Checkerboard Inn · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Monroe are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
8.8% of residents live below the poverty line, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. Monroe grades B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in ten stay in Monroe for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (24%, 46 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Monroe
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Monroe
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monroe is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #290 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Monroe’s grade up ($112,199, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monroe could be anywhere from B− to A.
Monroe’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Monroe
On a workday 7,986 residents head out to work, 734 work right here, and 4,780 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Out of Monroe to work: where people go
Where Monroe clocks in
24% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
Jobs in Monroe: what the 5,514 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 5,446 → 5,514. 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.
Each way, about 36 minutes from Monroe
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monroe workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,827 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Monroe is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monroe is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #174 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Monroe near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,373 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 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). 4.2% of Monroe households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Monroe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,642 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000, Monroe comes 851st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | New Castle NY | 18,259 | $250K | 2.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Mineola NY | 21,376 | $138K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 849 | Rancho San Diego CA | 21,272 | $119K | 10.1% | 7.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 850 | Lexington SC | 25,729 | $87K | 7.4% | 5.2% | 12% | B+ |
| 851 | Monroe NY | 24,343 | $112K | 8.8% | 5.6% | 8% | B+ |
| 852 | Powder Springs GA | 21,004 | $105K | 14.6% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 853 | Milwaukie OR | 22,114 | $87K | 7.9% | 5.8% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 New York.
Monroe and its neighbors: 12% work next door
The biggest share goes to Woodbury (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monroe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | – | B+ | A | 36 min | $112,199 |
| Kiryas Joel | under 2% | C+ | A | 19 min | $50,032 |
| Palm Tree | 4% | C+ | A | 19 min | $50,032 |
| Blooming Grove | 2% | B− | A− | 46 min | $95,967 |
| Woodbury | 6% | — | — | 41 min | — |
| Woodbury | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 43 min | $121,221 |
| Chester | under 2% | A | A− | 42 min | $139,778 |
| South Blooming Grove | under 2% | C− | C+ | 40 min | $62,316 |
| Tuxedo | under 2% | A− | B+ | 40 min | $109,205 |
| Tuxedo | under 2% | A | B+ | 40 min | $129,598 |
Same-state neighbors only. Woodbury: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$112,199 (±$10,959) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monroe?
8.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monroe?
36 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monroe work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (24%, 46 mi), Woodbury (6%, 5 mi), Ramapo (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monroe walkable?
Monroe is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monroe without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.