Commuting in Union 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, 8:10 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Union County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Union County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Union County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 157 hours, about 6.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 20% less time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 4.8 minutes.
Union County holds about 0.1% of Illinois's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Union County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,951 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)
Union County
18.9 min
37.8 min
157 hrs/yr
$4,877
561
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
18.9
minutes to get to work in
Union County.
That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 6.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Union County
Car:
88.6%unusually high
Worked at Home:
6.2%
Public Transportation:
2.0%
Walked:
1.6%
Other:
1.4%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Driving is 20% more common in Union County than the Illinois average (88.6% vs 73.7%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Union County, versus 0.3% in Illinois.
Biking is unusually rare in Union County: 18.1 times less than the Illinois average (0.0% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in Union County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Union 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
93.7%
2.8%
0.1%
2.1%
1.1%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
94.4%
2.4%
0.0%
1.9%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
92.6%
2.6%
0.6%
2.7%
1.1%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
92.9%
2.5%
0.7%
3.2%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
93.0%
2.9%
0.6%
2.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
92.0%
5.2%
0.6%
1.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
91.3%
5.2%
0.7%
1.8%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
91.7%
4.9%
0.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
2017
91.9%
5.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.7%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
2018
92.6%
4.5%
0.5%
0.6%
0.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.3%
2019
93.3%
4.0%
0.1%
0.4%
1.0%
0.7%
0.2%
0.4%
2020
92.1%
4.9%
0.1%
0.6%
1.3%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
2021
93.1%
4.3%
0.1%
0.8%
1.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
92.5%
4.9%
0.0%
0.9%
1.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
91.2%
5.6%
0.0%
1.1%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
88.6%
6.2%
2.0%
1.6%
1.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 94.4%. Overall it fell from 93.7% in 2009 to 88.6% in 2024, down 5.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Union County: its share of workers rose from 2.8% in 2009 to 6.2% in 2024, up 3.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.1% to 1.6% of workers (down 0.5 percentage points).
Public transit overtook riding a motorcycle to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2024 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Union County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Union County?
The bars show when commuters in Union 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 AMUnion County5.5%Illinois5.6%
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMUnion County2.6%Illinois4.3%
2.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMUnion County5.1%Illinois4.9%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMUnion County7.7%Illinois9.0%
7.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMUnion County6.1%Illinois9.4%
6.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMUnion County10.9%Illinois14.3%
10.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMUnion County16.6%Illinois11.6%
16.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMUnion County20.0%Illinois11.2%
20.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMUnion County5.7%Illinois5.2%
5.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMUnion County4.8%Illinois6.1%
4.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMUnion County0.8%Illinois2.9%
0.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMUnion County0.4%Illinois1.5%
0.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMUnion County6.8%Illinois7.7%
6.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMUnion County6.8%Illinois6.3%
6.8%
Union CountyIllinoisSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Union County is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 20.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.2% across Illinois. Early starts are less common than in Illinois: 13.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Illinois: 53.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.7%) 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 Union 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 Union 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 Union 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
Union County
Illinois
United States
2009
7:38 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:48 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:51 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:57 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:58 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
8:00 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:52 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Union County were on the road by 7:52 AM, 14 minutes later than in 2009 (7:38 AM). The shift is sharper than across Illinois, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Union County now leave 14 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 Union County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Union County's commute time compare?
Metric
Union County
Illinois
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.9 min
23.6 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
6.2%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
1.6%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.0%
5.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Union County is 18.9 minutes, shorter than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
2.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 1.6% commute by walking, lower than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Union County, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Union County, IL is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 16,997 residents against a local median of 13,376. Where Union County, IL breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 30% below the local median of 8.8% at 6.2%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 18.9 min against a local median of 26.0 min, 27% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 27% below the local median it puts Union County, IL at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 6.1% on work from home, so Union County, IL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Union County, IL has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Union County, Illinois.
Is living in Union County, Illinois good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 157 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,877 at a typical national wage. That's 20% less than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Union County, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Union County, Illinois. 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.
Which counties in Illinois have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).