Pennsylvania Depot · Photo: Wdzinc · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Mount Vernon trail those of 83% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Mount Vernon; the top destination outside it is Columbus (7%, 38 miles). Poverty touches 21.9% of residents, where Ohio as a whole has 13.3%. For jobs and income Mount Vernon is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is where the jobs are
Mount Vernon has 10,571 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Mount Vernon are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker. Time on the road ↓
Mount Vernon draws workers from far and wide
The 10,571 jobs in Mount Vernon are filled from a wide area. Mount Vernon’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 57% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Mount Vernon
Unemployment holds Mount Vernon’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Vernon could be anywhere from C− to B−.
In and out of Mount Vernon on a workday
On a workday 4,001 residents head out to work, 2,160 work right here, and 8,411 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Mount Vernon on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.7 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.
Commuting from Mount Vernon: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Vernon workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,928 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% 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.
Where Mount Vernon’s workforce comes from
Where Mount Vernon clocks in
7% 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.
What Mount Vernon’s employers do
10,571 jobs are based in Mount Vernon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Vernon, 2013 → 2023: 11,257 → 10,571. 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 Vernon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Mount Vernon commutes less than 7 miles
About 15% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Mount Vernon
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,890 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). 7.9% of Mount Vernon households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Mount Vernon’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Mount Vernon ranks: 1,562nd of 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Powell OH | 18,269 | $195K | 1.1% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Bexley OH | 12,452 | $158K | 3.5% | 2.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,560 | South Daytona FL | 13,894 | $57K | 16.9% | 4.8% | 6% | C |
| 1,561 | Fairview NJ | 15,509 | $64K | 20.8% | 9.4% | 5% | C |
| 1,562 | Mount Vernon OH | 17,287 | $54K | 21.9% | 2.8% | 35% | C |
| 1,563 | Pinewood FL | 18,114 | $59K | 20.5% | 7.2% | 1% | C |
| 1,564 | Goulds FL | 14,425 | $62K | 16.4% | 7.5% | 1% | 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 Mount Vernon, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
How Mount Vernon compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Miller Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Vernon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon | – | C | A− | 18 min | $53,845 |
| Clinton Township | 2% | B− | C− | 29 min | $68,068 |
| Pleasant Township | under 2% | A | D | 23 min | $124,119 |
| South Mount Vernon | 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Monroe Township | under 2% | B− | C− | 20 min | $82,218 |
| Morris Township | 1% | B | D− | 31 min | $98,750 |
| Miller Township | 5% | A | C− | 22 min | $135,245 |
Same-state neighbors only. South Mount Vernon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mount Vernon’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 Vernon: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Vernon?
$53,845 (±$6,201) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Vernon?
21.9%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Vernon?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Vernon work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (7%, 38 mi), Miller Township (5%, 6 mi), Gambier (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Vernon walkable?
Mount Vernon is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Vernon without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mount Vernon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Vernon
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.