Photo: Dparranda · Public domainMore people are out of work in El Monte (6.3%) than in 77% of U.S. towns
6% of workers have no commute at all, against 17% across California. El Monte grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in ten stay in El Monte for work; outside it, Los Angeles is the main destination (15%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where El Monte stands out on work
El Monte’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside El Monte is Los Angeles, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (6,162) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
El Monte draws workers from far and wide
The 26,930 jobs in El Monte are filled from a wide area. El Monte’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 26%; the other 60% 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.
The figures behind El Monte’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Monte is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #556 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds El Monte’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Monte could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from El Monte
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.
The places El Monte commutes to
Where El Monte clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
El Monte quiets down on a workday
On a workday 36,603 residents head out to work, 3,659 work right here, and 23,271 people come in from elsewhere.
About 92,000 people are in El Monte on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The kinds of work in El Monte
26,930 jobs are based in El Monte.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Monte, 2013 → 2023: 26,491 → 26,930. 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 El Monte’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes each way, about the CA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Monte workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 44,508 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
El Monte is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 47,624 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 66% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 9.3% of El Monte households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of El Monte’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
El Monte places 304th of 409 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 74,000 to 142,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 21 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Waukegan IL | 87,940 | $72K | 15.3% | 6.4% | 16% | C+ |
| 303 | Fort Myers FL | 101,581 | $64K | 16.3% | 4.2% | 25% | C+ |
| 304 | El Monte CA | 105,075 | $68K | 17.4% | 6.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 305 | Homestead FL | 86,242 | $65K | 18.4% | 4.0% | 10% | C+ |
| 306 | Wilmington NC | 126,809 | $67K | 16.0% | 4.3% | 49% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 El Monte, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 13% of El Monte
The biggest share goes to Industry (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Monte workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Monte | – | C+ | A | 28 min | $68,030 |
| South El Monte | 3% | C+ | A | 27 min | $72,990 |
| Industry | 5% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Temple City | under 2% | B+ | A | 31 min | $104,425 |
| North El Monte | under 2% | A− | A− | 27 min | $99,447 |
| Rosemead | 2% | B− | A | 27 min | $73,566 |
| Arcadia | 3% | A− | A | 29 min | $113,516 |
| Baldwin Park | under 2% | B | A | 29 min | $80,663 |
| Irwindale | under 2% | A+ | A | 27 min | $114,167 |
Same-state neighbors only. Industry: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of El Monte’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 El Monte: questions
What is the median household income in El Monte?
$68,030 (±$2,580) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Monte?
17.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Monte?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Monte work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (15%, 22 mi), Industry (5%, 6 mi), Pasadena (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Monte walkable?
El Monte is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Monte without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 66% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Monte, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Monte
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.