Commuting in Mackinac County, Michigan: 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 Mackinac County longer than the national average?
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Commute Time Burden in Mackinac County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Mackinac County spend about 31 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 130 hours, about 5.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 27% less time on the road than the Michigan average of 21.3 minutes each way, a difference of 5.7 minutes.
Mackinac County holds about 0.1% of Michigan's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Mackinac County would save about 52 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,612 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)
Mackinac County
15.6 min
31.2 min
130 hrs/yr
$4,030
532
Michigan
21.3 min
42.6 min
178 hrs/yr
$5,509
1,585
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
15.6
minutes to get to work in
Mackinac County.
That's 30% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 85% of counties in Michigan
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 10.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Mackinac County
Car:
72.3%
Worked at Home:
10.5%
Public Transportation:
7.5%unusually high
Walked:
4.6%
Bicycle:
4.1%unusually high
Other:
0.7%
Taxi:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Mackinac County, versus 0.1% in Michigan.
Public transit is unusually common in Mackinac County: 8.0 times more than the Michigan average (7.5% vs 0.9%).
Biking is unusually common in Mackinac County: 12.1 times more than the Michigan average (4.1% vs 0.3%).
Mackinac County stands out for active commuting: 8.7% of workers walk or bike to work, 3.7 times the Michigan average of 2.3%.
Commute Mode Trends in Mackinac County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Mackinac 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Bicycle
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
76.2%
11.5%
3.4%
4.8%
2.9%
1.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2010
77.9%
9.1%
2.6%
5.5%
3.6%
1.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
83.4%
5.2%
1.4%
5.6%
3.0%
1.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2012
85.8%
3.9%
1.6%
4.7%
2.5%
1.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
83.1%
4.2%
2.3%
4.3%
3.7%
2.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
81.3%
4.8%
2.0%
5.6%
4.3%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
2015
79.3%
5.3%
1.7%
7.1%
4.5%
2.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2016
77.9%
5.4%
2.8%
6.8%
4.7%
2.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2017
75.4%
6.8%
2.4%
7.1%
5.9%
2.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
75.2%
6.9%
1.2%
7.5%
7.9%
1.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
73.7%
5.9%
1.3%
8.8%
8.7%
1.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
74.4%
7.3%
1.7%
6.7%
8.6%
1.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
72.1%
8.6%
1.1%
8.7%
8.4%
1.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
70.7%
8.7%
5.3%
6.7%
7.3%
1.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
73.1%
9.5%
7.6%
5.2%
2.9%
1.3%
0.3%
0.0%
2024
72.3%
10.5%
7.5%
4.6%
4.1%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2012 at 85.8% and lowest in 2022 at 70.7%. Overall it fell from 76.2% in 2009 to 72.3% in 2024, down 3.9 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Public transit gained the most ground in Mackinac County: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 7.5% in 2024, up 4.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 11.5% to 10.5% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Public transit overtook walking to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.
Biking peaked at 8.7% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 4.1%.
Commute Start Times in Mackinac County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Mackinac County?
The bars show when commuters in Mackinac 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 Michigan for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMMackinac County3.0%Michigan5.3%
3.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMackinac County2.6%Michigan3.9%
2.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMackinac County2.3%Michigan5.1%
2.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMackinac County7.0%Michigan8.0%
7.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMackinac County7.4%Michigan9.0%
7.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMackinac County12.6%Michigan13.0%
12.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMackinac County21.2%Michigan12.1%
21.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMackinac County10.7%Michigan10.9%
10.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMackinac County8.7%Michigan5.6%
8.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMackinac County7.6%Michigan6.7%
7.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMackinac County3.6%Michigan3.2%
3.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMackinac County0.5%Michigan1.6%
0.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMackinac County8.3%Michigan8.5%
8.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMackinac County4.6%Michigan7.1%
4.6%
Mackinac CountyMichiganSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Mackinac County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 21.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.1% across Michigan. Early starts are less common than in Michigan: 7.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Michigan: 51.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.5%) 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 Mackinac 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 Mackinac 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 Mackinac County next to Michigan 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
Mackinac County
Michigan
United States
2009
7:51 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:48 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:47 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:51 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:49 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:49 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:51 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:46 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:45 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:45 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:46 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:46 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:49 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:51 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:49 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:51 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Mackinac County were on the road by 7:51 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Michigan, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Mackinac County now leave 14 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 Mackinac County has moved 6 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Mackinac County in the whole series.
How does Mackinac County's commute time compare?
Metric
Mackinac County
Michigan
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
15.6 min
21.3 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
10.5%
13.5%
15.0%
Walked
4.6%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
7.5%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Mackinac County is 15.6 minutes, shorter than the 21.3 minutes in Michigan.
7.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.9% in Michigan. 4.6% commute by walking, higher than the 2.0% in Michigan.
Mackinac County, MI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Mackinac County, MI is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 10,957 residents against a local median of 26,108. Nothing separates Mackinac County, MI sharply from the counties around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 10% below the local median at 15.6 min against 17.3 min. Mackinac County, MI has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Mackinac County, Michigan.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Mackinac County, Michigan?
Commuters here spend an estimated 130 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,030 at a typical national wage. That's 27% less than the typical Michigan commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Mackinac County, Michigan?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Mackinac County, Michigan. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Mackinac County, Michigan?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 7.5% of commuters use it versus 0.9% in Michigan, making it a realistic option for many workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Michigan?
Among counties in Michigan, the shortest average commutes are in Luce County (11.4 min), Dickinson County (12.2 min), Schoolcraft County (12.5 min). The longest are in Lapeer County (31.3 min), Lake County (31.1 min), Livingston County (28.6 min).