Commuting in Ottawa County, Kansas: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:25 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Ottawa County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:25 PM
Commute Time Burden in Ottawa County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Ottawa County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 170 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 18% more time on the road than the Kansas average of 17.2 minutes each way, a difference of 3.1 minutes.
Ottawa County holds about 0.2% of Kansas's population and accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Ottawa County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,105 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)
Ottawa County
20.4 min
40.7 min
170 hrs/yr
$5,261
362
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.
On average, it takes
20.4
minutes to get to work in
Ottawa County.
That's 9% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 88% of counties in Kansas
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 7.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Ottawa County
Car:
87.6%
Worked at Home:
7.7%
Walked:
3.3%
Other:
0.6%
Public Transportation:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Ottawa County, versus 0.1% in Kansas.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Ottawa County, versus 0.2% in Kansas.
Commute Mode Trends in Ottawa County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Ottawa 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
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
91.0%
3.4%
4.1%
1.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2010
90.4%
4.1%
4.4%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
89.7%
5.5%
3.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.9%
2012
89.8%
5.8%
3.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
1.0%
2013
88.9%
6.6%
2.4%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
1.0%
2014
88.1%
7.2%
2.3%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.9%
2015
87.7%
7.4%
2.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.9%
2016
88.5%
7.7%
2.2%
0.9%
0.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
87.9%
7.1%
2.7%
1.3%
0.3%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
89.2%
6.5%
3.0%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2019
88.8%
6.2%
3.8%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2020
88.8%
5.9%
3.4%
0.8%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2021
87.5%
6.6%
4.0%
0.9%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2022
88.0%
6.8%
3.8%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.3%
2023
85.6%
8.9%
4.4%
0.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
87.6%
7.7%
3.3%
0.6%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share bottomed out in 2023 at 85.6%. Overall it fell from 91.0% in 2009 to 87.6% in 2024, down 3.4 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Ottawa County: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2024, up 4.3 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.1% to 3.3% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2011 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 8.9% in 2023 and has since fallen back to 7.7%.
Commute Start Times in Ottawa County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Ottawa County?
The bars show when commuters in Ottawa 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
12:00-4:59 AMOttawa County5.4%Kansas4.7%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMOttawa County6.3%Kansas3.5%
6.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMOttawa County4.3%Kansas5.2%
4.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMOttawa County6.6%Kansas7.6%
6.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMOttawa County11.3%Kansas10.3%
11.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMOttawa County16.9%Kansas14.9%
16.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMOttawa County16.5%Kansas16.8%
16.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMOttawa County10.9%Kansas10.4%
10.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMOttawa County5.8%Kansas4.5%
5.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMOttawa County5.0%Kansas5.0%
5.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMOttawa County0.6%Kansas2.5%
0.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMOttawa County0.9%Kansas1.1%
0.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMOttawa County5.0%Kansas7.0%
5.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMOttawa County4.5%Kansas6.6%
4.5%
Ottawa CountyKansasSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Ottawa County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.9% across Kansas. Early starts are more common than in Kansas: 15.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.5% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Kansas: 55.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 52.3% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.1%) 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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa 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
Ottawa County
Kansas
United States
2009
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:28 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:16 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:15 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:18 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:29 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Ottawa County were on the road by 7:29 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:31 AM). Kansas followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Ottawa County now leave 9 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 Ottawa County has moved 13 minutes later.
How does Ottawa County's commute time compare?
Metric
Ottawa County
Kansas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.4 min
17.2 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
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
7.7%
11.8%
15.0%
Walked
3.3%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
0.4%
3.2%
The average commute time in Ottawa County is 20.4 minutes, longer than the 17.2 minutes in Kansas.
0.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.4% in Kansas. 3.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in Kansas.
Ottawa County, KS Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Ottawa County, KS is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 5,819 residents against a local median of 8,898. Where Ottawa County, KS breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 22% above the local median of 16.6 min at 20.4 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 9.6 min on one-way commute, so Ottawa County, KS sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Ottawa County, KS has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Ottawa County, Kansas.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Ottawa County, Kansas?
Commuters here spend an estimated 170 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,261 at a typical national wage. That's 18% more than the typical Kansas commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Ottawa County, Kansas?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Ottawa 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 do commute times compare across counties in Kansas?
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).