Commuting in Washington 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, 8:38 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Washington County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:38 PM
Commute Time Burden in Washington County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Washington County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 151 hours, about 6.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% more time on the road than the Iowa average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.2 minutes.
Washington County holds about 0.7% of Iowa's population but accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Washington County would save about 61 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,878 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)
Washington County
18.2 min
36.3 min
151 hrs/yr
$4,695
323
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
18.2
minutes to get to work in
Washington County.
That's 19% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 9.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Washington County
Car:
85.7%
Worked at Home:
9.8%
Walked:
2.4%
Public Transportation:
1.2%
Other:
0.8%
Taxi:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Biking is essentially absent in Washington County, versus 0.3% in Iowa.
Commute Mode Trends in Washington County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Washington 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
85.6%
8.3%
4.1%
0.4%
1.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.5%
2010
85.4%
8.5%
3.7%
0.6%
1.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2011
85.9%
8.2%
3.6%
0.7%
1.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2012
86.8%
7.1%
4.0%
0.6%
1.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2013
88.4%
5.4%
3.9%
0.5%
1.2%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
2014
89.0%
4.9%
3.8%
0.5%
1.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2015
89.4%
4.0%
3.9%
0.5%
1.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2016
88.4%
4.4%
4.5%
0.5%
1.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2017
88.8%
4.9%
3.8%
0.4%
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
2018
87.8%
5.8%
3.6%
0.4%
1.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
2019
87.5%
6.4%
3.8%
0.3%
1.4%
0.0%
0.4%
0.1%
2020
87.5%
7.1%
3.5%
0.1%
1.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
87.8%
7.3%
3.0%
0.2%
1.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
88.1%
6.6%
2.8%
0.9%
1.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
87.0%
8.5%
2.5%
1.0%
0.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
85.7%
9.8%
2.4%
1.2%
0.8%
0.1%
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 2015 at 89.4% and lowest in 2010 at 85.4%. Overall it held roughly steady, at 85.6% in 2009 and 85.7% in 2024. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Washington County: its share of workers rose from 8.3% in 2009 to 9.8% in 2024, up 1.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.1% to 2.4% of workers (down 1.7 percentage points).
Public transit overtook biking to become the 4th most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Washington County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Washington County?
The bars show when commuters in Washington 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 AMWashington County3.7%Iowa5.2%
3.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWashington County7.7%Iowa4.1%
7.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWashington County4.5%Iowa5.7%
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWashington County7.9%Iowa8.2%
7.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWashington County10.3%Iowa11.2%
10.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWashington County19.4%Iowa15.1%
19.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWashington County15.9%Iowa15.6%
15.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWashington County9.1%Iowa9.1%
9.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWashington County4.9%Iowa3.6%
4.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWashington County5.8%Iowa4.4%
5.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWashington County1.2%Iowa2.3%
1.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWashington County0.5%Iowa1.1%
0.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWashington County4.9%Iowa7.5%
4.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWashington County4.4%Iowa6.8%
4.4%
Washington CountyIowaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Washington County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 19.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across Iowa. Early starts are more common than in Iowa: 15.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Iowa: 54.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.7%) 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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
Washington County
Iowa
United States
2009
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:21 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:21 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:27 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:27 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:27 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:28 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:22 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:19 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:22 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:21 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:22 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:25 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Washington County were on the road by 7:25 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:22 AM). That goes against the trend across Iowa, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Washington County now leave 13 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 Washington County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Washington County's commute time compare?
Metric
Washington County
Iowa
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.2 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
9.8%
11.3%
15.0%
Walked
2.4%
2.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.2%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Washington County is 18.2 minutes, longer than the 17.0 minutes in Iowa.
1.2% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.7% in Iowa. 2.4% commute by walking, lower than the 2.9% in Iowa.
Washington County, IA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Washington County, IA is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 22,560 residents against a local median of 15,705. Nothing separates Washington County, IA sharply from the counties around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 12% above the local median at 9.8% against 8.7%. Washington County, IA has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Washington County, Iowa.
Is living in Washington County, Iowa good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 151 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,695 at a typical national wage. That's 7% more than the typical Iowa commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Washington County, Iowa?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Washington 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 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).