Midland County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 8:30 PM

How much time do drivers in Midland County spend on the road daily?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:30 PM

Commute Time Burden in Midland County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Midland County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 157 hours, about 6.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 12% less time on the road than the Michigan average of 21.3 minutes each way, a difference of 2.5 minutes.

Midland County holds about 0.8% of Michigan's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Midland County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,944 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)
Midland County	18.8 min	37.6 min	157 hrs/yr	$4,861	1,983
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.

Commute Time Map: Michigan Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Michigan

Luce County (11.4 min)
Dickinson County (12.2 min)
Schoolcraft County (12.5 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Michigan

Lapeer County (31.3 min)
Lake County (31.1 min)
Livingston County (28.6 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Midland County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 18.8 minutes to get to work in Midland County. That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

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 12.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Midland County

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Midland County, versus 0.1% in Michigan.

Commute Mode Trends in Midland County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Midland 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	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	91.8%	4.3%	1.6%	0.9%	0.5%	0.7%	0.0%	0.3%
2010	92.2%	3.9%	1.6%	0.9%	0.4%	0.7%	0.0%	0.3%
2011	92.8%	3.4%	1.4%	0.7%	0.6%	0.8%	0.0%	0.3%
2012	92.9%	3.3%	1.4%	0.7%	0.5%	0.8%	0.0%	0.3%
2013	92.8%	3.6%	1.4%	0.7%	0.5%	0.7%	0.0%	0.2%
2014	93.3%	3.3%	1.4%	0.7%	0.6%	0.6%	0.0%	0.2%
2015	93.0%	3.3%	1.5%	0.7%	0.8%	0.5%	0.1%	0.2%
2016	93.2%	3.3%	1.3%	0.9%	0.6%	0.4%	0.1%	0.2%
2017	93.1%	3.5%	1.5%	1.0%	0.5%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%
2018	93.3%	3.3%	1.5%	1.1%	0.5%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%
2019	93.1%	3.9%	1.3%	0.9%	0.6%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
2020	91.8%	5.6%	1.0%	0.8%	0.7%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2021	89.0%	8.4%	1.3%	0.6%	0.6%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2022	88.1%	9.3%	1.3%	0.4%	0.6%	0.3%	0.0%	0.0%
2023	86.6%	10.9%	1.1%	0.4%	0.7%	0.3%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	85.4%	12.0%	1.2%	0.6%	0.6%	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 peaked in 2014 at 93.3%. Overall it fell from 91.8% in 2009 to 85.4% 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 Midland County: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 12.0% in 2024, up 7.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 8.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Commute Start Times in Midland County

Rush-Hour RegularsThe highest share of rush-hour departures among Michigan's 83 counties: 53.9% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Midland County?

The bars show when commuters in Midland 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		3.3%
5:00-5:29 AM		3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		5.0%
6:00-6:29 AM		8.8%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.4%
7:00-7:29 AM		14.7%
7:30-7:59 AM		17.2%
8:00-8:29 AM		11.7%
8:30-8:59 AM		5.0%
9:00-9:59 AM		5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.2%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM		5.3%

Midland County Michigan Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Midland County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.1% across Michigan. Early starts are less common than in Michigan: 12.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Michigan: 53.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.0% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.1%) 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 Midland 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 Midland 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 Midland 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	Midland County	Michigan	United States
2009	7:38 AM	7:44 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:38 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:39 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:38 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:39 AM	7:45 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:39 AM	7:45 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:37 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:35 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:36 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:36 AM	7:43 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:34 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:34 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:35 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:34 AM	7:43 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:35 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:37 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Midland County were on the road by 7:37 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Michigan, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Midland County now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Midland County has moved 3 minutes later.

How does Midland County's commute time compare?

Metric	Midland County	Michigan	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	18.8 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	12.0%	13.5%	15.0%
Walked	1.2%	2.0%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.6%	0.9%	3.2%

The average commute time in Midland County is 18.8 minutes, shorter than the 21.3 minutes in Michigan.

0.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.9% in Michigan. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Michigan.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Midland County, MI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Midland County, MI is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 83,757 residents against a local median of 64,565. Midland County, MI's work from home, at 12.0%, runs 39% above the 8.6% typical of the counties around it.

The counties themselves spread 2.3% on work from home, so Midland County, MI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Midland County, MI has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Midland County, MI	83,757	18.8 min #4/6	12.0% #1/6	7:37 AM #4/6
Gladwin County, MI	25,693	23.9 min	9.9%	7:30 AM
Gratiot County, MI	41,391	18.4 min	7.7%	7:29 AM
Bay County, MI	103,008	20.1 min	8.6%	7:33 AM
Saginaw County, MI	188,665	18.2 min	10.0%	7:39 AM
Isabella County, MI	64,565	15.5 min	7.8%	7:53 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Midland County, Michigan.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Midland County, Michigan?

Commuters here spend an estimated 157 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,861 at a typical national wage. That's 12% less than the typical Michigan commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Midland County, Michigan?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Midland 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.

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).