John C. and Barbara Steinman House · Photo: Tgkrause · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and the daily commute in Monticello
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, next to 22 for Wisconsin and 26 for the U.S. Monticello grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 2% stay in Monticello for work; outside it, Madison is the main destination (33%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Monticello: the figures worth knowing
One in three of Monticello works in Madison
185 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Madison, 25 miles away. That’s 17 times as many as work in Monticello itself. The commute map ↓
Monticello makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Monticello are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Monticello residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Monticello workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 557 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Monticello’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Monticello is better than 56% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Monticello’s grade. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.9%) is left out: Monticello’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Monticello could be anywhere from C to A−.
Where Monticello’s working residents head each day
Where Monticello clocks in
33% 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.
Monticello works in goods: 52% of its jobs
431 jobs are based in Monticello.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monticello, 2013 → 2023: 210 → 431. 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 Monticello’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Monticello: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monticello workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 573 commuters (the 8% 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.
In and out of Monticello on a workday
On a workday 545 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 419 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Monticello on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
Where in the region Monticello works
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.
Few in Monticello walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monticello is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.8% across Wisconsin, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 625 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). 3.3% of Monticello households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monticello’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Monticello is 1,210th among 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,208 | Raccoon Township IL | 1,481 | $78K | 4.3% | 1.8% | <1% | B |
| 1,209 | Moose Wilson Road WY | 1,535 | $138K | 8.7% | 2.1% | 13% | B |
| 1,210 | Monticello WI | 1,173 | $76K | 8.2% | 1.9% | 2% | B |
| 1,211 | New Holstein WI | 1,490 | $101K | 13.7% | 2.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,212 | Sheffield Township OH | 1,471 | $92K | 5.9% | 3.5% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Monticello, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Monticello and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monticello workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello | – | B | B+ | 29 min | $75,833 |
| Mount Pleasant | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Washington | under 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mount Pleasant and Washington: the same communities as the places of those names, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Monticello’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 Monticello: questions
What is the median household income in Monticello?
$75,833 (±$15,501) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monticello?
8.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monticello?
29 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monticello work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (33%, 25 mi), Fitchburg (6%, 19 mi), Verona (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monticello walkable?
Monticello is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monticello without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monticello, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monticello
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.