Commuting in Jackson County, Illinois: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 5:15 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Jackson County?
Map AI9/24/26, 5:15 PM
Commute Time Burden in Jackson County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Jackson County spend about 33 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 137 hours, about 5.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 30% less time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 7.1 minutes.
Jackson County holds about 0.4% of Illinois's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Jackson County would save about 55 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,704 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)
Jackson County
16.5 min
33.0 min
137 hrs/yr
$4,259
666
Illinois
23.6 min
47.3 min
197 hrs/yr
$6,104
1,547
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
16.5
minutes to get to work in
Jackson County.
That's 26% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 81% of counties in Illinois
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 10.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Jackson County
Car:
81.1%
Worked at Home:
10.8%
Walked:
5.1%
Bicycle:
1.0%
Public Transportation:
0.7%unusually low
Other:
0.7%
Taxi:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Jackson County: 7.8 times less than the Illinois average (0.7% vs 5.8%).
Commute Mode Trends in Jackson County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Jackson 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
85.9%
2.7%
8.0%
1.9%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
0.4%
2010
86.3%
2.5%
8.2%
1.8%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
86.1%
2.4%
8.5%
1.8%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
86.6%
2.7%
7.6%
1.5%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
85.0%
3.0%
9.0%
1.4%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.4%
2014
85.1%
3.1%
9.0%
1.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
86.4%
3.6%
6.8%
1.1%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
86.6%
4.0%
6.4%
0.8%
1.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
87.4%
3.6%
6.1%
0.7%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
2018
88.1%
3.0%
5.1%
1.0%
1.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.1%
2019
88.4%
3.5%
4.7%
1.0%
1.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
2020
87.2%
5.1%
4.6%
0.7%
1.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
2021
86.2%
5.7%
5.0%
0.5%
1.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2022
85.2%
6.6%
5.1%
0.7%
1.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
2023
82.7%
8.7%
5.4%
0.4%
1.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.2%
2024
81.1%
10.8%
5.1%
1.0%
0.7%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2019 at 88.4%. Overall it fell from 85.9% in 2009 to 81.1% in 2024, down 4.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Jackson County: its share of workers rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 10.8% in 2024, up 8.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 8.0% to 5.1% of workers (down 2.9 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 Jackson County
😴Sleeping InThe highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Illinois's 102 counties: 30.0% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Jackson County?
The bars show when commuters in Jackson 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 Illinois for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMJackson County3.5%Illinois5.6%
3.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMJackson County2.4%Illinois4.3%
2.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMJackson County4.0%Illinois4.9%
4.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMJackson County4.9%Illinois9.0%
4.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMJackson County9.3%Illinois9.4%
9.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMJackson County12.9%Illinois14.3%
12.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMJackson County17.0%Illinois11.6%
17.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMJackson County10.0%Illinois11.2%
10.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMJackson County6.0%Illinois5.2%
6.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMJackson County7.8%Illinois6.1%
7.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMJackson County4.3%Illinois2.9%
4.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMJackson County0.8%Illinois1.5%
0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMJackson County8.4%Illinois7.7%
8.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMJackson County8.7%Illinois6.3%
8.7%
Jackson CountyIllinoisSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Jackson County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.6% across Illinois. Early starts are less common than in Illinois: 10.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Illinois: 49.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (30.0%) 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 Jackson 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 Jackson 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 Jackson County next to Illinois 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
Jackson County
Illinois
United States
2009
8:04 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
8:05 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
8:05 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
8:01 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
8:03 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
8:05 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
8:01 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
8:03 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
8:03 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
8:01 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
8:01 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
8:00 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:58 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:58 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:55 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:53 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Jackson County were on the road by 7:53 AM, 11 minutes earlier than in 2009 (8:04 AM). That goes against the trend across Illinois, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Jackson County now leave 15 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 Jackson County has moved 8 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Jackson County in the whole series.
How does Jackson County's commute time compare?
Metric
Jackson County
Illinois
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.5 min
23.6 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
10.8%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
5.1%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
5.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Jackson County is 16.5 minutes, shorter than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
0.7% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 5.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Jackson County, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Jackson County, IL is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 53,061 residents against a local median of 20,638. Jackson County, IL's work from home, at 10.8%, runs 73% above the 6.2% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 4.3% on work from home, so Jackson County, IL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Jackson County, IL has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Jackson County, Illinois.
Is living in Jackson County, Illinois good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 137 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,259 at a typical national wage. That's 30% less than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Jackson County, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Jackson County, Illinois. 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.
How common is public transit use in Jackson County, Illinois?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.7% of commuters use it versus 5.8% in Illinois, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Illinois?
Among counties in Illinois, the shortest average commutes are in Edgar County (12.0 min), Brown County (12.7 min), Morgan County (13.1 min). The longest are in Calhoun County (43.8 min), Pulaski County (31.2 min), Pope County (31.0 min).