Richmond National Cemetery · Photo: Jmurden · CC BY-SA 3.0Montrose has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For jobs and income Montrose is better than 37% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). Employers in Montrose report 1,347 jobs; 3,626 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Montrose and work: the main findings
Montrose and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Montrose residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Montrose come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Montrose are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Montrose
54% of Montrose residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 32% of the jobs based in Montrose pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Montrose pay little
29% of the jobs based in Montrose pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
The four measures behind Montrose’s grade
Job access by car holds Montrose’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($49,550, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Montrose could be anywhere from C− to B.
25% of working residents work in Richmond
Where Montrose clocks in
25% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
Time on the road from Montrose: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montrose workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,063 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% 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.
What Montrose’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montrose, 2013 → 2023: 1,363 → 1,347. 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 Montrose’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Montrose, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,584 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 1,305 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Montrose on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
Half of Montrose commutes less than 9 miles
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.
Driving is how Montrose gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,342 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 12.3% of Montrose households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Montrose’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Montrose ranks: 2,117th of 3,012 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,200
| # | 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 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 6 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,115 | Wahpeton ND | 8,141 | $63K | 15.6% | 1.7% | 39% | C+ |
| 2,116 | Fort Stockton TX | 8,027 | $85K | 21.0% | 2.2% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,117 | Montrose VA | 8,285 | $50K | 19.9% | 4.2% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,118 | Eagle Lake FL | 6,415 | $71K | 9.5% | 8.8% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,119 | Salem IL | 7,035 | $60K | 16.3% | 2.4% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | 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 Montrose, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door is work for 29% of Montrose
The biggest share goes to Richmond (25%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Montrose’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 Montrose: questions
What is the median household income in Montrose?
$49,550 (±$12,922) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montrose?
19.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montrose?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montrose work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (25%, 6 mi), Mechanicsville (4%, 8 mi), Sandston (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montrose walkable?
Montrose is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montrose without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montrose, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montrose
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.