Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Monroe has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 3% stay in Monroe for work; outside it, Newton is the main destination (16%, 13 miles). There are 292 jobs in Monroe for 912 working residents. The two grades for Monroe are B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Monroe, in a few figures
Monroe and Newton trade workers both ways
Newton is the top workplace for Monroe residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Monroe come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Monroe empties out on a workday
About 1,400 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 2,000 who live here: 890 head out to work and 270 come in. Day and night ↓
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; with 912 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Monroe: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monroe is better than 49% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Monroe’s grade up (8.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monroe could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Where the trip to work from Monroe ends
Where Monroe clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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 885 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 265 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Monroe
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 297 → 292. 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.
How long Monroe spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monroe workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,103 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% 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.
How far it is to work from Monroe
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.
For most of Monroe, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monroe is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,153 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). 1.5% of Monroe households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monroe’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,265th of 5,509: where Monroe ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 171 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,263 | Sutton-Alpine AK | 1,598 | $75K | 3.2% | 9.0% | — | B− |
| 2,264 | Gridley IL | 1,428 | $67K | 5.7% | 2.6% | 2% | B− |
| 2,265 | Monroe IA | 2,022 | $80K | 8.1% | 6.0% | 3% | B− |
| 2,266 | Lyman WY | 2,216 | $101K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 22% | B− |
| 2,267 | Lincoln Township KS | 1,582 | $66K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Iowa.
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?
$80,375 (±$18,243) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monroe?
8.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monroe?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monroe work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newton (16%, 13 mi), Des Moines (14%, 26 mi), Pella (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monroe walkable?
Monroe is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monroe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% 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.