Kankakee Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Kankakee, Illinois: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Kankakee: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Kankakee spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 152 hours, about 6.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 23% less time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 5.3 minutes.
Kankakee holds about 0.2% of Illinois's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Kankakee would save about 61 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,890 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kankakee | 18.3 min | 36.6 min | 152 hrs/yr | $4,726 | 1,976 |
| 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.
Kankakee Commute Map
On average, it takes 18.3 minutes to get to work in Kankakee. That's 18% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 5.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Kankakee
- Car: 88.3%
- Worked at Home: 5.2% unusually low
- Walked: 2.6%
- Public Transportation: 2.2%
- Other: 1.5%
- Bicycle: 0.1% unusually low
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
- Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Kankakee, versus 0.1% in Illinois.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Kankakee, versus 0.3% in Illinois.
Working from home is unusually rare in Kankakee: 3.1 times less than the Illinois average (5.2% vs 15.9%).
Biking is unusually rare in Kankakee: 4.2 times less than the Illinois average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in Kankakee, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Kankakee 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Public Transportation | Other | Bicycle | Taxi | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 88.8% | 3.0% | 3.5% | 3.4% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 88.6% | 3.4% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 1.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 89.5% | 3.5% | 2.7% | 3.2% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 88.2% | 4.0% | 2.6% | 3.4% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 87.8% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 3.1% | 3.3% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 87.4% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 3.5% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 85.2% | 2.6% | 3.3% | 4.5% | 4.1% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 83.1% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 5.7% | 4.8% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 85.5% | 2.3% | 2.5% | 5.3% | 4.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 87.4% | 2.7% | 1.8% | 4.7% | 3.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 85.9% | 2.7% | 1.6% | 4.9% | 4.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 87.5% | 2.2% | 1.3% | 4.7% | 3.9% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 89.8% | 2.0% | 1.4% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 88.1% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 87.6% | 4.3% | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 88.3% | 5.2% | 2.6% | 2.2% | 1.5% | 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 2021 at 89.8% and lowest in 2016 at 83.1%. Overall it fell from 88.8% in 2009 to 88.3% in 2024, down 0.5 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Kankakee: its share of workers rose from 3.0% in 2009 to 5.2% in 2024, up 2.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.4% to 2.2% of workers (down 1.2 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2018 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Kankakee
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Kankakee?
The bars show when commuters in Kankakee 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 AM
Kankakee8.3%
Illinois5.6%
|
8.3% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Kankakee5.6%
Illinois4.3%
|
5.6% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Kankakee3.8%
Illinois4.9%
|
3.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Kankakee15.0%
Illinois9.0%
|
15.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Kankakee6.7%
Illinois9.4%
|
6.7% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Kankakee12.5%
Illinois14.3%
|
12.5% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Kankakee7.0%
Illinois11.6%
|
7.0% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Kankakee8.5%
Illinois11.2%
|
8.5% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Kankakee3.6%
Illinois5.2%
|
3.6% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Kankakee5.6%
Illinois6.1%
|
5.6% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Kankakee4.4%
Illinois2.9%
|
4.4% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Kankakee0.3%
Illinois1.5%
|
0.3% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Kankakee8.5%
Illinois7.7%
|
8.5% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Kankakee10.2%
Illinois6.3%
|
10.2% |
Kankakee Illinois Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Kankakee is 6:00-6:29 AM, when 15.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 9.0% across Illinois. Early starts are more common than in Illinois: 17.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Illinois: 34.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.0%) 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 Kankakee, 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 Kankakee 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 Kankakee 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Kankakee | Illinois | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:41 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:39 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:32 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:38 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:42 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:46 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:49 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:49 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:44 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:43 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:41 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:27 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:22 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:28 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:27 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:26 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Kankakee were on the road by 7:26 AM, 16 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:41 AM). That goes against the trend across Illinois, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Kankakee now leave 12 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 Kankakee has moved 15 minutes earlier.
How does Kankakee's commute time compare?
| Metric | Kankakee | Illinois | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 18.3 min | 23.6 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 06:00 AM – 06:29 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 | 5.2% | 15.9% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 2.2% | 5.8% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Kankakee is 18.3 minutes, shorter than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
2.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 2.6% commute by walking, lower than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Kankakee, Illinois.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Kankakee, Illinois?
Commuters here spend an estimated 152 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,726 at a typical national wage. That's 23% less than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Kankakee, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM in Kankakee, 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.