Unemployment in Mountain Home (0.7%) is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Mountain Home; the top destination outside it is Asheville (22%, 14 miles). For jobs and income Mountain Home is better than 72% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (C−). Home is the office for 7% of workers, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Mountain Home: the figures worth knowing
Jobs in Mountain Home have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Mountain Home went from 974 in 2013 to 2,159 in 2023, +122%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Mountain Home
59% of Mountain Home residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Mountain Home pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Mountain Home are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Mountain Home gains people on a workday
About 4,100 people are in Mountain Home on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 3,400 who live here: 2,100 come in to work and 1,400 head out. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Mountain Home
Unemployment holds Mountain Home’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (11.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mountain Home could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
What the 2,159 jobs in Mountain Home are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain Home, 2013 → 2023: 974 → 2,159. 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’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain Home workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,814 commuters (the 7% 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.
How a workday changes Mountain Home
On a workday 1,401 residents head out to work, 61 work right here, and 2,098 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Mountain Home on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).
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
12% of workers
5% 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 commute from Mountain Home, by distance
About 19% 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.
Most trips from Mountain Home start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,952 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 Mountain Home households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mountain Home’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,152nd of 4,402: where Mountain Home ranks among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 194 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,150 | Highland Acres DE | 3,752 | $102K | 6.2% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,151 | Masonville KY | 2,887 | $83K | 11.1% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,152 | Mountain Home NC | 3,437 | $83K | 11.9% | 0.7% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,153 | Montrose MN | 3,986 | $103K | 5.3% | 5.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,154 | Englishtown NJ | 2,407 | $91K | 10.9% | 3.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 North Carolina.
Around Mountain Home: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain Home workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Home | – | B+ | C− | 19 min | $83,083 |
| Balfour | under 2% | B+ | A− | 18 min | $70,116 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mountain Home’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 Mountain Home: questions
What is the median household income in Mountain Home?
$83,083 (±$23,943) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain Home?
11.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain Home?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain Home work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Asheville (22%, 14 mi), Hendersonville (12%, 4 mi), Mills River (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mountain Home walkable?
Mountain Home is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mountain Home 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 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.