Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Monson has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B: better than 58% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #227 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Walkability C+: more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns · #245 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 34 minutes each way (Massachusetts 29, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Monson; the top destination outside it is Springfield (15%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Monson, in brief
What’s behind Monson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monson is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #227 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Monson’s grade up ($96,688, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monson could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monson workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,413 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Monson quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,212 residents head out to work, 483 work right here, and 867 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in Monson on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
15% of working residents work in Springfield
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Monson clocks in
15% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 1,350 jobs in Monson are
1,350 jobs are based in Monson. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Monson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monson, 2013 → 2023: 1,217 → 1,350. 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.
Half of Monson commutes less than 14 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Monson start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #245 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,823 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.8% of Monson households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Monson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Monson is 1,532nd of 3,007 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Monson, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 88 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,530 | Mabank TX | 7,294 | $55K | 5.0% | 1.9% | 14% | B |
| 1,531 | Chester Township IN | 6,958 | $67K | 8.7% | 1.6% | 33% | B |
| 1,532 | Monson MA | 8,175 | $97K | 8.5% | 6.2% | 13% | B |
| 1,533 | Raisin Township MI | 8,165 | $96K | 8.2% | 3.8% | 6% | B |
| 1,534 | Pembroke NH | 7,579 | $90K | 15.0% | 2.9% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
Monson and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Palmer Town (6%). Darker towns draw more of Monson’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monson | – | B | C+ | 34 min | $96,688 |
| Palmer Town | 6% | B+ | C+ | 31 min | $78,480 |
| Brimfield | under 3% | A | D | 34 min | $111,250 |
| Wales | under 3% | A− | C | 35 min | $89,006 |
| Hampden | under 3% | A− | C | 26 min | $104,536 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Monson: questions
What is the median household income in Monson?
$96,688 (±$13,868) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monson?
8.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monson?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monson work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (15%, 11 mi), Palmer Town (6%, 7 mi), Wilbraham (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monson walkable?
Monson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monson without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monson
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.