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Pulaski County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 8:21 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Pulaski County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:21 PM

Commute Time Burden in Pulaski County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Pulaski 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 17% less time on the road than the Missouri average of 21.0 minutes each way, a difference of 3.7 minutes.

Pulaski County holds about 0.9% of Missouri's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Pulaski County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,788 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)
Pulaski County 17.3 min 34.6 min 144 hrs/yr $4,469 506
Missouri 21.0 min 41.9 min 175 hrs/yr $5,415 923
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.

Commute Time Map: Missouri Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Missouri
  1. Saline County (11.9 min)
  2. Adair County (12.0 min)
  3. Nodaway County (12.1 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Missouri
  1. Bollinger County (33.1 min)
  2. Ray County (32.2 min)
  3. Maries County (31.9 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Pulaski County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 17.3 minutes to get to work in Pulaski County. That's 23% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 71% of counties in Missouri

The most common departure window is 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 15.7% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Pulaski County

  • Car: 69.8%
  • Worked at Home: 15.7%
  • Walked: 12.7% unusually high
  • Other: 0.8%
  • Bicycle: 0.4%
  • Motorcycle: 0.3%
  • Public Transportation: 0.2% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low

Walking is unusually common in Pulaski County: 7.2 times more than the Missouri average (12.7% vs 1.8%).

Public transit is unusually rare in Pulaski County: 4.8 times less than the Missouri average (0.2% vs 0.8%).

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Pulaski County, versus 0.2% in Missouri.

Pulaski County stands out for active commuting: 13.1% of workers walk or bike to work, 6.7 times the Missouri average of 2.0%.

Commute Mode Trends in Pulaski County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Pulaski 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 Motorcycle Public Transportation Taxi
2009 66.5% 29.6% 1.8% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2% 0.5% 0.4%
2010 64.0% 32.5% 1.5% 0.7% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.2%
2011 63.8% 33.4% 1.1% 0.7% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.2%
2012 63.7% 33.7% 1.0% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3% 0.2% 0.5%
2013 63.9% 33.8% 0.9% 0.5% 0.1% 0.3% 0.2% 0.3%
2014 63.0% 34.5% 1.0% 0.5% 0.1% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
2015 63.7% 33.9% 1.0% 0.5% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.4%
2016 63.7% 33.5% 1.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 0.4%
2017 65.4% 29.6% 3.4% 0.5% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0.2%
2018 66.1% 23.2% 9.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2%
2019 66.8% 16.3% 15.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.1%
2020 67.4% 11.7% 19.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.6% 0.1% 0.3%
2021 67.5% 6.4% 24.2% 0.6% 0.1% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3%
2022 71.1% 4.4% 23.1% 0.4% 0.2% 0.5% 0.2% 0.0%
2023 72.3% 7.8% 18.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0%
2024 69.8% 15.7% 12.7% 0.8% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2023 at 72.3% and lowest in 2014 at 63.0%. Overall it rose from 66.5% in 2009 to 69.8% in 2024, up 3.3 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.

Walking gained the most ground in Pulaski County: its share of workers rose from 1.8% in 2009 to 12.7% in 2024, up 10.9 percentage points.

Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 29.6% to 15.7% of workers (down 13.9 percentage points).

Walking peaked at 24.2% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 12.7%.

Commute Start Times in Pulaski County

  • Early BirdThe earliest start among Missouri's 115 counties: half of commuters are on the road by 6:43 AM.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe 2nd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Missouri's 115 counties: only 38.0% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
  • Dawn PatrolThe 3rd-highest share of pre-6 AM departures among Missouri's 115 counties: 30.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Pulaski County?

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

12:00-4:59 AM
12.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
11.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
6.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
14.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
13.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
11.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
8.1%
8:00-8:29 AM
4.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
2.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
2.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
5.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
3.6%

Pulaski County Missouri Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Pulaski County is 6:00-6:29 AM, when 14.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 9.0% across Missouri. Early starts are more common than in Missouri: 30.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.5% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Missouri: 38.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.1% there. About 1 in 7 commuters (15.2%) 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 Pulaski 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 Pulaski 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 Pulaski County next to Missouri 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 Pulaski County Missouri United States
2009 7:02 AM 7:33 AM 7:37 AM
2010 6:57 AM 7:33 AM 7:38 AM
2011 6:50 AM 7:33 AM 7:38 AM
2012 6:52 AM 7:33 AM 7:38 AM
2013 6:50 AM 7:33 AM 7:39 AM
2014 6:51 AM 7:33 AM 7:39 AM
2015 6:47 AM 7:32 AM 7:38 AM
2016 6:56 AM 7:32 AM 7:38 AM
2017 6:46 AM 7:32 AM 7:38 AM
2018 6:41 AM 7:31 AM 7:37 AM
2019 6:28 AM 7:31 AM 7:37 AM
2020 6:25 AM 7:32 AM 7:37 AM
2021 6:19 AM 7:32 AM 7:37 AM
2022 6:32 AM 7:32 AM 7:37 AM
2023 6:33 AM 7:32 AM 7:38 AM
2024 6:43 AM 7:32 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Pulaski County were on the road by 6:43 AM, 19 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:02 AM). Across Missouri, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Pulaski County now leave 55 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 Pulaski County has moved 14 minutes later.

How does Pulaski County's commute time compare?

Metric Pulaski County Missouri US Average
Avg. Commute Time 17.3 min 21.0 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 15.7% 13.0% 15.0%
Walked 12.7% 1.8% 2.4%
Public Transit 0.2% 0.8% 3.2%

The average commute time in Pulaski County is 17.3 minutes, shorter than the 21.0 minutes in Missouri.

0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.8% in Missouri. 12.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.8% in Missouri.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Pulaski County, MO Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Pulaski County, MO is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 53,894 residents against a local median of 25,269. The measure that sets Pulaski County, MO apart most is work from home: 15.7%, 143% above the local median of 6.5%.

The counties themselves sit within 3.4% of each other on work from home, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Pulaski County, MO, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Pulaski County, MO has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Pulaski County, MO 53,894 17.3 min #3/6 15.7% #1/6 6:43 AM #1/6
Laclede County, MO 36,390 16.9 min 3.9% 7:05 AM
Phelps County, MO 45,194 15.5 min 7.4% 7:34 AM
Maries County, MO 8,450 31.9 min 6.8% 7:01 AM
Miller County, MO 25,269 28.2 min 6.1% 7:12 AM
Texas County, MO 25,161 20.2 min 6.5% 7:11 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Pulaski County, Missouri.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Pulaski County, Missouri?

Commuters here spend an estimated 144 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,469 at a typical national wage. That's 17% less than the typical Missouri commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Pulaski County, Missouri?

Traffic peaks between 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM in Pulaski County, Missouri. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Pulaski County, Missouri?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 0.8% in Missouri, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Missouri?

Among counties in Missouri, the shortest average commutes are in Saline County (11.9 min), Adair County (12.0 min), Nodaway County (12.1 min). The longest are in Bollinger County (33.1 min), Ray County (32.2 min), Maries County (31.9 min).