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Ford County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Ford County, Kansas: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 8:14 PM
Is the commute in Ford County longer than the national average?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:14 PM

Commute Time Burden in Ford County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Ford County spend about 23 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 96 hours, about 4.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 33% less time on the road than the Kansas average of 17.2 minutes each way, a difference of 5.7 minutes.

Ford County holds about 1.2% of Kansas's population but accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Ford County would save about 38 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,190 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)
Ford County 11.5 min 23.0 min 96 hrs/yr $2,975 334
Kansas 17.2 min 34.4 min 143 hrs/yr $4,448 662
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.

Commute Time Map: Kansas Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Kansas
  1. Wichita County (7.0 min)
  2. Scott County (7.1 min)
  3. Greeley County (7.2 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Kansas
  1. Linn County (31.3 min)
  2. Miami County (30.8 min)
  3. Jefferson County (30.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Ford County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 11.5 minutes to get to work in Ford County. That's 49% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 2.9% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Ford County

  • Car: 93.9%
  • Worked at Home: 2.9% unusually low
  • Walked: 1.7%
  • Other: 1.0%
  • Taxi: 0.4%
  • Bicycle: 0.1%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Ford County, versus 0.1% in Kansas.

Public transit is essentially absent in Ford County, versus 0.4% in Kansas.

Working from home is unusually rare in Ford County: 4.1 times less than the Kansas average (2.9% vs 11.8%).

Commute Mode Trends in Ford County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Ford 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 Bicycle Public Transportation Motorcycle
2009 93.6% 1.9% 2.1% 1.9% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.2%
2010 93.8% 2.4% 1.5% 1.7% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.3%
2011 94.5% 2.2% 1.8% 0.9% 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1%
2012 94.2% 2.1% 1.9% 0.9% 0.0% 0.3% 0.5% 0.2%
2013 95.0% 1.8% 1.6% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 0.4% 0.2%
2014 94.2% 1.7% 1.4% 1.9% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.1%
2015 94.1% 1.8% 1.5% 1.9% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.1%
2016 93.5% 2.1% 1.3% 2.1% 0.0% 0.3% 0.5% 0.2%
2017 94.2% 2.3% 1.1% 1.9% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%
2018 95.0% 1.9% 1.0% 1.7% 0.0% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
2019 96.3% 1.8% 0.9% 0.6% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%
2020 95.4% 2.3% 0.7% 1.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.1%
2021 95.4% 2.4% 0.8% 1.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 95.9% 2.1% 0.8% 1.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 95.7% 2.1% 0.9% 1.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 93.9% 2.9% 1.7% 1.0% 0.4% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2019 at 96.3% and lowest in 2016 at 93.5%. Overall it held roughly steady, at 93.6% in 2009 and 93.9% in 2024. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Ford County: its share of workers rose from 1.9% in 2009 to 2.9% in 2024, up 1.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 1.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Ford County

  • Sleeping InThe 2nd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Kansas's 105 counties: 29.6% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe 3rd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Kansas's 105 counties: only 39.8% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Ford County?

The bars show when commuters in Ford 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 Kansas for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM
6.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
9.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
4.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
7.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
5.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
12.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
13.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.2%
9:00-9:59 AM
2.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
0.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
17.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
7.9%

Ford County Kansas Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Ford County is 12:00-3:59 PM, when 17.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 7.0% across Kansas. Early starts are more common than in Kansas: 19.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.5% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Kansas: 39.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 52.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.6%) 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 Ford 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 Ford 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 Ford County next to Kansas 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 Ford County Kansas United States
2009 7:44 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:43 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:40 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:40 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:42 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:39 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:38 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:33 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:28 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:25 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:23 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:28 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:32 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:37 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:39 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:42 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Ford County were on the road by 7:42 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:44 AM). Kansas followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Ford County now leave 5 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 Ford County has moved 19 minutes later.

How does Ford County's commute time compare?

Metric Ford County Kansas US Average
Avg. Commute Time 11.5 min 17.2 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 2.9% 11.8% 15.0%
Walked 1.7% 2.3% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.4% 3.2%

The average commute time in Ford County is 11.5 minutes, shorter than the 17.2 minutes in Kansas.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.4% in Kansas. 1.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.3% in Kansas.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Ford County, KS Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Ford County, KS is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 34,074 residents against a local median of 2,422. Where Ford County, KS breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 40% below the local median of 4.8% at 2.9%.

The counties themselves spread 6.0% on work from home, so Ford County, KS sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Ford County, KS has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Ford County, KS 34,074 11.5 min #3/6 2.9% #6/6 7:42 AM #5/6
Hodgeman County, KS 1,652 8.8 min 4.4% 7:29 AM
Clark County, KS 1,974 11.7 min 6.3% 7:36 AM
Gray County, KS 5,701 15.7 min 4.8% 7:38 AM
Edwards County, KS 2,779 12.9 min 3.4% 7:24 AM
Kiowa County, KS 2,422 10.3 min 9.4% 7:48 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Ford County, Kansas.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Ford County, Kansas?

Commuters here spend an estimated 96 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,975 at a typical national wage. That's 33% less than the typical Kansas commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Ford County, Kansas?

Traffic peaks between 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM in Ford County, Kansas. 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.

How common is public transit use in Ford County, Kansas?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.4% in Kansas, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

Which counties in Kansas have the fastest and slowest commutes?

Among counties in Kansas, the shortest average commutes are in Wichita County (7.0 min), Scott County (7.1 min), Greeley County (7.2 min). The longest are in Linn County (31.3 min), Miami County (30.8 min), Jefferson County (30.3 min).