Montreat is a very small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 1,044 people and just one neighborhood, Montreat is the 412th largest community in North Carolina. Much of the housing stock in Montreat was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Montreat real estate is some of the most expensive in North Carolina, although Montreat house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.
Montreat is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 93.43% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Montreat is a town of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Montreat who work in sales jobs (23.72%), food service (17.15%), and office and administrative support (13.14%).
Also of interest is that Montreat has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 13.90% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that Montreat is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Montreat’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 13.05 minutes getting to work every day.
Montreat is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Montreat, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Montreat is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 91.45% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.
The per capita income in Montreat in 2022 was $16,033, which is low income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $64,132 for a family of four. However, Montreat contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Montreat is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Montreat home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Montreat residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Montreat also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.19% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Montreat include English, Irish, Italian, German, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Montreat is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 57.0% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
If you are planning to retire in North Carolina, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in North Carolina, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 97.7% of neighborhoods in NC. If a North Carolina retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for college students.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scottish and Scots-Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 10.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Scottish ancestry and 6.0% have Scots-Irish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Montreat are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 68.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 15.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 61.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 49.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 18.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (17.3%), and 11.0% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.4% of households.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Montreat, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (18.6%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (10.8%), and residents who report Scottish roots (10.0%), and some of the residents are also of Scots-Irish ancestry (6.0%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (5.7%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (48.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (63.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (6.8%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.