Montebello Woman's Club · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Montebello has higher unemployment (7.1%) than 83% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. Jobs and income earn Montebello B−; getting around on foot earns it A. Only 7% work in Montebello; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (25%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Montebello apart on work
Montebello and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Montebello residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Montebello come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Montebello draws workers from far and wide
The 21,234 jobs in Montebello are filled from a wide area. Montebello’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 33%; the other 59% 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.
Why Montebello gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Montebello is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #467 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Montebello’s grade up (among the top 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, Montebello could be anywhere from B− to B.
The places Montebello commutes to
Where Montebello clocks in
3% of workers
2% 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.
Who leaves Montebello for work, and who comes in
On a workday 23,868 residents head out to work, 1,769 work right here, and 19,465 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 (0.83 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 Montebello’s employers do
21,234 jobs are based in Montebello.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montebello, 2013 → 2023: 22,223 → 21,234. 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 Montebello’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Montebello: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montebello workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,334 commuters (the 11% 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.
Montebello’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In Montebello, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montebello is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #299 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Montebello near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 28,418 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 26% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 7.5% of Montebello households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Montebello’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Montebello is 493rd among 746 U.S. towns of 42,000 to 82,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | Rapid City SD | 80,589 | $71K | 12.5% | 2.6% | 75% | B− |
| 492 | Sheboygan WI | 49,376 | $63K | 12.3% | 2.7% | 38% | B− |
| 493 | Montebello CA | 60,693 | $80K | 12.1% | 7.1% | 7% | B− |
| 494 | Delray Beach FL | 69,809 | $82K | 13.0% | 5.8% | 17% | B− |
| 495 | Cicero IL | 81,858 | $71K | 14.6% | 5.0% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 746 | 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 Montebello, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Montebello and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Commerce (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Montebello workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montebello | – | B− | A | 31 min | $79,971 |
| Pico Rivera | under 2% | B+ | A− | 30 min | $88,201 |
| East Los Angeles | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 30 min | $68,741 |
| Commerce | 3% | B+ | A+ | 27 min | $77,064 |
| Monterey Park | 2% | B | A+ | 28 min | $81,855 |
| Rosemead | under 2% | B− | A | 27 min | $73,566 |
| South San Gabriel | under 2% | B | A− | 27 min | $76,806 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Montebello’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 Montebello: questions
What is the median household income in Montebello?
$79,971 (±$4,380) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montebello?
12.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montebello?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montebello work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (25%, 17 mi), Commerce (3%, 3 mi), Pasadena (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montebello walkable?
Montebello is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montebello without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montebello, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montebello
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.