Photo: SD Dirk · CC BY 2.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Monroe works elsewhere
Employers in Monroe report 193 jobs, against 591 working residents. Monroe grades A− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Monroe apart on work
Monroe and Monroe trade workers both ways
Monroe is the top workplace for Monroe residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Monroe come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Monroe than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Monroe fell from 312 in 2013 to 193 in 2023, −38%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 591 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Monroe’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Monroe is better than 83% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Monroe’s grade up (1.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Monroe’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Monroe could be anywhere from B+ to A.
27% of working residents work in Monroe
Where Monroe clocks in
27% of workers
14% 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.
Goods jobs make up 38% of work in Monroe
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 312 → 193. 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 Monroe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Monroe on a workday
On a workday 581 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 183 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Monroe on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Monroe’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monroe workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 689 commuters (the 12% 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 commute from Monroe, by distance
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 Monroe, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monroe is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 779 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). 4.5% of Monroe households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Monroe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Monroe comes 390th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 388 | Utica WI | 1,375 | $114K | 5.7% | 1.4% | 1% | A− |
| 389 | Los Olivos CA | 1,038 | $143K | 3.0% | 3.8% | 12% | A− |
| 390 | Monroe WI | 1,276 | $107K | 1.8% | 1.0% | 2% | A− |
| 391 | Taos MO | 1,175 | $99K | 2.5% | 2.1% | 1% | A− |
| 392 | Adair Village OR | 1,010 | $99K | 3.6% | 4.4% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Monroe, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Next door to Monroe
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monroe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | – | A− | B− | 21 min | $106,563 |
| Jordan | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Sylvester | under 2% | A− | D | 21 min | $111,375 |
| Washington | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Clarno | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 23 min | $84,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Jordan: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Washington: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Monroe’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 Monroe: questions
What is the median household income in Monroe?
$106,563 (±$17,106) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monroe?
1.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monroe?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monroe work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monroe (27%, 4 mi), Madison (14%, 33 mi), Brodhead (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monroe walkable?
Monroe is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monroe without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monroe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monroe
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.