The remaining residents are dispersed throughout the county among six incorporated cities, including Monument, Long Creek, and Mt. Vernon, and four unincorporated towns. The city and surrounding area that comprise the Monument telephone exchange is a rural agricultural and logging community with little centralized business. It has but two small grocery stores, a tavern, a caf , and a mechanic shop. The area also lacks employment opportunities. Aside from independent logging and agriculture activities, jobs are limited to the local school district, forest service, and electric company.
Some local residents run part-time businesses from their homes.
Due to the lack of local services and employment opportunities, Monument exchange residents depend heavily on other communities to meet their basic needs. Long Creek, located some 18 miles east in the Long Creek exchange, is the nearest city to Monument. However, like Long Creek, Mt. Vernon can not support the professional and commercial facilities to meet the needs of the Monument exchange residents. Due to the limited services offered in Monument, Long Creek, and Mt. Vernon, almost all Monument exchange residents rely on John Day and Canyon City for professional and commercial services. These two cities, located within the John Day telephone exchange, offer a significant variety of commercial goods and professional services, as well as employment opportunities.