Minneapolis Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 4:07 PM

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

Map AI 9/24/26, 4:07 PM

Commute Time Burden in Minneapolis: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Minneapolis 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 2% more time on the road than the Minnesota average of 20.3 minutes each way, a difference of 0.4 minutes.

Minneapolis holds about 7.4% of Minnesota's population but accounts for roughly 7.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Minneapolis would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,139 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)
Minneapolis	20.7 min	41.4 min	172 hrs/yr	$5,346	3,069
Minnesota	20.3 min	40.6 min	169 hrs/yr	$5,249	854
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.

Minneapolis Commute Map

On average, it takes 20.7 minutes to get to work in Minneapolis. That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 26.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Minneapolis

Driving is 24% less common in Minneapolis than the Minnesota average (57.7% vs 76.4%).

Public transit is unusually common in Minneapolis: 3.9 times more than the Minnesota average (6.8% vs 1.8%).

Biking is unusually common in Minneapolis: 4.3 times more than the Minnesota average (2.0% vs 0.5%).

Commute Mode Trends in Minneapolis, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Minneapolis 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	Bicycle	Other	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	71.2%	4.3%	13.5%	6.6%	3.5%	0.4%	0.1%	0.3%
2010	70.0%	4.8%	13.9%	6.6%	3.7%	0.5%	0.1%	0.3%
2011	69.8%	5.0%	14.1%	6.3%	3.9%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%
2012	69.7%	5.0%	13.9%	6.4%	4.1%	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%
2013	70.3%	5.2%	13.4%	6.4%	3.8%	0.6%	0.2%	0.2%
2014	69.6%	5.2%	13.5%	6.7%	3.9%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%
2015	69.6%	5.2%	13.1%	6.9%	4.3%	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%
2016	69.4%	5.2%	13.1%	7.1%	4.3%	0.6%	0.2%	0.2%
2017	68.9%	5.4%	13.4%	7.0%	4.1%	0.8%	0.2%	0.2%
2018	68.2%	5.4%	13.5%	7.2%	4.1%	1.0%	0.3%	0.3%
2019	67.9%	5.8%	13.1%	7.4%	4.0%	1.1%	0.3%	0.3%
2020	65.4%	10.6%	11.8%	7.1%	3.3%	1.1%	0.5%	0.2%
2021	62.6%	15.8%	10.1%	6.6%	2.9%	1.2%	0.5%	0.2%
2022	60.8%	19.6%	8.9%	6.4%	2.6%	1.1%	0.5%	0.2%
2023	59.3%	23.3%	7.5%	6.0%	2.3%	1.1%	0.4%	0.0%
2024	57.7%	26.2%	6.8%	5.8%	2.0%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 71.2% in 2009 to 57.7% in 2024, down 13.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 9 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Minneapolis: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 26.2% in 2024, up 21.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 20.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 13.5% to 6.8% of workers (down 6.7 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Minneapolis

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Minneapolis?

The bars show when commuters in Minneapolis 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 Minnesota for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		2.3%
5:00-5:29 AM		1.6%
5:30-5:59 AM		2.6%
6:00-6:29 AM		5.6%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.9%
7:00-7:29 AM		11.6%
7:30-7:59 AM		14.1%
8:00-8:29 AM		13.3%
8:30-8:59 AM		8.5%
9:00-9:59 AM		10.3%
10:00-10:59 AM		4.8%
11:00-11:59 AM		2.1%
12:00-3:59 PM		9.9%
4:00-11:59 PM		5.6%

Minneapolis Minnesota Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Minneapolis is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Minnesota. Early starts are less common than in Minnesota: 6.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Minnesota: 46.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.2% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (32.7%) 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 Minneapolis, 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 Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis next to Minnesota 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	Minneapolis	Minnesota	United States
2009	8:02 AM	7:36 AM	7:37 AM
2010	8:03 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM
2011	8:03 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM
2012	8:06 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM
2013	8:04 AM	7:36 AM	7:39 AM
2014	8:03 AM	7:36 AM	7:39 AM
2015	8:04 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM
2016	8:04 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2017	8:03 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2018	8:03 AM	7:34 AM	7:37 AM
2019	8:04 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2020	8:04 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2021	8:04 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2022	8:06 AM	7:34 AM	7:37 AM
2023	8:08 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2024	8:10 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Minneapolis were on the road by 8:10 AM, 8 minutes later than in 2009 (8:02 AM). Across Minnesota, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Minneapolis now leave 32 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Minneapolis has moved 6 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Minneapolis in the whole series.

How does Minneapolis's commute time compare?

Metric	Minneapolis	Minnesota	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	20.7 min	20.3 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	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	26.2%	17.6%	15.0%
Walked	5.8%	2.5%	2.4%
Public Transit	6.8%	1.8%	3.2%

The average commute time in Minneapolis is 20.7 minutes, longer than the 20.3 minutes in Minnesota.

6.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.8% in Minnesota. 5.8% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Minnesota.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Minneapolis, MN Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Minneapolis, MN compares with the 2 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Minneapolis, MN	426,166	20.7 min #1/3	26.2% #1/3	8:10 AM #3/3
Columbia Heights, MN	22,385	22.3 min	18.0%	7:29 AM
Richfield, MN	36,485	21.0 min	18.7%	7:47 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Minneapolis, Minnesota?

Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,346 at a typical national wage. That's 2% more than the typical Minnesota commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Minneapolis, Minnesota?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Minneapolis, Minnesota?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 6.8% of commuters use it versus 1.8% in Minnesota, making it a realistic option for many workers.

How much time do residents in Minneapolis, Minnesota save by working from home?

About 26.2% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Minneapolis would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,139 at the same national wage assumption used above.