Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Monmouth has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
2,314 jobs are based in Monmouth; 4,203 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Monmouth are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.3 in Salem.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Monmouth, in a few figures
Monmouth and Salem trade workers both ways
Salem is the top workplace for Monmouth residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Monmouth come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Monmouth is services
91% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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.
Inside Monmouth’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monmouth is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #102 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Monmouth’s grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.1%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monmouth could be anywhere from D to B−.
24% of working residents work in Salem
Where Monmouth clocks in
24% 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.
Monmouth is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monmouth, 2013 → 2023: 2,520 → 2,314. 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 Monmouth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Monmouth on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,727 residents head out to work, 476 work right here, and 1,838 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,700 people are in Monmouth on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
From Monmouth, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monmouth workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,942 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Near or far: the trip to work from Monmouth
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.
In Monmouth, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monmouth is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #17 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Monmouth 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 5,530 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 36% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 7.2% of Monmouth households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Monmouth’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Monmouth ranks: 2,173rd of 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 171 | Bull Mountain OR | 9,865 | $165K | 4.7% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Damascus OR | 11,437 | $123K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,171 | Oskaloosa IA | 11,493 | $64K | 16.6% | 4.8% | 32% | C |
| 2,172 | Uvalde TX | 15,455 | $51K | 23.9% | 1.4% | 38% | C |
| 2,173 | Monmouth OR | 11,543 | $69K | 16.1% | 7.1% | 11% | C |
| 2,174 | Timberlane LA | 10,886 | $66K | 25.1% | 11.2% | 2% | C |
| 2,175 | Monett MO | 10,248 | $49K | 15.2% | 3.9% | 39% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Monmouth, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Around Monmouth: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Independence (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monmouth workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monmouth | – | C | A+ | 24 min | $69,170 |
| Independence | 8% | B− | B+ | 25 min | $85,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Monmouth’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 Monmouth: questions
What is the median household income in Monmouth?
$69,170 (±$12,700) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monmouth?
16.1%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monmouth?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monmouth work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salem (24%, 11 mi), Independence (8%, 2 mi), Portland (7%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monmouth walkable?
Monmouth is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monmouth without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 36% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monmouth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monmouth
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.