Census-designated place · Catawba County, North Carolina

Mountain View, North Carolina

Mountain View is a census-designated place in Catawba County, North Carolina, part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area. It has 3,982 residents. Mountain View, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 40 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,345 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #221 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), child care cost burden (low) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on rent as share of income (high), hospital quality rating (low) and drug overdose deaths (high).

40Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,345 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #221 of 458 in NC
Population: 3,982 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 854.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 3744770

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety19#12,657/15,637
Economy45#8,599/15,631
Housing37#9,365/14,977
Health31#10,824/15,609
Healthcare40#9,321/15,650
Environment78#3,444/15,453
Education42#9,028/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,397/15,650
Community59#6,435/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,356/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Mountain View, North Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Catawba County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Social associations · high14.6 /10k
90/100North Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCatawba County value
Child care cost burden · low21.7%
89/100North Carolina 25.1%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCatawba County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.49%
88/100North Carolina 0.66%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCatawba County value
Natural hazard risk · low12.3
80/100North Carolina 45.12025Federal Emergency Management AgencyCatawba County value
Comfortable days · high30.4%
80/100North Carolina 30.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCatawba County value

Weaknesses

Rent as share of income · high51.0%
2/100North Carolina 29.5%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071At least this value: the publisher's top bracket is open-ended
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100North Carolina 3.3United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCatawba County value
Drug overdose deaths · high29.2 /100k
10/100North Carolina 20.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCatawba County value
Homicide rate · high7.3 /100k
16/100North Carolina 6.9 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCatawba County value
Life expectancy · low74.1 yrs
19/100North Carolina 76.1 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCatawba County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high204 min
20/100North Carolina 189 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCatawba County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
3,701 (2015-2019) → 3,982 (2020-2024)
+7.6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
14.9% (2015-2019) → 51.0% (2020-2024)
+36 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
26.2% (2015-2019) → 54.0% (2020-2024)
+28 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 3.1× (2020-2024)
+72%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
28.1% (2015-2019) → 40.1% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
10.4% (2015-2019) → 20.4% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Mountain View, North Carolina improved on 0 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined3

Rent / income+36 points14.9% → 51.0%
Inequality+0.0870.314 → 0.401
Price / income+1.3×1.8× → 3.1×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Mountain View, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.4 min2015-2019	19.2 min2020-2024	−3.2 min	Within the margin of error	80%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.6%2015-2019	24.7%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Broadband subscriptions	85.7%2015-2019	88.1%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Child poverty rate	28.1%2015-2019	40.1%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Effective property tax rate	0.63%2015-2019	0.49%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
High school diploma or higher	95.9%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+1.3×	Declined	13%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3142015-2019	0.4012020-2024	+0.087	Declined	6%
Median household income	$66,1432015-2019	$71,7922020-2024	+8.5%	Within the margin of error	15%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	14.9%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	+36 points	Declined	0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	14.7%2015-2019	10.4%2020-2024	−4.4 points	Within the margin of error	84%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Mountain View, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Mountain View, North Carolina in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Mountain View, North Carolina itself moved −24.5 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

3,982 residents (±870)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,441 households (±265)

Mountain View, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k16%†235
$25k–50k14%†204
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,441 households (±265)

Mountain View, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own81%1,167
Rent19%†274

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,809 workers (±485)

Mountain View, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone71%†1,285
Carpool24%†430
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Catawba County, the county holding most of Mountain View's residents.

Catawba County has 4,349 employer establishments, 264 for every 10,000 residents (1.06× the US rate of 248; 1.11× North Carolina's), with 85,704 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,893. The Census Bureau also counts 13,133 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,349; 13,133 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 264; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 85,704
Average annual pay: $52,893; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Catawba County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	328	19.9	1.08×About typical	6,954	$20,052	64
Ambulatory health care services	276	16.7	0.80×About typical	4,500	$65,692	545
Specialty trade contractors	270	16.4	1.06×About typical	1,979	$56,185	949
Religious organizations	205	12.4	2.24×More than typical	1,278	$22,930	—
Lessors of real estate	195	11.8	0.96×About typical	647	$38,015	1,420
Limited-service restaurants	141	8.6	1.07×About typical	2,873	$18,551	28
Full-service restaurants	132	8	1.04×About typical	3,411	$22,074	20
Construction of buildings	122	7.4	0.98×About typical	542	$70,411	479
Services to buildings and dwellings	114	6.9	1.03×About typical	709	$35,347	1,027
Building equipment contractors	113	6.9	1.14×About typical	1,045	$57,071	167
Truck transportation	112	6.8	1.34×More than typical	2,877	$56,303	276
Automotive repair and maintenance	105	6.4	1.26×More than typical	630	$46,238	250

Rank places for an industry Open Catawba County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 164,901 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated -$339.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Mountain View, North Carolina: -$85.35 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: -$339.9K; −109% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$85.35; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Prison Industries / Unicor$160.9K0.0%
Department of Veterans Affairs$60K0.0%
Department of the Air Force$29.7K0.0%
Department of State$2,6730.0%
U.S. Geological Survey$2,3460.0%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

42.1KFY2017
34KFY2018
46.8KFY2019
42.9KFY2020
24KFY2021
46.5KFY2022
102.7KFY2023
307.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Fabric mills · 3132$160.9K0.0%
Investigation and security services · 5616$79.8K0.0%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$47.4K0.0%
RV parks and recreational camps · 7212$26K0.0%
Apparel knitting mills · 3151$17K0.0%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$12.7K

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Mountain View, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Mountain View is mostly in Catawba County.

See federal money in Catawba County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Mountain View, North Carolina is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Pat HarriganR-NC-10 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Catawba County63100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC46

Other cities and towns in Catawba County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3744770

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends