Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMaking a living in Montvale
Only 2% work in Montvale itself; outside it, Roanoke draws the most (26%, 15 miles). The average commute takes 49 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). There are 146 jobs in Montvale, against 250 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Montvale: the figures worth knowing
About 49 minutes to work from Montvale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montvale workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 210 commuters (the 20% 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.
Montvale on a workday afternoon
On a workday 246 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 142 people come in from elsewhere.
About 250 people are in Montvale on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Commuting out of Montvale: the destinations
Where Montvale clocks in
26% of workers
8% 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 Montvale: what the 146 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montvale, 2013 → 2023: 199 → 146. 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 Montvale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Montvale to work
About 21% 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.
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 Montvale: questions
What is the poverty rate in Montvale?
15.4%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montvale?
49 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montvale work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roanoke (26%, 15 mi), Salem (8%, 19 mi), Bedford (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Montvale 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 Montvale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montvale
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.