Commuting in Macon 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, 8:00 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Macon County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Macon County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Macon 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 140 hours, about 5.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 29% less time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 6.9 minutes.
Macon County holds about 0.8% of Illinois's population but accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Macon County would save about 56 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,730 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)
Macon County
16.7 min
33.5 min
140 hrs/yr
$4,326
942
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
16.7
minutes to get to work in
Macon County.
That's 25% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 76% 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 8.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Macon County
Car:
87.6%
Worked at Home:
8.3%
Walked:
1.9%
Public Transportation:
0.9%unusually low
Other:
0.9%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is unusually rare in Macon County: 6.3 times less than the Illinois average (0.9% vs 5.8%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Macon County: 149.6 times less than the Illinois average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Macon County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Macon 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
93.5%
1.8%
1.9%
1.2%
1.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
93.1%
1.8%
2.1%
1.2%
1.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
93.1%
1.7%
2.2%
1.2%
1.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
93.0%
1.9%
2.2%
1.1%
1.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2013
92.6%
2.2%
2.5%
1.1%
1.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2014
92.4%
2.5%
2.4%
1.4%
1.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
92.9%
2.6%
2.0%
1.2%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2016
92.5%
3.0%
2.1%
1.3%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2017
92.5%
3.2%
1.8%
1.5%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2018
92.6%
3.2%
1.8%
1.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
93.3%
2.9%
1.7%
1.4%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2020
92.2%
4.2%
1.7%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
91.0%
5.3%
1.8%
1.2%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
90.1%
6.1%
1.9%
1.0%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
88.8%
7.5%
1.8%
0.8%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
87.6%
8.3%
1.9%
0.9%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 93.5% in 2009 to 87.6% in 2024, down 5.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Macon County: its share of workers rose from 1.8% in 2009 to 8.3% in 2024, up 6.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
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 Macon County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Macon County?
The bars show when commuters in Macon 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 AMMacon County5.9%Illinois5.6%
5.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMacon County3.6%Illinois4.3%
3.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMacon County5.1%Illinois4.9%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMacon County8.4%Illinois9.0%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMacon County10.7%Illinois9.4%
10.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMacon County14.9%Illinois14.3%
14.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMacon County17.0%Illinois11.6%
17.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMacon County9.9%Illinois11.2%
9.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMacon County4.6%Illinois5.2%
4.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMacon County4.1%Illinois6.1%
4.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMacon County2.1%Illinois2.9%
2.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMacon County0.7%Illinois1.5%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMacon County6.7%Illinois7.7%
6.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMacon County6.2%Illinois6.3%
6.2%
Macon CountyIllinoisSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Macon County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.6% across Illinois. Early starts are about as common as in Illinois: 14.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Illinois: 52.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.9%) 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 Macon 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 Macon 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 Macon 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
Macon County
Illinois
United States
2009
7:36 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:38 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:37 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:33 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:33 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:33 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Macon County were on the road by 7:33 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:36 AM). That goes against the trend across Illinois, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Macon County now leave 5 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 Macon County has moved 3 minutes earlier.
How does Macon County's commute time compare?
Metric
Macon County
Illinois
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.7 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
8.3%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.9%
5.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Macon County is 16.7 minutes, shorter than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
0.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Macon County, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Macon County, IL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 101,849 residents against a local median of 16,695. Macon County, IL sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 13% above the local median at 8.3% against 7.3%. Macon County, IL has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Macon County, Illinois.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Macon County, Illinois?
Commuters here spend an estimated 140 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,326 at a typical national wage. That's 29% less than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Macon County, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Macon 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Macon County, Illinois?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.9% 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).