Commuting in Cedar County, Iowa: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 3:44 PM
Is the commute in Cedar County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 3:44 PM
Commute Time Burden in Cedar County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Cedar County spend about 48 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 200 hours, about 8.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 41% more time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 7.0 minutes.
Cedar County holds about 0.6% of Iowa's population but accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Cedar County would save about 80 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,478 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Area
One-Way Commute
Daily Round-Trip
Yearly Time Spent
Estimated Yearly Cost
Local Road Traffic (VPD)
Cedar County
24.0 min
48.0 min
200 hrs/yr
$6,195
729
Iowa
17.0 min
33.9 min
141 hrs/yr
$4,382
606
United States
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,790
1,355
The estimated yearly cost applies a single national rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area - treat it
as a rough estimate, not a paycheck figure. Local road traffic counts, vehicles per day
on non-highway roads, come from proprietary
Ticon and
TrafficZoom data.
On average, it takes
24.0
minutes to get to work in
Cedar County.
That's 7% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 94% of counties in Iowa
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Cedar County
Car:
84.1%
Worked at Home:
12.1%
Walked:
1.9%
Other:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Public Transportation:
0.2%unusually low
Taxi:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Cedar County: 4.2 times less than the Iowa average (0.2% vs 0.7%).
Commute Mode Trends in Cedar County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Cedar County get to work, as a share of all workers aged 16 and over, across 16 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) releases from 2009 to 2024. Each release is a 5-year estimate: the 2024 figures cover surveys taken from 2020 to 2024. Because neighboring releases share most of their survey years, the lines move gradually, and a sudden change such as the rise of remote work in 2020 spreads across several releases. Hover over or tap a line to highlight it, and use the legend to show or hide a mode. Driving starts hidden so the smaller modes stay readable.
Share of workers aged 16 and over, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show commute mode data by year
Year
Car
Worked at Home
Walked
Other
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
91.2%
4.6%
3.0%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
92.0%
4.6%
2.5%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
91.1%
5.3%
2.8%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
91.7%
4.7%
2.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
90.8%
5.1%
3.0%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2014
90.3%
5.8%
2.7%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2015
89.7%
6.5%
2.5%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
89.4%
6.4%
2.7%
0.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
88.7%
7.2%
2.2%
1.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
88.3%
7.9%
2.4%
0.7%
0.2%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
89.2%
7.2%
2.2%
0.9%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
88.3%
8.1%
2.1%
1.0%
0.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
88.6%
8.2%
1.9%
0.8%
0.0%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
87.8%
8.9%
2.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
87.0%
10.1%
1.8%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
84.1%
12.1%
1.9%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 92.0%. Overall it fell from 91.2% in 2009 to 84.1% in 2024, down 7.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Cedar County: its share of workers rose from 4.6% in 2009 to 12.1% in 2024, up 7.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.0% to 1.9% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Cedar County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Cedar County?
The bars show when commuters in Cedar County leave home for work, as a share of everyone who commutes (people who work from home are not counted), from the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. The thin violet marks show Iowa for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMCedar County4.4%Iowa5.2%
4.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCedar County4.7%Iowa4.1%
4.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCedar County6.6%Iowa5.7%
6.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCedar County10.1%Iowa8.2%
10.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCedar County17.3%Iowa11.2%
17.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCedar County17.6%Iowa15.1%
17.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCedar County12.8%Iowa15.6%
12.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCedar County7.0%Iowa9.1%
7.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCedar County2.4%Iowa3.6%
2.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCedar County4.6%Iowa4.4%
4.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCedar County1.2%Iowa2.3%
1.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCedar County0.7%Iowa1.1%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCedar County4.0%Iowa7.5%
4.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCedar County6.8%Iowa6.8%
6.8%
Cedar CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Cedar County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across Iowa. Early starts are about as common as in Iowa: 15.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Iowa: 54.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (17.3%) leave at 9 AM or later, which usually points to shift work, flexible hours or part-time jobs.
When people leave matters as much as how far they go. Rush-hour traffic shrinks how much ground a 20-minute trip covers, so a trade area drawn as a simple circle often takes in neighborhoods that customers or staff would never drive from and misses others that are an easy trip. A drive-time zone, also called an isochrone, outlines every place within a set number of minutes of an address, which makes it the more honest way to size a store's catchment, a hiring area or the commute from a new home.
See it for yourself on the interactive map: click any spot in Cedar County, pick a 5, 10, 15 or 30-minute drive and see the local demographics of the people who live within that exact drive time.
Is Cedar County Waking Up Earlier? Typical Departure Time, 2009-2024
Each line follows the typical (median) departure time: the moment by which half of commuters have already left home. Higher on the chart means a later start. Setting Cedar County next to Iowa and the U.S. shows whether local mornings are drifting earlier or later than everyone else's. The figures span 16 ACS 5-year releases, so changes build up gradually rather than jumping from one year to the next.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Cedar County
Iowa
United States
2009
7:17 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:13 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:11 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:13 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:14 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:18 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:20 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:19 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:17 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:14 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:09 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:13 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:14 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:13 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:12 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Cedar County were on the road by 7:12 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:17 AM). Iowa followed the same path, with the typical start moving 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Cedar County now leave 26 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Cedar County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Cedar County's commute time compare?
Metric
Cedar County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
24.0 min
17.0 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.1%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Cedar County is 24.0 minutes, longer than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in Iowa. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Cedar County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Cedar County, IA is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 18,349 residents against a local median of 156,634. The measure that sets Cedar County, IA apart most is one-way commute: 24.0 min, 38% above the local median of 17.3 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 6.1 min on one-way commute, so Cedar County, IA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Cedar County, IA has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Cedar County, Iowa.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Cedar County, Iowa?
Commuters here spend an estimated 200 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,195 at a typical national wage. That's 41% more than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Cedar County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Cedar County, Iowa. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Cedar County, Iowa?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 0.7% in Iowa, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Iowa?
Among counties in Iowa, the shortest average commutes are in Sioux County (10.1 min), Union County (10.4 min), Cass County (10.6 min). The longest are in Monroe County (30.4 min), Madison County (30.1 min), Mills County (26.7 min).