Commuting in Story County, Iowa: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in Story County spend on the road daily?
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Commute Time Burden in Story County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Story County spend about 30 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 127 hours, about 5.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 10% less time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.7 minutes.
Story County holds about 3.1% of Iowa's population but accounts for roughly 2.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Story County would save about 51 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,575 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)
Story County
15.2 min
30.5 min
127 hrs/yr
$3,938
625
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
15.2
minutes to get to work in
Story County.
That's 32% 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 11.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Story County
Car:
75.2%
Worked at Home:
11.8%
Walked:
7.3%
Public Transportation:
3.9%unusually high
Bicycle:
1.2%unusually high
Other:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is unusually common in Story County: 5.6 times more than the Iowa average (3.9% vs 0.7%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Story County, versus 0.2% in Iowa.
Biking is unusually common in Story County: 3.6 times more than the Iowa average (1.2% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Story County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Story 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
Bicycle
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
81.4%
2.6%
8.6%
5.3%
1.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2010
81.3%
2.6%
7.9%
5.6%
1.8%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
2011
81.1%
2.4%
7.8%
6.1%
1.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
2012
80.9%
2.9%
7.7%
5.9%
1.8%
0.3%
0.2%
0.4%
2013
81.1%
2.9%
7.4%
5.9%
1.9%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
2014
80.7%
3.5%
6.9%
6.2%
2.0%
0.3%
0.1%
0.3%
2015
79.9%
3.8%
7.4%
6.2%
2.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
79.3%
4.7%
7.5%
5.7%
2.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.3%
2017
79.0%
5.0%
7.3%
5.7%
2.4%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2018
78.0%
5.4%
7.2%
6.5%
2.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.3%
2019
79.8%
4.9%
6.4%
6.3%
2.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2020
78.4%
7.2%
6.5%
5.5%
1.9%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
76.9%
9.4%
6.4%
5.0%
1.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
77.2%
10.0%
6.4%
4.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
77.8%
10.9%
5.7%
4.0%
1.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
75.2%
11.8%
7.3%
3.9%
1.2%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 81.4% in 2009 to 75.2% in 2024, down 6.2 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Story County: its share of workers rose from 2.6% in 2009 to 11.8% in 2024, up 9.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 5.3% to 3.9% of workers (down 1.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Story County
🦉Night OwlThe latest start among Iowa's 99 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:59 AM.
😴Sleeping InThe highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Iowa's 99 counties: 32.6% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Story County?
The bars show when commuters in Story 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 AMStory County2.9%Iowa5.2%
2.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMStory County1.8%Iowa4.1%
1.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMStory County3.1%Iowa5.7%
3.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMStory County4.6%Iowa8.2%
4.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMStory County8.8%Iowa11.2%
8.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMStory County13.2%Iowa15.1%
13.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMStory County15.9%Iowa15.6%
15.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMStory County11.8%Iowa9.1%
11.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMStory County5.2%Iowa3.6%
5.2%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMStory County7.3%Iowa4.4%
7.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMStory County4.0%Iowa2.3%
4.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMStory County2.3%Iowa1.1%
2.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMStory County10.8%Iowa7.5%
10.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMStory County8.1%Iowa6.8%
8.1%
Story CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Story County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.6% across Iowa. Early starts are less common than in Iowa: 7.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Iowa's: 49.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (32.6%) 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 Story 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 Story 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 Story 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
Story County
Iowa
United States
2009
8:00 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:56 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:55 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:53 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:51 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:49 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:48 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:52 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:51 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:50 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:50 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:53 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:52 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:55 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:55 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:59 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Story County were on the road by 7:59 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Iowa, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Story County now leave 21 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Story County has moved 9 minutes later.
How does Story County's commute time compare?
Metric
Story County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
15.2 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
11.8%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
7.3%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
3.9%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Story County is 15.2 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
3.9% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.7% in Iowa. 7.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Story County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Story County, IA is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 100,466 residents against a local median of 26,668. Story County, IA's work from home, at 11.8%, runs 32% above the 9.0% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 9.6% on work from home, so Story County, IA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Story County, IA has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Story County, Iowa.
Is commuting expensive in Story County, Iowa?
Commuters here spend an estimated 127 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,938 at a typical national wage. That's 10% less than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Story County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Story 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 Story County, Iowa?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 3.9% of commuters use it versus 0.7% in Iowa, making it a realistic option for many 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).