About half of Monticello’s working residents commute to Baton Rouge
Hardly any work in Monticello; the top destination outside it is Baton Rouge (45%, 6 miles). Jobs and income earn Monticello B; getting around on foot earns it C−. Commuters spend 31 minutes getting to work on average, next to 26 for Louisiana and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Monticello
Monticello makes and builds things
61% of the jobs based in Monticello are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Monticello residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 12%. The jobs ↓
Nearly half of Monticello works in Baton Rouge
1,048 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Baton Rouge, 6 miles away across the town line. That’s far more as work in Monticello itself. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Monticello’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Louisiana average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Monticello is a place people come home to
There are 306 jobs based in Monticello, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Monticello has about 2,000 people in it, 51% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Monticello residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
How Monticello earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monticello is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #31 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Monticello’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monticello could be anywhere from C− to A+.
Monticello works in goods: 61% of its jobs
306 jobs are based in Monticello.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monticello, 2013 → 2023: 386 → 306. 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 Monticello’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Monticello’s working residents head each day
Where Monticello clocks in
45% 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 trip to work from Monticello: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monticello workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,736 commuters (the 2% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Monticello
On a workday 2,328 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 300 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Monticello on a workday afternoon, 51% fewer than live here.
0.13 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.
The commute from Monticello, by distance
About 16% 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.
For most of Monticello, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monticello is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #143 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Louisiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,773 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). 1.8% of Monticello households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monticello’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Monticello is 1,920th of 4,177 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 774 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 942 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,918 | Delaware Township IN | 3,500 | $74K | 9.3% | 2.7% | 8% | B |
| 1,919 | Richland Township IN | 5,232 | $64K | 3.0% | 5.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,920 | Monticello LA | 3,999 | $70K | 11.6% | 4.5% | <1% | B |
| 1,921 | Chatsworth GA | 5,029 | $69K | 15.7% | 1.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,922 | Upper Pittsgrove Township NJ | 3,545 | $86K | 8.0% | 8.0% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Monticello, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Work next door: 47% of Monticello’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monticello workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello | – | B | C− | 31 min | $70,441 |
| Baton Rouge | 45% | C− | A− | 21 min | $49,994 |
| Central | 2% | A | C− | 29 min | $89,554 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Baton Rouge. Darker towns draw more of Monticello’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 Monticello: questions
What is the median household income in Monticello?
$70,441 (±$26,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monticello?
11.6%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monticello?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monticello work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (45%, 6 mi), New Orleans (2%, 73 mi), Central (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monticello walkable?
Monticello is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monticello 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 Monticello, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monticello
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.