Commuting in Pennington County, Minnesota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:19 PM
Is the commute in Pennington County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:19 PM
Commute Time Burden in Pennington County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Pennington County spend about 22 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 90 hours, about 3.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 47% less time on the road than the Minnesota average of 20.3 minutes each way, a difference of 9.5 minutes.
Pennington County holds about 0.2% of Minnesota's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Pennington County would save about 36 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,120 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)
Pennington County
10.8 min
21.7 min
90 hrs/yr
$2,799
612
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.
On average, it takes
10.8
minutes to get to work in
Pennington County.
That's 52% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 3 fastest counties in Minnesota
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 10.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Pennington County
Car:
84.1%
Worked at Home:
10.2%
Walked:
2.3%
Other:
2.2%
Taxi:
0.7%unusually high
Public Transportation:
0.3%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Pennington County: 5.3 times less than the Minnesota average (0.3% vs 1.8%).
Taking a taxi is unusually common in Pennington County: 3.6 times more than the Minnesota average (0.7% vs 0.2%).
Biking is unusually rare in Pennington County: 4.0 times less than the Minnesota average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in Pennington County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Pennington 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
Taxi
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
87.3%
3.6%
5.5%
0.4%
1.1%
0.4%
0.8%
0.9%
2010
89.1%
3.8%
3.9%
0.5%
0.3%
1.6%
0.1%
0.8%
2011
89.5%
3.2%
3.9%
0.4%
0.5%
0.9%
0.2%
1.4%
2012
89.1%
4.2%
3.3%
0.5%
0.6%
0.9%
0.2%
1.1%
2013
88.7%
4.9%
2.9%
0.6%
0.7%
0.9%
0.3%
1.1%
2014
87.6%
4.9%
3.9%
0.9%
0.5%
1.2%
0.3%
0.8%
2015
86.6%
5.3%
4.2%
1.3%
0.9%
1.0%
0.4%
0.4%
2016
89.0%
5.1%
3.2%
1.3%
0.5%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2017
88.8%
5.3%
3.2%
1.2%
0.5%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2018
88.7%
4.8%
3.1%
2.0%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2019
89.6%
4.4%
2.7%
1.7%
1.0%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
2020
89.8%
4.7%
1.8%
2.2%
1.1%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
85.3%
8.0%
2.0%
2.7%
1.1%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
2022
83.7%
8.7%
2.8%
2.8%
1.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
83.1%
10.2%
2.6%
2.1%
1.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
84.1%
10.2%
2.3%
2.2%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2020 at 89.8% and lowest in 2023 at 83.1%. Overall it fell from 87.3% in 2009 to 84.1% in 2024, down 3.2 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Pennington County: its share of workers rose from 3.6% in 2009 to 10.2% in 2024, up 6.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.5% to 2.3% of workers (down 3.2 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2012 release and has stayed ahead since.
Public transit peaked at 1.6% in 2010 and has since fallen back to 0.3%.
Commute Start Times in Pennington County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Pennington County?
The bars show when commuters in Pennington 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 Minnesota for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMPennington County12.6%Minnesota5.0%
12.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMPennington County6.6%Minnesota3.8%
6.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMPennington County3.7%Minnesota5.2%
3.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMPennington County5.8%Minnesota8.4%
5.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMPennington County7.2%Minnesota10.2%
7.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMPennington County10.9%Minnesota14.8%
10.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMPennington County17.3%Minnesota13.8%
17.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMPennington County9.6%Minnesota10.4%
9.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMPennington County3.6%Minnesota4.7%
3.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMPennington County3.3%Minnesota5.8%
3.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMPennington County2.0%Minnesota2.7%
2.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMPennington County1.6%Minnesota1.3%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMPennington County10.4%Minnesota8.2%
10.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMPennington County5.5%Minnesota5.8%
5.5%
Pennington CountyMinnesotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Pennington County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Minnesota. Early starts are more common than in Minnesota: 22.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Minnesota: 45.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.2% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.7%) 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 Pennington 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 Pennington 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 Pennington County 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
Pennington County
Minnesota
United States
2009
7:40 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:40 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:41 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:42 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:42 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:40 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:43 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:38 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:40 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:38 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:35 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:34 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:33 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:28 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Pennington County were on the road by 7:36 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:40 AM). Across Minnesota, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Pennington County 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 Pennington County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Pennington County's commute time compare?
Metric
Pennington County
Minnesota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
10.8 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
12:00 AM – 04:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
10.2%
17.6%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
1.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Pennington County is 10.8 minutes, shorter than the 20.3 minutes in Minnesota.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.8% in Minnesota. 2.3% commute by walking, lower than the 2.5% in Minnesota.
Pennington County, MN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Pennington County, MN is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 11,337 residents against a local median of 8,909. The measure that sets Pennington County, MN apart most is one-way commute: 10.8 min, 33% below the local median of 16.1 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 8.3 min on one-way commute, so Pennington County, MN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Pennington County, MN has the lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Pennington County, Minnesota.
Is living in Pennington County, Minnesota good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 90 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,799 at a typical national wage. That's 47% less than the typical Minnesota commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Pennington County, Minnesota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Pennington County, Minnesota. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Pennington County, Minnesota?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.3% of commuters use it versus 1.8% in Minnesota, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Minnesota?
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).