Commuting in Rice 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, 8:20 PM
Is the commute in Rice County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:20 PM
Commute Time Burden in Rice County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Rice County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 144 hours, about 6.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 15% less time on the road than the Minnesota average of 20.3 minutes each way, a difference of 3.0 minutes.
Rice County holds about 1.2% of Minnesota's population but accounts for roughly 1.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Rice County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,789 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)
Rice County
17.3 min
34.6 min
144 hrs/yr
$4,472
716
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
17.3
minutes to get to work in
Rice County.
That's 23% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Rice County
Car:
77.1%
Worked at Home:
12.0%
Walked:
7.9%unusually high
Other:
1.3%
Bicycle:
1.1%
Public Transportation:
0.3%unusually low
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Walking is unusually common in Rice County: 3.1 times more than the Minnesota average (7.9% vs 2.5%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Rice County: 5.7 times less than the Minnesota average (0.3% vs 1.8%).
Rice County stands out for active commuting: 9.0% of workers walk or bike to work, 3.0 times the Minnesota average of 3.0%.
Commute Mode Trends in Rice County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Rice 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
83.5%
5.7%
8.0%
0.9%
0.8%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2010
82.1%
7.5%
7.3%
1.0%
0.8%
1.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
79.9%
11.1%
6.1%
1.0%
0.7%
0.9%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
79.2%
12.1%
5.7%
1.0%
0.7%
0.9%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
78.5%
12.9%
5.3%
1.2%
0.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2014
79.4%
13.0%
4.6%
0.9%
0.7%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2015
79.9%
13.2%
4.1%
0.9%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.5%
2016
80.4%
13.4%
3.9%
0.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.5%
2017
80.8%
13.5%
3.5%
0.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.4%
2018
81.4%
14.0%
2.8%
0.5%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.4%
2019
80.9%
14.6%
2.8%
0.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
2020
79.5%
16.6%
2.3%
0.4%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
78.2%
16.0%
3.9%
0.8%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
78.8%
13.4%
5.4%
1.1%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
78.3%
12.8%
6.7%
0.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
77.1%
12.0%
7.9%
1.3%
1.1%
0.3%
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 83.5% in 2009 to 77.1% in 2024, down 6.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Rice County: its share of workers rose from 5.7% in 2009 to 12.0% in 2024, up 6.3 percentage points.
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 16.6% in 2020 and has since fallen back to 12.0%.
Commute Start Times in Rice County
😴Sleeping InThe 2nd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Minnesota's 87 counties: 29.3% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Rice County?
The bars show when commuters in Rice 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 AMRice County5.8%Minnesota5.0%
5.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMRice County5.0%Minnesota3.8%
5.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMRice County7.1%Minnesota5.2%
7.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMRice County7.9%Minnesota8.4%
7.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMRice County10.0%Minnesota10.2%
10.0%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMRice County13.5%Minnesota14.8%
13.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMRice County9.8%Minnesota13.8%
9.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMRice County8.8%Minnesota10.4%
8.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMRice County2.9%Minnesota4.7%
2.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMRice County5.4%Minnesota5.8%
5.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMRice County3.3%Minnesota2.7%
3.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMRice County1.8%Minnesota1.3%
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMRice County10.2%Minnesota8.2%
10.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMRice County8.6%Minnesota5.8%
8.6%
Rice CountyMinnesotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Rice County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.8% across Minnesota. Early starts are more common than in Minnesota: 17.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Minnesota: 42.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.2% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.3%) 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 Rice 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 Rice 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 Rice 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
Rice County
Minnesota
United States
2009
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:31 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:30 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:29 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:26 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:26 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:26 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:25 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:26 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:32 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Rice County were on the road by 7:32 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:36 AM). Across Minnesota, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Rice County now leave 6 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 Rice County has moved 7 minutes later.
How does Rice County's commute time compare?
Metric
Rice County
Minnesota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.3 min
20.3 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
12:00 PM – 03:59 PM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.0%
17.6%
15.0%
Walked
7.9%
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
1.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Rice County is 17.3 minutes, shorter than the 20.3 minutes in Minnesota.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.8% in Minnesota. 7.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Minnesota.
Rice County, MN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Rice County, MN is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 67,917 residents against a local median of 37,436. Rice County, MN's work from home, at 12.0%, runs 24% above the 9.6% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 17.3 min against a local median of 22.0 min, 21% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 21% below the local median it puts Rice County, MN at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 14.3% on work from home, so Rice County, MN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Rice County, MN has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Rice County, Minnesota.
Is commuting expensive in Rice County, Minnesota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 144 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,472 at a typical national wage. That's 15% less than the typical Minnesota commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Rice County, Minnesota?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Rice County, Minnesota. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Rice 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.
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).