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Cost of living, pay and housing

35.68° N · 81.37° W · GEOID 3744770

Mountain View

Catawba County, North Carolina · part of the Hickory, NC metro

Limited data population under 5,000

North CarolinaMountain View, NCMountain ViewMountain View

The short answer

Mountain View is home to 3,982 people. Median household income is $71,792 a year and median rent is $956 a month, 16.0% of income (a ratio of two medians, not any one household's burden). Rent pressure is lighter than in most places. The median home is valued at $222,500, about 3.1x annual median household income.

Median gross rent
$956
30% below the median place
Median household income
$71,792
11% below the median place
Median home value
$222,500
30% below the median place
Unemployment
3.7%
25% below the median place

Compared with the median of the 6,645 places we track. The bundle was checked 2026-11-14; each measure may refer to an older release.

What stands out about Mountain View

  • Owning with a mortgage costs only about $188 a month more than the median rent, a smaller gap than in 84% of the 2,469 places under 10,000 people we track.
  • Household income has grown 1.7% a year across the last five survey releases, slower than in 86% of places its size.
  • 20.4% of residents live below the poverty line, more than in 81% of places its size.

Rent is light relative to pay, but the county has a FEMA natural hazard risk score of 81 out of 100. Budget for insurance before counting the savings.

01

Moving to Mountain View

Catawba County gains about 11.8 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.

Moved in8,704
Moved out7,140
Net+1,564

Where people come from and where they go, top counties

Burke County, NC760777−17
Alexander County, NC400383+17

Within North Carolina, other states or abroad

Arrivals
Leavers
Within North CarolinaOther statesAbroad

Income per tax return

Arrivals$65K
Leavers$58K

People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Catawba County; flows under 20 returns are not published.

Who moves here
5.7% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 1.9% from another state. County figure.
Who arrives and who leaves
Households moving into Catawba County report $65,000 a year in income on average; those leaving, $57,600, so newcomers earn more than leavers.
Income you would need
$38,200 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
Rent or buy
Median rent is $956 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $1,144 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $222,500.
Getting to work
19 minutes each way on average; 8.2% work from home.
If it is close but not quite
Hutchinson, MN matches it on character. Compare the two
Net movers per 1,000 people7
11.8
above the median place (median -0.6)
Income of households moving out7
$57,624
18% below the median place
Income of households moving in7
$65,020
8% below the median place
All 5 moving measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Moved here in the past year1County figure5.7%1% below
Moved from another state1County figure1.9%5% below
Net movers per 1,000 people7County figure11.8above (median -0.6)
Income of households moving in7County figure$65,0208% below
Income of households moving out7County figure$57,62418% below
02

What it costs to live here

Owner costs with a mortgage is $1,144, 39% below the median place.

Mountain View16.0%
Typical place20.4%

Share of the median household income that goes to the median rent. Above 30% is the usual stress line.

Income needed to rent
$38,240
a year, at the 30% line
Rent to income
16.0%
22% below the median place
Home price to income
3.1x
18% below the median place

Could you afford it?

The median rent would take
16%
comfortably under the 30% line
Left after rent, in US prices
$64,100
a year
Vs the typical household here
Same
as the median household

Uses the median rent in Mountain View, $956 a month, and local prices for everything else (94.4 against a US average of 100). It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Mountain View.

Sponsored · exampleMoving to Mountain View? Compare quotes from licensed movers. No partner is signed yet. Sponsored offers are always labelled and never change the data.
Owner costs with a mortgage1
$1,144
39% below the median place
Property tax paid (median)1
$1,059
68% below the median place
Property tax rate1
0.5%
47% below the median place
All 16 cost and housing measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median gross rent1$95630% below
Rent to income116.0%22% below
Property tax rate10.5%47% below
Home price to income13.1x18% below
Prices vs US average2Metro figure88.512% below
Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms3County figure$1,14729% below
HUD area median income4County figure$85,20021% below
Property tax paid (median)1$1,05968% below
Median home value1$222,50030% below
Home prices, 1-year change5County figure2.5%23% below
Home prices, 5-year change5County figure63.7%24% above
Homeownership181.0%22% above
Renters paying 30%+154.0%7% above
Owner costs with a mortgage1$1,14439% below
Vacant homes1County figure9.4%34% above
Median year built119790% above
03

Work and pay

Commutes by transit is 0.0%, below the median place (median 0.8%).

Commutes by transit1
0.0%
below the median place (median 0.8%)
Poverty rate1
20.4%
90% above the median place
Mean commute1
19 min
23% below the median place
All 10 work and pay measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median household income1$71,79211% below
Income per person1$31,46221% below
Unemployment1County figure3.7%25% below
Average annual pay6County figure$59,01411% below
Pay growth, 1 year6County figure5.8%57% above
Jobs6County figure89,36941% below
Poverty rate120.4%90% above
Mean commute119 min23% below
Works from home1County figure8.2%34% below
Commutes by transit10.0%below (median 0.8%)
04

Who lives here

Homes with broadband is 88.1%, 5% below the median place.

Homes with broadband1
88.1%
5% below the median place
Household size1
2.8
10% above the median place
Median age1
42.1
8% above the median place

More about who lives here, against the typical place

Bachelor's or higher24.6% −23%
No health insurance8.2% +28%
High school or higher92.6% +0%
All 8 people measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Population13,9826646th largest
Median age142.18% above
Bachelor's or higher124.6%23% below
High school or higher192.6%0% above
Household size12.810% above
Born abroad1County figure6.9%22% below
No health insurance18.2%28% above
Homes with broadband188.1%5% below
05

Life in Mountain View

66 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Out the door, against the typical place

Parks per 10k residents0.0 −100%
Playgrounds per 10k5.0 −47%
Grocery stores per 10k0.0 −100%
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k0.0 −100%
Libraries per 10k0.0 −100%
Named paths and bike trails0 km −100%
Bus and rail stops per sq mi0.0 −100%

Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)

Restaurants and bars22.1 +6%
Shops42.0 +39%
Arts, recreation and fitness3.4 −17%
Doctors' offices and clinics16.9 −16%
Child care centers1.3 −43%

Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.

Child care centers per 10k8
1.3
43% below the median place
Shops per 10k8
42.0
39% above the median place
Public schools11
44
389% above the median place
All 16 schools and local life measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Public schools11County figure44389% above
Public school students11County figure22,392357% above
Students per teacher11County figure17.614% above
Restaurants and bars per 10k8County figure22.16% above
Shops per 10k8County figure42.039% above
Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k8County figure3.417% below
Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k8County figure16.916% below
Child care centers per 10k8County figure1.343% below
Parks per 10k90.0below (median 10.2)
Playgrounds per 10k95.047% below
Grocery stores per 10k90.0below (median 2.1)
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k90.0below (median 11.2)
Libraries per 10k90.0below (median 0.9)
Named paths and bike trails90.0below (median 2.0)
Transit stops per sq mi90.0below (median 0.2)
National Register listings10County figure66above (median 13)
06

Safety, weather and risk

Heat wave risk is 57.3, 36% below the median place.

No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Mountain View. Larger places are fetched first.

Heat wave risk13
57.3
36% below the median place
Wildfire risk13
36.6
40% below the median place
Natural hazard risk13
80.6
13% below the median place
All 11 weather and risk measures
MeasureMountain ViewAmong 6,645 placesVs median
July average high12County figure88°F1% above
January average low12County figure29°F15% above
Average temperature12County figure59°F7% above
Annual precipitation12County figure47.0 in7% above
Natural hazard risk13County figure80.613% below
Hurricane risk13County figure76.99% above
Tornado risk13County figure86.36% above
Wildfire risk13County figure36.640% below
Heat wave risk13County figure57.336% below
Median air quality index14County figure422% below
Good air days14County figure68.9%1% above
08

Mountain View in 2030: where the trends point

If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 16% of the median income in 2030, about the same as 16% now.

Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.

MeasureLatest2030 projectionLikely rangeAvg. per year
Median rent$956/mo (2024)$1,180/mo$970 to $1,440/mo+3.6%
Median household income$71,792 (2024)$89,500$75,500 to $106,000+3.7%
Median home value$222,500 (2024)$334,000$243,000 to $460,000+7.0%

The median home would be worth 3.7 years of the median income in 2030, against 3.1 now.

A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.

09

Places like Mountain View

The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.

PlaceRentIncome
Hutchinson, MN$940$72,836Compare
Red Wing, MN$969$67,192Compare
Reedsburg, WI$977$75,028Compare
Miles City, MT$926$67,727Compare
Miles City, MTReedsburg, WIRed Wing, MNHutchinson, MNMountain View, NCMountain ViewHutchinsonReedsburgMiles CityMountain ViewHutchinsonReedsburgMiles City

Common questions

Is Mountain View a good place to live?

It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. Owning with a mortgage costs only about $188 a month more than the median rent, a smaller gap than in 84% of the 2,469 places under 10,000 people we track. Household income has grown 1.7% a year across the last five survey releases, slower than in 86% of places its size. On cost, space and class size it scores 81 out of 100 for families. See how it ranks with your own weights.

Is Mountain View expensive to live in?

The median rent takes 16.0% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $222,500.

What salary do you need to live in Mountain View?

To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $38,240 a year. Work it out from your current city.

What places are similar to Mountain View?

On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Hutchinson, MN, Red Wing, MN, Reedsburg, WI and Miles City, MT.

Sources and methods

The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.

  1. American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
  2. Regional Price Parities · US Bureau of Economic Analysis · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  3. Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
  4. Income Limits · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2026
  5. House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  6. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
  7. SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
  8. County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
  9. OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
  10. National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
  11. Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
  12. 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
  13. National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps
  14. Air Quality System, annual AQI by county · US Environmental Protection Agency · 2025 dataAirData download files

Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).

What stands out compares Mountain View with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Mountain View itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/mountain-view-north-carolina

Citytistics. “Mountain View, North Carolina.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/mountain-view-north-carolina/

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.