Monroe is a medium-sized city located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 25,953 people and seven constituent neighborhoods, Monroe is the 26th largest community in North Carolina.

Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Monroe is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 36.8% of the Monroe workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 24.7%. Overall, Monroe is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Monroe who work in office and administrative support jobs (14.06%), sales jobs (9.78%), and management occupations (8.33%).

Monroe is a very car-oriented city. This is because most people - 97.2% - drive by car to work every day, and few people choose alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit, cycling, or walking. In general, car-oriented communities have a layout that emphasizes streets, highways, and ease of parking, and sometimes this can be to the detriment of human-scale priorities such as walkability alongside roads, and public spaces. For example, strip malls are something you will find in Monroe.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Monroe use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Monroe's citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding taxis. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

Monroe Information and Demographics

The percentage of adults in Monroe who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 14.96%: 15.61% of the adults in Monroe have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Monroe in 2000 was $17,970, which is middle income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $71,880 for a family of four.

Monroe is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Monroe home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Monroe is White, followed by African-American. Monroe also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 21.93% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Monroe include English, German, Scotch-Irish, and Irish.

Monroe also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 17.55%.

The most common language spoken in Monroe is English. Some people also speak Spanish.