Commuting in Madison County, Indiana: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:34 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Madison County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:34 PM
Commute Time Burden in Madison County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Madison County spend about 45 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 188 hours, about 7.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% more time on the road than the Indiana average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 1.4 minutes.
Madison County holds about 1.9% of Indiana's population but accounts for roughly 2.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Madison County would save about 75 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,328 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)
Madison County
22.5 min
45.1 min
188 hrs/yr
$5,820
1,034
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
22.5
minutes to get to work in
Madison County.
That's 1% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 10.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Madison County
Car:
86.9%
Worked at Home:
10.4%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.4%
Public Transportation:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.2%unusually high
Taxi:
0.1%
Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Madison County: 3.1 times more than the Indiana average (0.2% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Madison County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Madison 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
93.3%
2.9%
2.3%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
92.9%
2.8%
2.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
92.6%
3.1%
2.8%
0.5%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2012
92.6%
2.9%
2.9%
0.7%
0.2%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
92.5%
3.0%
2.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
92.5%
3.0%
2.8%
0.9%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
92.6%
3.2%
2.3%
1.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2016
92.7%
3.3%
2.2%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
92.3%
3.7%
2.2%
1.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
92.6%
3.7%
2.3%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
92.5%
4.0%
2.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
91.6%
4.8%
1.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
90.1%
6.5%
1.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
88.4%
8.3%
1.5%
0.8%
0.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
2023
87.5%
9.5%
1.4%
0.6%
0.3%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
2024
86.9%
10.4%
1.2%
0.5%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 93.3% in 2009 to 86.9% in 2024, down 6.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Madison County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 10.4% in 2024, up 7.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.3% to 1.2% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Madison County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Madison County?
The bars show when commuters in Madison 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 AMMadison County6.9%Indiana6.7%
6.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMadison County4.4%Indiana4.5%
4.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMadison County6.2%Indiana5.6%
6.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMadison County8.5%Indiana8.5%
8.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMadison County11.1%Indiana9.9%
11.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMadison County13.0%Indiana13.8%
13.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMadison County10.7%Indiana12.3%
10.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMadison County10.4%Indiana9.6%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMadison County4.7%Indiana4.4%
4.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMadison County5.2%Indiana5.2%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMadison County2.6%Indiana2.5%
2.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMadison County1.1%Indiana1.2%
1.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMadison County7.2%Indiana7.5%
7.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMadison County8.1%Indiana8.0%
8.1%
Madison CountyIndianaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Madison County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Indiana. Early starts are about as common as in Indiana: 17.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Indiana's: 45.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.7% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.2%) 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 Madison 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 Madison 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 Madison 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
Madison County
Indiana
United States
2009
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:32 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:38 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:41 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:44 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:42 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:38 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:36 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:36 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:35 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:31 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Madison County were on the road by 7:30 AM, 1 minute later than in 2009 (7:29 AM). Across Indiana, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Madison County now leave 8 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 Madison County has moved 6 minutes earlier.
How does Madison County's commute time compare?
Metric
Madison County
Indiana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.5 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
10.4%
10.7%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Madison County is 22.5 minutes, longer than the 21.1 minutes in Indiana.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Indiana. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 1.9% in Indiana.
Madison County, IN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Madison County, IN is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 131,900 residents against a local median of 84,037. Where Madison County, IN breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 27% above the local median of 8.2% at 10.4%.
The counties themselves spread 15.5% on work from home, so Madison County, IN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Madison County, IN has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Madison County, Indiana.
Is commuting expensive in Madison County, Indiana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 188 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,820 at a typical national wage. That's 7% more than the typical Indiana commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Madison County, Indiana?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Madison 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.
How do commute times compare across counties in Indiana?
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).