Commuting in Jay County, Indiana: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in Jay County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:25 PM
Commute Time Burden in Jay County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Jay County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 145 hours, about 6.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 18% less time on the road than the Indiana average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 3.7 minutes.
Jay County holds about 0.3% of Indiana's population but accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Jay County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,800 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)
Jay County
17.4 min
34.8 min
145 hrs/yr
$4,500
617
Indiana
21.1 min
42.2 min
176 hrs/yr
$5,455
1,308
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
17.4
minutes to get to work in
Jay County.
That's 22% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 82% of counties in Indiana
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Jay County
Car:
86.7%
Worked at Home:
7.7%
Walked:
2.3%
Other:
1.6%
Taxi:
1.1%unusually high
Public Transportation:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Jay County, versus 0.1% in Indiana.
Taking a taxi is unusually common in Jay County: 7.5 times more than the Indiana average (1.1% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Jay County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Jay 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
Other
Taxi
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
92.9%
3.8%
2.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
0.2%
2010
93.5%
3.8%
1.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
93.6%
3.0%
1.8%
0.8%
0.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
93.4%
2.9%
2.0%
1.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
93.4%
2.5%
1.9%
1.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
0.3%
2014
93.0%
2.9%
1.5%
1.4%
0.0%
0.4%
0.6%
0.2%
2015
91.9%
3.2%
2.2%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.6%
0.2%
2016
90.0%
4.6%
2.3%
1.9%
0.0%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2017
89.2%
5.9%
2.2%
1.6%
0.0%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
2018
90.2%
4.8%
2.7%
1.1%
0.4%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
2019
89.6%
5.2%
2.7%
1.1%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
2020
90.7%
5.2%
2.0%
1.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
2021
90.3%
5.5%
2.4%
0.3%
1.0%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2022
88.8%
5.7%
2.7%
1.0%
1.2%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2023
87.9%
7.3%
2.3%
1.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.2%
0.3%
2024
86.7%
7.7%
2.3%
1.6%
1.1%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2011 at 93.6%. Overall it fell from 92.9% in 2009 to 86.7% in 2024, down 6.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Jay County: its share of workers rose from 3.8% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2024, up 3.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Taking a taxi overtook public transit to become the 5th most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Jay County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Jay County?
The bars show when commuters in Jay 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 Indiana for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMJay County9.9%Indiana6.7%
9.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMJay County5.2%Indiana4.5%
5.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMJay County10.0%Indiana5.6%
10.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMJay County10.3%Indiana8.5%
10.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMJay County11.0%Indiana9.9%
11.0%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMJay County12.6%Indiana13.8%
12.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMJay County9.6%Indiana12.3%
9.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMJay County5.6%Indiana9.6%
5.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMJay County3.9%Indiana4.4%
3.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMJay County3.5%Indiana5.2%
3.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMJay County1.9%Indiana2.5%
1.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMJay County1.1%Indiana1.2%
1.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMJay County8.1%Indiana7.5%
8.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMJay County7.4%Indiana8.0%
7.4%
Jay CountyIndianaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Jay County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 12.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Indiana. Early starts are more common than in Indiana: 25.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Indiana: 38.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.7% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.9%) 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 Jay 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 Jay 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 Jay County next to Indiana 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
Jay County
Indiana
United States
2009
7:24 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:23 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:24 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:23 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:23 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:24 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:26 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:21 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:19 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:18 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:16 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:15 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:20 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:18 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:11 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:09 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Jay County were on the road by 7:09 AM, 15 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:24 AM). Across Indiana, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Jay County now leave 29 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 Jay County has moved 7 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Jay County in the whole series.
How does Jay County's commute time compare?
Metric
Jay County
Indiana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.4 min
21.1 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
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
7.7%
10.7%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.4%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Jay County is 17.4 minutes, shorter than the 21.1 minutes in Indiana.
0.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Indiana. 2.3% commute by walking, higher than the 1.9% in Indiana.
Jay County, IN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Jay County, IN is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 20,223 residents against a local median of 28,420. The measure that sets Jay County, IN apart most is work from home: 7.7%, 30% above the local median of 5.9%.
The counties themselves spread 5.7% on work from home, so Jay County, IN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Jay County, IN has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Jay County, Indiana.
Is living in Jay County, Indiana good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 145 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,500 at a typical national wage. That's 18% less than the typical Indiana commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Jay County, Indiana?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Jay County, Indiana. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Which counties in Indiana have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Indiana, the shortest average commutes are in Knox County (15.8 min), Howard County (15.9 min), Daviess County (16.3 min). The longest are in Crawford County (33.6 min), Brown County (32.6 min), Franklin County (31.9 min).