Commuting in Cerro Gordo 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, 8:29 PM
How much time do drivers in Cerro Gordo County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:29 PM
Commute Time Burden in Cerro Gordo County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Cerro Gordo County spend about 26 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 108 hours, about 4.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 23% less time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 4.0 minutes.
Cerro Gordo County holds about 1.3% of Iowa's population but accounts for roughly 1.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Cerro Gordo County would save about 43 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,342 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)
Cerro Gordo County
13.0 min
26.0 min
108 hrs/yr
$3,354
755
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
13.0
minutes to get to work in
Cerro Gordo County.
That's 42% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 85% of counties in Iowa
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Cerro Gordo County
Car:
87.7%
Worked at Home:
7.2%
Walked:
3.3%
Public Transportation:
0.8%
Other:
0.6%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Cerro Gordo County: 10.5 times less than the Iowa average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Cerro Gordo County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Cerro Gordo 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
Public Transportation
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
90.6%
4.5%
2.8%
0.9%
0.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
90.5%
4.0%
2.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
89.8%
3.8%
3.8%
1.1%
0.5%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
2012
90.4%
3.5%
3.5%
1.2%
0.4%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
90.7%
3.8%
3.1%
1.1%
0.7%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
90.6%
3.2%
3.9%
1.1%
0.6%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
90.2%
3.5%
4.1%
1.1%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
2016
90.8%
3.5%
3.3%
1.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2017
90.7%
3.4%
3.5%
0.8%
0.9%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
89.8%
3.9%
3.8%
0.7%
0.8%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2019
89.3%
5.0%
3.2%
0.5%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.4%
2020
89.6%
5.2%
2.6%
0.7%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2021
89.1%
6.5%
2.4%
0.4%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
2022
89.3%
7.0%
1.9%
0.5%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2023
88.1%
7.8%
2.3%
0.6%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
87.7%
7.2%
3.3%
0.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2016 at 90.8%. Overall it fell from 90.6% in 2009 to 87.7% in 2024, down 2.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Cerro Gordo County: its share of workers rose from 4.5% in 2009 to 7.2% in 2024, up 2.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Cerro Gordo County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Cerro Gordo County?
The bars show when commuters in Cerro Gordo 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 AMCerro Gordo County6.3%Iowa5.2%
6.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCerro Gordo County5.1%Iowa4.1%
5.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCerro Gordo County6.6%Iowa5.7%
6.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCerro Gordo County8.4%Iowa8.2%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCerro Gordo County10.4%Iowa11.2%
10.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCerro Gordo County12.8%Iowa15.1%
12.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCerro Gordo County14.4%Iowa15.6%
14.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCerro Gordo County6.7%Iowa9.1%
6.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCerro Gordo County3.0%Iowa3.6%
3.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCerro Gordo County6.6%Iowa4.4%
6.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCerro Gordo County3.5%Iowa2.3%
3.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCerro Gordo County0.7%Iowa1.1%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCerro Gordo County8.2%Iowa7.5%
8.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCerro Gordo County7.2%Iowa6.8%
7.2%
Cerro Gordo CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Cerro Gordo County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.6% across Iowa. Early starts are more common than in Iowa: 18.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Iowa: 44.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.2%) 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 Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo 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
Cerro Gordo County
Iowa
United States
2009
7:37 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:39 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:35 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:33 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:33 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:32 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:29 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:26 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:31 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Cerro Gordo County were on the road by 7:31 AM, 7 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:37 AM). The shift is sharper than across Iowa, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Cerro Gordo County now leave 7 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 Cerro Gordo County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Cerro Gordo County's commute time compare?
Metric
Cerro Gordo County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.0 min
17.0 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
7.2%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
3.3%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Cerro Gordo County is 13.0 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
0.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.7% in Iowa. 3.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Cerro Gordo County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Cerro Gordo County, IA is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 42,632 residents against a local median of 10,577. Where Cerro Gordo County, IA breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 17% below the local median of 15.7 min at 13.0 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 7.5 min on one-way commute, so Cerro Gordo County, IA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Cerro Gordo County, IA has the lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa?
Commuters here spend an estimated 108 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,354 at a typical national wage. That's 23% less than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).