Commuting in Vanderburgh 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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Is the commute in Vanderburgh County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:08 PM
Commute Time Burden in Vanderburgh County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Vanderburgh County spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 143 hours, about 5.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 19% less time on the road than the Indiana average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 4.0 minutes.
Vanderburgh County holds about 2.6% of Indiana's population but accounts for roughly 2.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Vanderburgh County would save about 57 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,767 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)
Vanderburgh County
17.1 min
34.2 min
143 hrs/yr
$4,418
2,104
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
17.1
minutes to get to work in
Vanderburgh County.
That's 24% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 86% of counties in Indiana
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 6.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Vanderburgh County
Car:
88.5%
Worked at Home:
6.7%
Walked:
2.5%
Public Transportation:
0.9%
Other:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Vanderburgh County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Vanderburgh 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
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
93.0%
2.3%
2.2%
1.3%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
2010
92.8%
2.2%
2.5%
1.3%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
92.7%
2.6%
2.2%
1.3%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
91.9%
2.7%
2.3%
1.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
2013
92.2%
2.7%
2.0%
1.7%
0.6%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
2014
92.0%
2.8%
2.1%
1.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
92.6%
2.8%
1.7%
1.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
92.7%
2.4%
2.0%
1.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
92.8%
2.4%
2.0%
1.6%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
92.9%
2.3%
2.2%
1.4%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
92.7%
2.1%
2.3%
1.6%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
92.1%
2.8%
2.5%
1.4%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
91.4%
4.0%
2.2%
1.0%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2022
90.2%
5.0%
2.7%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
89.2%
6.0%
2.6%
0.9%
0.7%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
88.5%
6.7%
2.5%
0.9%
0.8%
0.4%
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 93.0% in 2009 to 88.5% in 2024, down 4.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Vanderburgh County: its share of workers rose from 2.3% in 2009 to 6.7% in 2024, up 4.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Vanderburgh County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Vanderburgh County?
The bars show when commuters in Vanderburgh 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 AMVanderburgh County5.4%Indiana6.7%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMVanderburgh County3.8%Indiana4.5%
3.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMVanderburgh County4.9%Indiana5.6%
4.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMVanderburgh County8.6%Indiana8.5%
8.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMVanderburgh County11.6%Indiana9.9%
11.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMVanderburgh County13.4%Indiana13.8%
13.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMVanderburgh County12.4%Indiana12.3%
12.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMVanderburgh County8.6%Indiana9.6%
8.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMVanderburgh County3.9%Indiana4.4%
3.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMVanderburgh County4.8%Indiana5.2%
4.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMVanderburgh County3.2%Indiana2.5%
3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMVanderburgh County1.1%Indiana1.2%
1.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMVanderburgh County9.3%Indiana7.5%
9.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMVanderburgh County9.1%Indiana8.0%
9.1%
Vanderburgh CountyIndianaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Vanderburgh County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Indiana. Early starts are less common than in Indiana: 14.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Indiana's: 46.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.7% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.5%) 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 Vanderburgh 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 Vanderburgh 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 Vanderburgh 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
Vanderburgh County
Indiana
United States
2009
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:33 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:33 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:34 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:33 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:34 AM
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:31 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:32 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:31 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:30 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:32 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:34 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:35 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:36 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Vanderburgh County were on the road by 7:36 AM, 7 minutes later than in 2009 (7:29 AM). Across Indiana, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Vanderburgh County now leave 2 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 Vanderburgh County has moved 6 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Vanderburgh County in the whole series.
How does Vanderburgh County's commute time compare?
Metric
Vanderburgh County
Indiana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.1 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
6.7%
10.7%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.9%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Vanderburgh County is 17.1 minutes, shorter than the 21.1 minutes in Indiana.
0.9% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in Indiana. 2.5% commute by walking, higher than the 1.9% in Indiana.
Vanderburgh County, IN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Vanderburgh County, IN is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 180,116 residents against a local median of 32,996. The measure that sets Vanderburgh County, IN apart most is work from home: 6.7%, 29% above the local median of 5.2%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 17.1 min against a local median of 20.3 min, 16% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 16% below the local median it puts Vanderburgh County, IN at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 5.7% on work from home, so Vanderburgh County, IN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Vanderburgh County, IN has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
Is living in Vanderburgh County, Indiana good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 143 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,418 at a typical national wage. That's 19% less than the typical Indiana commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Vanderburgh County, Indiana?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. 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 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).