Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Work means Madison for more than half of Monona’s working residents
Monona grades A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 25.8 in Madison. 24% of workers work from home (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Monona
More than half of Monona works in Madison
2,351 working residents, 55%, have their main job in Madison, 5.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 9 times as many as work in Monona itself. The commute map ↓
Most Monona residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Monona is where the jobs are
Monona has 6,386 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Monona
24% of Monona workers work from home, against 13% across Wisconsin. Time on the road ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Monona
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Monona is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #171 of 362 in Wisconsin. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Monona could be anywhere from B to A.
The towns that send workers to Monona
Where Monona clocks in
55% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Miles to work from Monona
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.
Who leaves Monona for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,979 residents head out to work, 262 work right here, and 6,124 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Monona on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 20 minutes each way for Monona’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monona workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,455 commuters (the 24% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% 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.
The kinds of work in Monona
6,386 jobs are based in Monona.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monona, 2013 → 2023: 7,948 → 6,386. 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 Monona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Monona
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monona is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #25 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,550 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 5.8% of Monona households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Monona’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,893 U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,700, Monona comes 822nd 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 820 | Alexandria KY | 10,994 | $102K | 7.7% | 3.2% | 7% | A− |
| 821 | Pleasantville NY | 7,391 | $136K | 5.7% | 7.7% | 8% | A− |
| 822 | Monona WI | 8,664 | $88K | 9.5% | 2.5% | 6% | A− |
| 823 | San Diego Country Estates CA | 10,223 | $145K | 2.6% | 4.1% | 4% | A− |
| 824 | Lancaster NY | 9,995 | $66K | 6.7% | 1.3% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,893 | 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 Monona, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 55% of Monona
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monona workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monona | – | A− | A | 20 min | $87,773 |
| Madison | 55% | A− | A+ | 19 min | $78,050 |
| Blooming Grove | under 1% | A− | A+ | 21 min | $90,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Madison. Darker towns draw more of Monona’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 Monona: questions
What is the median household income in Monona?
$87,773 (±$10,236) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monona?
9.5%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monona?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monona work?
6% work in town.
Is Monona walkable?
Monona is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monona without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monona
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.