Work & commute · El Monte

Work & commute in El Monte, CA

Most working residents leave El Monte for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Los Angeles (15%), Industry (5%) and Pasadena (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3,659 of 40,262 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 36,603 El Monte residents head out of town to work, 3,659 work right here, and 23,271 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in El Monte.

36,603live here, work elsewhere

3,659live and work here

23,271work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where El Monte goes to work

Los Angeles22.2 mi away

15%6,162

El Monte (in town)right here

9%3,659

Industry6.1 mi away

5%1,867

Pasadena8.6 mi away

4%1,459

South El Monte2 mi away

3%1,255

Arcadia4 mi away

3%1,201

Alhambra6.2 mi away

2%743

Rosemead3.1 mi away

2%717

Monterey Park6.2 mi away

2%689

West Covina6.9 mi away

1%588

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%21,922

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far El Monte commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

47%

34%

12%

47%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

El Monte is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in El Monte are

26,930 jobs are based in El Monte. Here is what they are, next to the jobs El Monte’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in El Monte

26,930 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs El Monte residents hold

40,262 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+2%

Jobs based in El Monte, 2013 → 2023: 26,491 → 26,930. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.