Photo: Farrargirl · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Monroe trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Monroe itself; outside it, Athens draws the most (6%, 23 miles). Poverty touches 33.8% of residents, against 13.4% across Georgia. The two grades for Monroe are D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Monroe: the figures worth knowing
Monroe draws workers from far and wide
The 8,923 jobs in Monroe are filled from a wide area. Monroe’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 78% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
No single place dominates Monroe’s commute
The biggest draw, Athens, gets only 6% of working residents, and 63% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Monroe residents fan out across the region. 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.
Where Monroe’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monroe is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #210 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Monroe’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monroe could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where the trip to work from Monroe ends
Where Monroe clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
In and out of Monroe on a workday
On a workday 5,986 residents head out to work, 947 work right here, and 7,976 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
Inside Monroe’s 8,923 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 6,769 → 8,923. 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 Monroe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Monroe, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monroe workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,121 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Monroe’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.
Monroe is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monroe is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #127 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place Monroe 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 5,817 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.3% of Monroe households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Monroe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Monroe and other U.S. towns of 12,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 255 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 320 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,809 | Olean NY | 13,508 | $51K | 26.7% | 6.3% | 37% | D |
| 1,810 | Conneaut OH | 12,247 | $62K | 19.4% | 12.5% | 25% | D |
| 1,811 | Monroe GA | 16,507 | $45K | 33.8% | 11.6% | 14% | D |
| 1,812 | Coldwater MI | 14,216 | $51K | 21.3% | 8.3% | 35% | D |
| 1,813 | Albemarle NC | 17,769 | $47K | 24.9% | 5.6% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Monroe, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
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 Monroe: questions
What is the median household income in Monroe?
$44,656 (±$7,456) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monroe?
33.8%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monroe?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monroe work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athens (6%, 23 mi), Atlanta (5%, 40 mi), Lawrenceville (3%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monroe walkable?
Monroe is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monroe without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monroe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monroe
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.