Work & commute · Monroe

Work & commute in Monroe, IA

Most working residents leave Monroe for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Newton (16%), Des Moines (14%) and Pella (7%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27 of 912 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 885 Monroe residents head out of town to work, 27 work right here, and 265 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Monroe.

885live here, work elsewhere

27live and work here

265work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Monroe goes to work

Newton12.7 mi away

16%145

Des Moines26.5 mi away

14%125

Pella12.5 mi away

7%65

West Des Moines35.1 mi away

4%34

Ankeny29.6 mi away

4%32

Monroe (in town)right here

3%27

Knoxville13.9 mi away

3%27

Ames44 mi away

3%24

Altoona21.5 mi away

2%22

Urbandale35.9 mi away

2%21

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%390

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

How far

How far Monroe commutes

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

45%

34%

12%

9%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

34%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Monroe is a commuter town

0.32jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Monroe are

292 jobs are based in Monroe. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Monroe’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Monroe

292 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less29%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Monroe residents hold

912 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−2%

Jobs based in Monroe, 2013 → 2023: 297 → 292. 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.