Commuting in Will 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, 7:37 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Will County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:37 PM
Commute Time Burden in Will County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Will County spend about 56 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 235 hours, about 9.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 20% more time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 4.6 minutes.
Will County holds about 5.5% of Illinois's population but accounts for roughly 6.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Will County would save about 94 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,918 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)
Will County
28.2 min
56.5 min
235 hrs/yr
$7,295
2,820
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
28.2
minutes to get to work in
Will County.
That's 26% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 93% of counties in Illinois
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 14.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Will County
Car:
81.0%
Worked at Home:
14.7%
Public Transportation:
2.0%
Other:
1.0%
Walked:
0.7%unusually low
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
0.1%unusually low
Walking is unusually rare in Will County: 3.7 times less than the Illinois average (0.7% vs 2.8%).
Biking is unusually rare in Will County: 5.0 times less than the Illinois average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Few people walk or bike to work in Will County: just 0.9%, 3.9 times below the Illinois average of 3.3%.
Commute Mode Trends in Will County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Will 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
Other
Walked
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
90.0%
3.6%
4.1%
0.9%
1.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
89.6%
3.9%
4.4%
0.9%
1.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
89.7%
3.8%
4.3%
1.0%
1.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
89.7%
4.0%
4.1%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
89.7%
4.0%
4.2%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
90.0%
3.9%
4.1%
1.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2015
90.1%
4.0%
3.9%
1.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
90.0%
4.2%
3.9%
0.9%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
90.2%
4.2%
3.8%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
89.9%
4.5%
3.8%
0.8%
0.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2019
89.4%
4.8%
3.9%
0.9%
0.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
87.3%
6.9%
3.7%
1.0%
0.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
85.3%
9.4%
3.2%
1.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
83.5%
11.5%
2.8%
1.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
82.0%
13.3%
2.4%
1.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
81.0%
14.7%
2.0%
1.0%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2017 at 90.2%. Overall it fell from 90.0% in 2009 to 81.0% in 2024, down 9.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Will County: its share of workers rose from 3.6% in 2009 to 14.7% in 2024, up 11.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 4.1% to 2.0% of workers (down 2.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2015 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Will County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Will County?
The bars show when commuters in Will 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 AMWill County7.2%Illinois5.6%
7.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWill County6.1%Illinois4.3%
6.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWill County6.1%Illinois4.9%
6.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWill County10.4%Illinois9.0%
10.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWill County9.5%Illinois9.4%
9.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWill County12.8%Illinois14.3%
12.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWill County9.1%Illinois11.6%
9.1%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWill County10.0%Illinois11.2%
10.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWill County4.4%Illinois5.2%
4.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWill County5.4%Illinois6.1%
5.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWill County2.9%Illinois2.9%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWill County1.4%Illinois1.5%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWill County7.6%Illinois7.7%
7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWill County7.1%Illinois6.3%
7.1%
Will CountyIllinoisSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Will County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 12.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.3% across Illinois. Early starts are more common than in Illinois: 19.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Illinois: 41.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.4%) 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 Will 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 Will 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 Will 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
Will County
Illinois
United States
2009
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:20 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:21 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:21 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:22 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:22 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:20 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:23 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:25 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Will County were on the road by 7:25 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:22 AM). The shift is sharper than across Illinois, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Will 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 Will County has moved 4 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Will County in the whole series.
How does Will County's commute time compare?
Metric
Will County
Illinois
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
28.2 min
23.6 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
06:00 AM – 06:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
14.7%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
0.7%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.0%
5.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Will County is 28.2 minutes, longer than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
2.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 0.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Will County, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Will County, IL is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 701,595 residents against a local median of 137,674. Will County, IL's one-way commute, at 28.2 min, runs 20% above the 23.6 min typical of the counties around it. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 10.6 min on one-way commute, so Will County, IL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Will County, IL has the 4th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Will County, Illinois.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Will County, Illinois?
Commuters here spend an estimated 235 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,295 at a typical national wage. That's 20% more than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Will County, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Will County, Illinois. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 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).