% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Airy, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Mount Airy and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Airy workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Airy | – | C− | B | 18 min | $40,275 |
| Toast | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Flat Rock | under 1% | C− | C− | 18 min | $42,018 |
| White Plains | under 1% | — | — | 40 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Toast and White Plains: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mount Airy’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 Airy: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Airy?
$40,275 (±$5,902) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Airy?
26.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Airy?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Airy work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winston-Salem (10%, 34 mi), Dobson (5%, 10 mi), Charlotte (4%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Airy walkable?
Mount Airy is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Airy without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mount Airy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Airy
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.