University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban is a graduate of Monongah High School.
Harry Rogers, a former coal miner and also the former mayor of Monongah, was born, raised, and still resides in Monongah.
As of the census of 2000, there were 939 people, 406 households, and 263 families residing in the town. The population density was 771.4/km² (1,977.0/mi²). There were 443 housing units at an average density of 363.9/km² (932.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 91.91% White, 5.64% African American, 0.11% Asian, and 2.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population.
There were 406 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,750, and the median income for a family was $33,000. Males had a median income of $25,417 versus $19,722 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,079. About 12.2% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.