Photo: Shane.torgerson · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Monahans (3.0%) is lower than in 70% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Monahans; the top destination outside it is Odessa (9%, 46 miles). For jobs and income Monahans is better than 35% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). Home is the office for 1% of workers, next to 14% for Texas as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Monahans
Monahans’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Monahans is Odessa, 46 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (328) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Monahans workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Monahans has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Monahans went from 1,844 in 2013 to 2,753 in 2023, +49%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Monahans are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Monahans’ grade
Unemployment holds Monahans’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monahans could be anywhere from D to B+.
Monahans’ commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
A commute of about 21 minutes in Monahans
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monahans workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,575 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
Goods, not services: 28% of the jobs in Monahans
2,753 jobs are based in Monahans.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monahans, 2013 → 2023: 1,844 → 2,753. 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 Monahans’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Monahans on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,507 residents head out to work, 1,134 work right here, and 1,619 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Monahans on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
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 towns that employ Monahans’ residents
Where Monahans clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
In Monahans, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,611 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). 4.6% of Monahans households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monahans’ commuters take a bus or train.
Monahans is 2,205th of 3,083 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,203 | Kirkwood NY | 5,274 | $59K | 15.2% | 3.9% | 11% | C+ |
| 2,204 | Mount Vernon IN | 6,289 | $62K | 14.9% | 3.9% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,205 | Monahans TX | 7,427 | $71K | 15.6% | 3.0% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,206 | Monroe Township OH | 7,922 | $93K | 12.1% | 11.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,207 | Gilead Township OH | 6,080 | $59K | 11.2% | 4.4% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Monahans, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Around Monahans: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Southwest Sandhill (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monahans workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monahans | – | C+ | B+ | 21 min | $70,677 |
| Southwest Sandhill | 5% | C | C− | 17 min | $74,306 |
| Thorntonville | under 1% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Thorntonville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Monahans’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 Monahans: questions
What is the median household income in Monahans?
$70,677 (±$26,616) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monahans?
15.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monahans?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monahans work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Odessa (9%, 46 mi), Midland (8%, 62 mi), Southwest Sandhill (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monahans walkable?
Monahans is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monahans without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monahans, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monahans
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.