The Cass County portion of Motley is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area.
U.S. Route 10 and Minnesota State Highways 64 and 210 are three of the main routes in the city.
There were 258 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 19.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.73.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,438, and the median income for a family was $29,659. Males had a median income of $24,063 versus $18,824 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,220. About 19.2% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.9% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.