Photo: TheLionHasSeen · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Monroe are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 35.9% of residents (Louisiana 18.9%). The two grades for Monroe are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. More than half work in Monroe itself; outside it, West Monroe draws the most (9%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Monroe at work: what stands out
Monroe is where the jobs are
Monroe has 37,931 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 69,000 people are in town, 46% more than the 47,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Monroe are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Monroe workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Monroe’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Monroe draws workers from far and wide
The 37,931 jobs in Monroe are filled from a wide area. Monroe’s own residents hold 22% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 58% 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 Monroe gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monroe is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #124 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Monroe’s grade up (ahead of 70% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monroe stays D.
A workday in Monroe: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 7,762 residents head out to work, 8,529 work right here, and 29,402 people come in from elsewhere.
About 69,000 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The trip to work from Monroe: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monroe workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,147 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 85% 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.
What work there is in Monroe: 37,931 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 41,666 → 37,931. 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.
Commuting in to Monroe: where workers come from
Where Monroe clocks in
9% of workers
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.
The commute from Monroe, by distance
About 21% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Monroe
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monroe is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #12 of 161 in Louisiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,462 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). 15.6% of Monroe households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Monroe’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 33,000 to 63,000, and where Monroe sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Prairieville LA | 35,238 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 866 | Alexandria LA | 42,938 | $47K | 27.0% | 5.2% | 51% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Youngstown OH | 58,832 | $34K | 37.3% | 11.9% | 21% | D |
| 911 | Hattiesburg MS | 48,802 | $46K | 28.3% | 8.7% | 56% | D |
| 912 | Monroe LA | 46,860 | $41K | 35.9% | 10.2% | 52% | D |
| 913 | Statesboro GA | 35,366 | $45K | 36.0% | 9.0% | 32% | D |
| 914 | Atlantic City NJ | 38,787 | $41K | 32.3% | 14.5% | 49% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 923 | 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 Monroe, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Work in the towns next to Monroe
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monroe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | – | D | A− | 18 min | $40,505 |
| Lakeshore | under 1% | C | C+ | 19 min | $48,214 |
| Richwood | under 1% | D | C+ | 19 min | $31,680 |
| West Monroe | 9% | D | B+ | 20 min | $49,386 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to West Monroe. Darker towns draw more of Monroe’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 Monroe: questions
What is the median household income in Monroe?
$40,505 (±$4,242) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monroe?
35.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monroe?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monroe work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Monroe (9%, 4 mi), Shreveport (3%, 100 mi), Ruston (2%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monroe walkable?
Monroe is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monroe without a car?
3% 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 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.