Minnesota Commute Time Map & Patterns

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You 8/20/26, 6:06 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Minnesota?
Map AI 8/20/26, 6:06 PM

Commute Time Burden in Minnesota: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Minnesota spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 172 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting.

That is 8% less time on the road than the US average of 22.5 minutes each way, a difference of 1.9 minutes.

Minnesota holds about 1.7% of US's population but accounts for roughly 1.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Minnesota would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,129 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)
Minnesota 20.6 min 41.2 min 172 hrs/yr $5,323 854
US 22.5 min 44.9 min 187 hrs/yr $5,803 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: Minnesota Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Minnesota
  1. Cook County (10.7 min)
  2. Pennington County (10.9 min)
  3. Brown County (10.9 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Minnesota
  1. Chisago County (30.7 min)
  2. Wright County (30.3 min)
  3. Sherburne County (30.2 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

On average, it takes 20.6 minutes to get to work in Minnesota. That's 8% shorter than the 22.5-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM , followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM .

Most people travel to work by Car , followed by Worked at Home . About 15.9% work from home.

Commute mode distribution

  • Car: 77.9%
  • Worked at Home: 15.9%
  • Walked: 2.5%
  • Public Transportation: 2.1%
  • Other: 0.9%
  • Bicycle: 0.5%
  • Taxi: 0.2%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1%

How does Minnesota's commute time compare?

Metric Minnesota US Average
Avg. Commute Time 20.6 min 22.5 min
Work From Home 15.9% 13.4%
Walked 2.5% 2.4%
Public Transit 2.1% 3.5%

The average commute time in Minnesota is 20.6 minutes, shorter than the 22.5 minutes in US.

2.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.5% in US. 2.5% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in US.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Minnesota.

Is living in Minnesota good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,323 at a typical national wage. That's 8% less than the typical US commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Minnesota?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Minnesota. 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 Minnesota have the fastest and slowest commutes?

Among counties in Minnesota, the shortest average commutes are in Cook County (10.7 min), Pennington County (10.9 min), Brown County (10.9 min). The longest are in Chisago County (30.7 min), Wright County (30.3 min), Sherburne County (30.2 min).