Commuting in Montgomery 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, 8:16 PM
How much time do drivers in Montgomery County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:16 PM
Commute Time Burden in Montgomery County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Montgomery County spend about 31 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 128 hours, about 5.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% less time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.
Montgomery County holds about 0.3% of Iowa's population and accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Montgomery County would save about 51 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,592 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)
Montgomery County
15.4 min
30.8 min
128 hrs/yr
$3,981
266
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
15.4
minutes to get to work in
Montgomery County.
That's 31% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 10.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Montgomery County
Car:
88.0%
Worked at Home:
10.0%
Walked:
1.9%
Other:
0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Montgomery County: 481443907.4 times less than the Iowa average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is essentially absent in Montgomery County, versus 0.7% in Iowa.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Montgomery County, versus 0.2% in Iowa.
Biking is unusually rare in Montgomery County: 86436212.9 times less than the Iowa average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Montgomery County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Montgomery 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
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
90.2%
3.4%
5.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
90.3%
2.9%
5.2%
1.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2011
90.0%
3.1%
5.2%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
0.5%
2012
89.4%
3.9%
5.2%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2013
89.4%
4.1%
4.9%
1.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2014
90.5%
4.1%
3.4%
1.4%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
90.3%
4.6%
3.4%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2016
88.6%
5.9%
3.4%
1.2%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2017
89.0%
4.9%
4.0%
1.1%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
90.6%
4.5%
3.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
2019
91.0%
5.1%
2.3%
0.4%
0.4%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2020
91.6%
4.6%
2.2%
0.4%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
92.1%
5.1%
2.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
90.6%
6.5%
2.1%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
89.3%
8.2%
2.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
88.0%
10.0%
1.9%
0.1%
0.0%
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 peaked in 2021 at 92.1%. Overall it fell from 90.2% in 2009 to 88.0% in 2024, down 2.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Montgomery County: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 10.0% in 2024, up 6.6 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 5.5% to 1.9% of workers (down 3.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2014 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Montgomery County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Montgomery County?
The bars show when commuters in Montgomery 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 AMMontgomery County3.3%Iowa5.2%
3.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMontgomery County8.2%Iowa4.1%
8.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMontgomery County5.4%Iowa5.7%
5.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMontgomery County9.9%Iowa8.2%
9.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMontgomery County11.2%Iowa11.2%
11.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMontgomery County15.4%Iowa15.1%
15.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMontgomery County19.6%Iowa15.6%
19.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMontgomery County9.4%Iowa9.1%
9.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMontgomery County1.3%Iowa3.6%
1.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMontgomery County4.3%Iowa4.4%
4.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMontgomery County1.5%Iowa2.3%
1.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMontgomery County0.7%Iowa1.1%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMontgomery County5.5%Iowa7.5%
5.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMontgomery County4.4%Iowa6.8%
4.4%
Montgomery CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Montgomery County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 19.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.6% across Iowa. Early starts are more common than in Iowa: 16.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Iowa: 55.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.3%) 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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
Montgomery County
Iowa
United States
2009
7:37 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:40 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:39 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:39 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:34 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:26 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:24 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:23 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:31 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:24 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Montgomery County were on the road by 7:24 AM, 13 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 Montgomery County now leave 14 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 Montgomery County has moved 6 minutes earlier.
How does Montgomery County's commute time compare?
Metric
Montgomery County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
15.4 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
10.0%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Montgomery County is 15.4 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in Iowa. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Montgomery County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Montgomery County, IA is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 10,214 residents against a local median of 14,568. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Montgomery County, IA an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 15% below the local median at 15.4 min against 18.1 min. Montgomery County, IA has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Montgomery County, Iowa.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Montgomery County, Iowa?
Commuters here spend an estimated 128 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,981 at a typical national wage. That's 9% less than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Montgomery County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Montgomery 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Montgomery 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).