Commuting in Ida 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, 8:40 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Ida County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:40 PM
Commute Time Burden in Ida County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Ida County spend about 24 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 98 hours, about 4.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 31% less time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 5.2 minutes.
Ida County holds about 0.2% of Iowa's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Ida County would save about 39 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,218 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)
Ida County
11.8 min
23.6 min
98 hrs/yr
$3,044
223
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
11.8
minutes to get to work in
Ida County.
That's 47% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 94% of counties in Iowa
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 9.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Ida County
Car:
87.6%
Worked at Home:
9.7%
Walked:
2.2%
Other:
0.3%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Ida County, versus 0.1% in Iowa.
Public transit is essentially absent in Ida County, versus 0.7% in Iowa.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Ida County, versus 0.2% in Iowa.
Commute Mode Trends in Ida County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Ida 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
88.6%
7.1%
3.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
88.0%
6.1%
3.4%
0.8%
0.3%
1.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
87.2%
7.1%
4.0%
0.5%
0.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
2012
86.3%
6.5%
4.7%
0.3%
0.5%
1.2%
0.0%
0.4%
2013
86.1%
7.0%
4.6%
0.4%
0.5%
1.0%
0.0%
0.4%
2014
85.4%
7.3%
4.4%
0.8%
0.6%
1.0%
0.0%
0.4%
2015
86.3%
7.2%
4.4%
0.7%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
88.4%
5.6%
3.9%
0.7%
0.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.4%
2017
88.9%
5.6%
4.3%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
88.6%
5.6%
4.3%
1.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
89.1%
6.0%
4.2%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2020
86.9%
9.6%
2.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
87.6%
9.1%
2.2%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
2022
87.0%
9.3%
2.7%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
87.1%
9.7%
2.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
87.6%
9.7%
2.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2019 at 89.1% and lowest in 2014 at 85.4%. Overall it fell from 88.6% in 2009 to 87.6% in 2024, down 1.0 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Ida County: its share of workers rose from 7.1% in 2009 to 9.7% in 2024, up 2.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.1% to 2.2% of workers (down 0.9 percentage points).
Public transit peaked at 1.2% in 2010 and has since fallen back to 0.0%.
Commute Start Times in Ida County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Ida County?
The bars show when commuters in Ida 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 AMIda County5.2%Iowa5.2%
5.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMIda County6.9%Iowa4.1%
6.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMIda County10.7%Iowa5.7%
10.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMIda County9.8%Iowa8.2%
9.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMIda County10.1%Iowa11.2%
10.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMIda County15.8%Iowa15.1%
15.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMIda County12.2%Iowa15.6%
12.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMIda County8.1%Iowa9.1%
8.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMIda County3.4%Iowa3.6%
3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMIda County2.7%Iowa4.4%
2.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMIda County4.6%Iowa2.3%
4.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMIda County0.3%Iowa1.1%
0.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMIda County4.6%Iowa7.5%
4.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMIda County5.6%Iowa6.8%
5.6%
Ida CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Ida County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across Iowa. Early starts are more common than in Iowa: 22.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Iowa: 46.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (17.8%) 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 Ida 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 Ida 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 Ida 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
Ida County
Iowa
United States
2009
7:25 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:23 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:24 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:26 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:25 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:21 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:26 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:25 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:25 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:24 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:20 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:13 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:12 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:16 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:14 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Ida County were on the road by 7:14 AM, 11 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:25 AM). The shift is sharper than across Iowa, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Ida County now leave 24 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 Ida County has moved 10 minutes earlier.
How does Ida County's commute time compare?
Metric
Ida County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
11.8 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
9.7%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
2.2%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Ida County is 11.8 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in Iowa. 2.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Ida County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Ida County, IA is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 6,911 residents against a local median of 16,277. The measure that sets Ida County, IA apart most is work from home: 9.7%, 75% above the local median of 5.6%.
The counties themselves spread 3.9% on work from home, so Ida County, IA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Ida County, IA has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Ida County, Iowa.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Ida County, Iowa?
Commuters here spend an estimated 98 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,044 at a typical national wage. That's 31% less than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Ida County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Ida County, Iowa. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Ida County, Iowa?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% 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).