Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Monterey Park (6.1%) than in 75% of U.S. towns
Monterey Park grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About one in ten stay in Monterey Park for work; outside it, Los Angeles is the main destination (27%, 16 miles). Working residents average 28 minutes each way, about the same as across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Monterey Park and work: the main findings
Monterey Park and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Monterey Park residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Monterey Park come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Monterey Park draws workers from far and wide
The 28,738 jobs in Monterey Park are filled from a wide area. Monterey Park’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; 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.
The figures behind Monterey Park’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monterey Park is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #423 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Monterey Park’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, Monterey Park could be anywhere from B− to B+.
The places Monterey Park commutes to
Where Monterey Park clocks in
4% 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.
Who leaves Monterey Park for work, and who comes in
On a workday 21,375 residents head out to work, 2,055 work right here, and 26,683 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 (1.23 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 the 28,738 jobs in Monterey Park are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monterey Park, 2013 → 2023: 30,325 → 28,738. 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 Monterey Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Monterey Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monterey Park workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,527 commuters (the 18% 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.
How many miles Monterey Park commutes
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.
Monterey Park is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 6.4% 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 27,347 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, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 11.4% of Monterey Park households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Monterey Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Monterey Park is 484th among 787 U.S. towns of 40,000 to 78,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 482 | Everett MA | 53,572 | $85K | 14.7% | 5.5% | 7% | B |
| 483 | Summerville SC | 53,177 | $81K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 12% | B |
| 484 | Monterey Park CA | 57,457 | $82K | 12.4% | 6.1% | 9% | B |
| 485 | Post Falls ID | 46,715 | $82K | 11.1% | 3.3% | 22% | B |
| 486 | Richland WA | 65,258 | $96K | 9.0% | 5.6% | 41% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 787 | 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 Monterey Park, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Monterey Park
The biggest share goes to Alhambra (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monterey Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey Park | – | B | A+ | 28 min | $81,855 |
| East Los Angeles | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 30 min | $68,741 |
| Alhambra | 4% | B | A | 30 min | $88,024 |
| Rosemead | 2% | B− | A | 27 min | $73,566 |
| Montebello | under 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $79,971 |
| South San Gabriel | under 2% | B | A− | 27 min | $76,806 |
| San Gabriel | 2% | B+ | A | 28 min | $90,488 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Monterey Park’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 Monterey Park: questions
What is the median household income in Monterey Park?
$81,855 (±$6,502) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monterey Park?
12.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monterey Park?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monterey Park work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (27%, 16 mi), Pasadena (4%, 8 mi), Alhambra (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monterey Park walkable?
Monterey Park is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monterey Park without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monterey Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monterey Park
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.