Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Mount Vernon (6.0%) than in 74% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Mount Vernon for work; outside it, Seattle is the main destination (8%, 55 miles). Mount Vernon grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 14% of workers have no commute at all; Washington has 20%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Mount Vernon: the figures worth knowing
Mount Vernon’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mount Vernon is Seattle, 55 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (1,307) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Mount Vernon trades workers with the towns around it
Mount Vernon has about as many jobs (14,936) as working residents (15,690), but they are mostly different people: 12,259 residents leave for work each day while 11,505 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in Mount Vernon are held by people who live here. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Mount Vernon
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mount Vernon is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #235 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Mount Vernon’s grade up ($75,777, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Vernon could be anywhere from C− to B−.
How far it is to work from Mount Vernon
About 26% 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.
How many people are in Mount Vernon by day
On a workday 12,259 residents head out to work, 3,431 work right here, and 11,505 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 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.
Out of Mount Vernon to work: where people go
Where Mount Vernon clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Inside Mount Vernon’s 14,936 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Vernon, 2013 → 2023: 13,266 → 14,936. 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.
Time on the road from Mount Vernon: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Vernon workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,479 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Mount Vernon is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mount Vernon is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #178 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Mount Vernon 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 15,586 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 6% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 5.9% of Mount Vernon households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Mount Vernon’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Mount Vernon ranks: 1,038th of 1,219 U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Issaquah WA | 39,423 | $155K | 5.2% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Edmonds WA | 42,748 | $122K | 3.8% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,036 | New Albany IN | 37,463 | $55K | 18.9% | 6.0% | 23% | C |
| 1,037 | Faribault MN | 25,040 | $61K | 16.4% | 5.4% | 39% | C |
| 1,038 | Mount Vernon WA | 35,193 | $76K | 16.1% | 6.0% | 22% | C |
| 1,039 | Alton IL | 25,013 | $55K | 21.0% | 5.4% | 21% | C |
| 1,040 | West Odessa TX | 32,594 | $65K | 16.6% | 6.0% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,219 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Washington.
Mount Vernon and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Burlington (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Vernon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon | – | C | B+ | 23 min | $75,777 |
| Burlington | 7% | B− | B | 25 min | $80,475 |
| Big Lake | under 2% | B | C− | 29 min | $109,286 |
Same-state neighbors only. 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?
$75,777 (±$5,049) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Vernon?
16.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Vernon?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Vernon work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (8%, 55 mi), Burlington (7%, 3 mi), Bellingham (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Vernon walkable?
Mount Vernon is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Vernon without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.