Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Montezuma’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 16% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #200 of 263 in Georgia.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns · #83 of 263 in Georgia.
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Georgia 28, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Montezuma; the top destination outside it is Fort Valley (6%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Montezuma
Commutes from Montezuma are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Montezuma workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Montezuma’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Montezuma than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Montezuma fell from 1,079 in 2013 to 773 in 2023, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
What’s behind Montezuma’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Montezuma is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #200 of 263 in Georgia. Unemployment holds Montezuma’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,875, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Montezuma could be anywhere from D− to B−.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montezuma workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,286 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 773 jobs in Montezuma are
773 jobs are based in Montezuma. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Montezuma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montezuma, 2013 → 2023: 1,079 → 773. 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.
Montezuma quiets down on a workday
On a workday 920 residents head out to work, 168 work right here, and 605 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Montezuma on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
6% of working residents work in Fort Valley
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Montezuma clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Montezuma commutes less than 21 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Montezuma start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montezuma is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #83 of 263 in Georgia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,395 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). 15.9% of Montezuma households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Montezuma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Montezuma is 4,024th of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Montezuma, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 221 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,022 | Empire CA | 3,429 | $53K | 22.3% | 13.0% | 1% | C− |
| 4,023 | North Shore CA | 3,515 | $52K | 7.6% | 11.3% | 3% | C− |
| 4,024 | Montezuma GA | 2,879 | $47K | 18.3% | 3.8% | 15% | C− |
| 4,025 | South Blooming Grove NY | 3,810 | $62K | 38.1% | 11.4% | 3% | C− |
| 4,026 | Franklinton NC | 2,890 | $59K | 17.2% | 9.6% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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.
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 Montezuma: questions
What is the median household income in Montezuma?
$46,875 (±$13,471) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montezuma?
18.3%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montezuma?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montezuma work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Valley (6%, 19 mi), Vienna (5%, 20 mi), Macon-Bibb County (5%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montezuma walkable?
Montezuma is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montezuma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montezuma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montezuma
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.