Photo: Westpacificmovement · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Montclair (6.8%) than in 81% of U.S. towns
Montclair grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.3 in Riverside. For 6% of workers, the job is at home, against 17% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Montclair stands out on work
What’s behind Montclair’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Montclair is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #551 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Montclair’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Montclair could be anywhere from C to B.
9% of working residents work in Ontario
Where Montclair clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Montclair
On a workday 14,890 residents head out to work, 724 work right here, and 11,879 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 (0.81 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.
What work there is in Montclair: 12,603 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montclair, 2013 → 2023: 13,044 → 12,603. 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 Montclair’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Montclair: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montclair workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,366 commuters (the 6% 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.
The distance from Montclair to work
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.
Montclair is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montclair is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #276 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,430 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, 44% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 5.4% of Montclair households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Montclair’s commuters take a bus or train.
Montclair is 892nd of 1,196 U.S. towns of 26,000 to 51,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 890 | Oak Park MI | 29,072 | $72K | 12.0% | 10.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 891 | Foley AL | 30,354 | $66K | 11.0% | 3.5% | 24% | C+ |
| 892 | Montclair CA | 37,563 | $78K | 17.7% | 6.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 893 | Lawrenceville GA | 32,822 | $62K | 15.4% | 5.1% | 10% | C+ |
| 894 | Harrisonburg VA | 50,839 | $62K | 25.7% | 6.9% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,196 | 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 Montclair, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Montclair compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Upland (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Montclair’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 Montclair: questions
What is the median household income in Montclair?
$77,659 (±$9,408) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montclair?
17.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montclair?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montclair work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ontario (9%, 6 mi), Los Angeles (9%, 41 mi), Pomona (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montclair walkable?
Montclair is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montclair without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montclair, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montclair
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.