Commuting in St. Clair County, Michigan: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 5:36 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in St. Clair County?
Map AI9/24/26, 5:36 PM
Commute Time Burden in St. Clair County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in St. Clair County spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 192 hours, about 8.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 8% more time on the road than the Michigan average of 21.3 minutes each way, a difference of 1.7 minutes.
St. Clair County holds about 1.6% of Michigan's population but accounts for roughly 1.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in St. Clair County would save about 77 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,378 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)
St. Clair County
23.0 min
46.0 min
192 hrs/yr
$5,944
2,274
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
23.0
minutes to get to work in
St. Clair County.
That's 3% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 82% of counties in Michigan
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in St. Clair County
Car:
88.7%
Worked at Home:
7.7%
Walked:
1.1%
Public Transportation:
1.1%
Other:
0.7%
Bicycle:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in St. Clair County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in St. Clair 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
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
94.6%
2.7%
0.4%
1.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2010
94.2%
2.7%
0.5%
1.6%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
94.2%
2.6%
0.5%
1.7%
0.3%
0.5%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
93.7%
2.8%
0.7%
1.7%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
93.7%
2.9%
0.6%
1.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
93.8%
2.9%
0.7%
1.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
93.9%
2.8%
0.6%
1.6%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
94.0%
2.6%
0.7%
1.4%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2017
94.5%
2.4%
0.6%
1.4%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
94.3%
2.6%
0.7%
1.4%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2019
94.0%
2.9%
0.7%
1.6%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
93.5%
3.5%
0.7%
1.5%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
92.4%
4.7%
0.7%
1.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
91.6%
5.7%
0.8%
1.2%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
89.8%
7.1%
0.8%
1.3%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
88.7%
7.7%
1.1%
1.1%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 94.6% in 2009 to 88.7% in 2024, down 5.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in St. Clair County: its share of workers rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2024, up 5.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in St. Clair County
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe 3rd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Michigan's 83 counties: only 38.7% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in St. Clair County?
The bars show when commuters in St. Clair 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 AMSt. Clair County7.8%Michigan5.3%
7.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMSt. Clair County6.5%Michigan3.9%
6.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMSt. Clair County6.9%Michigan5.1%
6.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMSt. Clair County10.1%Michigan8.0%
10.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMSt. Clair County8.9%Michigan9.0%
8.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMSt. Clair County11.2%Michigan13.0%
11.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMSt. Clair County9.4%Michigan12.1%
9.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMSt. Clair County9.2%Michigan10.9%
9.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMSt. Clair County3.6%Michigan5.6%
3.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMSt. Clair County4.9%Michigan6.7%
4.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMSt. Clair County2.7%Michigan3.2%
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMSt. Clair County1.2%Michigan1.6%
1.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMSt. Clair County10.4%Michigan8.5%
10.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMSt. Clair County7.2%Michigan7.1%
7.2%
St. Clair CountyMichiganSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in St. Clair County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 11.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.0% across Michigan. Early starts are more common than in Michigan: 21.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Michigan: 38.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.4%) 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 St. Clair 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 St. Clair 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 St. Clair 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
St. Clair County
Michigan
United States
2009
7:33 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:35 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:39 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:32 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:28 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:26 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:23 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:24 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:23 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:26 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in St. Clair County were on the road by 7:26 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:33 AM). Across Michigan, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in St. Clair County now leave 12 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does St. Clair County's commute time compare?
Metric
St. Clair County
Michigan
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.0 min
21.3 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
12:00 PM – 03:59 PM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
7.7%
13.5%
15.0%
Walked
1.1%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in St. Clair County is 23.0 minutes, longer than the 21.3 minutes in Michigan.
1.1% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.9% in Michigan. 1.1% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Michigan.
St. Clair County, MI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
St. Clair County, MI is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 160,218 residents against a local median of 879,566. Where St. Clair County, MI breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 42% below the local median of 13.4% at 7.7%.
The counties themselves spread 12.1% on work from home, so St. Clair County, MI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. St. Clair County, MI has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in St. Clair County, Michigan.
What is the financial impact of commuting in St. Clair County, Michigan?
Commuters here spend an estimated 192 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,944 at a typical national wage. That's 8% more than the typical Michigan commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in St. Clair County, Michigan?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in St. Clair County, Michigan. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM 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).