Commuting in Minnesota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 11:43 AM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Minnesota?
Map AI9/24/26, 11:43 AM
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 169 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% less time on the road than the US average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 2.1 minutes.
Minnesota holds about 1.7% of US's population but accounts for roughly 1.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Minnesota would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,100 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
20.3 min
40.6 min
169 hrs/yr
$5,249
854
US
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
20.3
minutes to get to work in
Minnesota.
That's 9% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 71% of states in US
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 17.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Minnesota
Car:
76.4%
Worked at Home:
17.6%
Walked:
2.5%
Public Transportation:
1.8%
Other:
0.9%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Minnesota, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Minnesota 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
87.2%
4.9%
3.1%
3.3%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
87.0%
5.0%
3.0%
3.4%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
86.9%
5.1%
2.9%
3.5%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
87.0%
5.1%
2.8%
3.5%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
87.0%
5.1%
2.8%
3.4%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2014
86.9%
5.2%
2.8%
3.5%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2015
86.8%
5.2%
2.8%
3.5%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2016
86.7%
5.3%
2.8%
3.5%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
86.5%
5.5%
2.7%
3.6%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2018
86.4%
5.7%
2.7%
3.6%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
86.2%
5.9%
2.7%
3.5%
0.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
84.1%
8.6%
2.6%
3.2%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
81.6%
11.4%
2.6%
2.8%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
79.7%
13.6%
2.6%
2.5%
0.8%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
77.9%
15.9%
2.5%
2.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
76.4%
17.6%
2.5%
1.8%
0.9%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 87.2% in 2009 to 76.4% in 2024, down 10.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 11 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Minnesota: its share of workers rose from 4.9% in 2009 to 17.6% in 2024, up 12.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.3% to 1.8% of workers (down 1.5 percentage points).
Walking overtook public transit to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Minnesota
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Minnesota?
The bars show when commuters in Minnesota 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 the U.S. for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMMinnesota5.0%The U.S.5.5%
5.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMinnesota3.8%The U.S.4.0%
3.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMinnesota5.2%The U.S.4.9%
5.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMinnesota8.4%The U.S.8.7%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMinnesota10.2%The U.S.9.4%
10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMinnesota14.8%The U.S.14.4%
14.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMinnesota13.8%The U.S.11.9%
13.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMinnesota10.4%The U.S.11.5%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMinnesota4.7%The U.S.5.5%
4.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMinnesota5.8%The U.S.6.8%
5.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMinnesota2.7%The U.S.3.1%
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMinnesota1.3%The U.S.1.5%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMinnesota8.2%The U.S.6.8%
8.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMinnesota5.8%The U.S.6.1%
5.8%
MinnesotaThe U.S.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Minnesota is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.4% across the U.S.. Early starts are about as common as in the U.S.: 14.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in the U.S.: 49.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.7%) 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 Minnesota, 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota next to 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
Minnesota
United States
2009
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Minnesota were on the road by 7:36 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Commuters in Minnesota now leave 2 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Minnesota has moved 2 minutes later.
How does Minnesota's commute time compare?
Metric
Minnesota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.3 min
22.4 min
Work From Home
17.6%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Minnesota is 20.3 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in US.
1.8% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.2% in US. 2.5% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in US.
Minnesota is the 2nd largest of the 6 states compared here, 5,724,000 residents against a local median of 1,978,686. The measure that sets Minnesota apart most is work from home: 17.6%, 59% above the local median of 11.1%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.3 min against a local median of 17.0 min, 20% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 20% above the local median it puts Minnesota at the weaker end of the local range. The states themselves spread 5.0% on work from home, so Minnesota sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Minnesota has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Is living in Minnesota good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 169 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,249 at a typical national wage. That's 9% 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 Brown County (10.6 min), Pennington County (10.8 min), Cottonwood County (10.9 min). The longest are in Chisago County (30.9 min), Wright County (28.8 min), Sherburne County (28.8 min).