Commuting in Van Buren 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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How long is the round-trip commute in Van Buren County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:58 PM
Commute Time Burden in Van Buren County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Van Buren County spend about 45 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 186 hours, about 7.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 5% more time on the road than the Michigan average of 21.3 minutes each way, a difference of 1.0 minutes.
Van Buren County holds about 0.8% of Michigan's population and accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Van Buren County would save about 74 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,304 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)
Van Buren County
22.3 min
44.6 min
186 hrs/yr
$5,760
1,249
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
22.3
minutes to get to work in
Van Buren County.
That's 1% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 72% of counties in Michigan
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 10.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Van Buren County
Car:
86.5%
Worked at Home:
10.5%
Walked:
1.9%
Other:
0.5%
Public Transportation:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Van Buren County: 15.9 times less than the Michigan average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Van Buren County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Van Buren 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
93.1%
3.5%
2.3%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
93.2%
3.7%
1.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
92.5%
4.0%
2.2%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
93.1%
3.4%
2.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
92.9%
3.5%
2.1%
0.7%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
92.4%
3.9%
2.0%
0.8%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
91.2%
3.9%
3.5%
0.7%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
91.5%
4.0%
3.3%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2017
91.8%
4.1%
2.9%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
91.9%
3.9%
2.9%
0.5%
0.2%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
91.3%
3.8%
3.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
90.5%
5.8%
2.7%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
89.8%
6.8%
2.3%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
88.7%
8.1%
2.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
87.8%
8.7%
2.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
86.5%
10.5%
1.9%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
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 2010 at 93.2%. Overall it fell from 93.1% in 2009 to 86.5% in 2024, down 6.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Van Buren County: its share of workers rose from 3.5% in 2009 to 10.5% in 2024, up 7.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking peaked at 3.7% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 1.9%.
Commute Start Times in Van Buren County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Van Buren County?
The bars show when commuters in Van Buren 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 AMVan Buren County5.4%Michigan5.3%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMVan Buren County4.2%Michigan3.9%
4.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMVan Buren County4.5%Michigan5.1%
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMVan Buren County11.0%Michigan8.0%
11.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMVan Buren County10.7%Michigan9.0%
10.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMVan Buren County16.3%Michigan13.0%
16.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMVan Buren County12.6%Michigan12.1%
12.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMVan Buren County9.5%Michigan10.9%
9.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMVan Buren County3.9%Michigan5.6%
3.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMVan Buren County4.7%Michigan6.7%
4.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMVan Buren County2.8%Michigan3.2%
2.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMVan Buren County0.8%Michigan1.6%
0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMVan Buren County7.8%Michigan8.5%
7.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMVan Buren County5.8%Michigan7.1%
5.8%
Van Buren CountyMichiganSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Van Buren County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.0% across Michigan. Early starts are about as common as in Michigan: 14.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Michigan: 49.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.0% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.9%) 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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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
Van Buren County
Michigan
United States
2009
7:31 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:28 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:29 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:29 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:30 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:32 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:32 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:30 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:29 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:27 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:30 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:28 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:28 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:26 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:26 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Van Buren County were on the road by 7:26 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:31 AM). Across Michigan, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Van Buren County now leave 12 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Van Buren County's commute time compare?
Metric
Van Buren County
Michigan
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.3 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
10.5%
13.5%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.4%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Van Buren County is 22.3 minutes, longer than the 21.3 minutes in Michigan.
0.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.9% in Michigan. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Michigan.
Van Buren County, MI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Van Buren County, MI is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 75,795 residents against a local median of 153,288. Van Buren County, MI's one-way commute, at 22.3 min, runs 20% above the 18.6 min typical of the counties around it. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 4.8 min on one-way commute, so Van Buren County, MI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Van Buren County, MI has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Van Buren County, Michigan.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Van Buren County, Michigan?
Commuters here spend an estimated 186 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,760 at a typical national wage. That's 5% more than the typical Michigan commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Van Buren County, Michigan?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Van Buren County, Michigan. 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.
Which counties in Michigan have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).