Commuting in Carbon County, Montana: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 2:56 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Carbon County?
Map AI9/24/26, 2:56 PM
Commute Time Burden in Carbon County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Carbon 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 147 hours, about 6.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 10% more time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.
Carbon County holds about 1.0% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 1.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Carbon County would save about 59 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,825 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)
Carbon County
17.7 min
35.3 min
147 hrs/yr
$4,562
329
Montana
16.0 min
32.1 min
134 hrs/yr
$4,143
403
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
17.7
minutes to get to work in
Carbon County.
That's 21% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 84% of counties in Montana
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 11.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Carbon County
Car:
75.4%
Worked at Home:
11.0%
Walked:
7.6%
Public Transportation:
2.7%unusually high
Other:
2.2%
Bicycle:
0.8%
Motorcycle:
0.3%unusually high
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Carbon County: 3.2 times more than the Montana average (0.3% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is unusually common in Carbon County: 4.2 times more than the Montana average (2.7% vs 0.6%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Carbon County, versus 0.1% in Montana.
Commute Mode Trends in Carbon County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Carbon 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
Public Transportation
Other
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
74.9%
9.0%
10.1%
3.0%
0.9%
2.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
73.7%
10.4%
10.6%
2.8%
1.1%
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2011
76.4%
9.6%
10.0%
1.1%
2.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
77.6%
9.0%
9.5%
1.4%
2.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2013
78.5%
7.8%
9.8%
1.3%
2.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2014
78.7%
8.5%
8.5%
1.6%
2.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
78.1%
8.9%
8.5%
1.5%
2.7%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
77.4%
10.4%
8.3%
1.6%
2.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
74.5%
12.9%
8.5%
1.1%
2.1%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
74.4%
14.8%
7.3%
1.0%
1.7%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
77.6%
12.0%
7.3%
0.8%
1.4%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
78.2%
10.5%
7.1%
0.8%
1.5%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
79.2%
10.8%
6.7%
0.4%
1.9%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
80.0%
10.4%
6.4%
0.4%
1.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
2023
79.6%
10.8%
6.1%
0.7%
1.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
2024
75.4%
11.0%
7.6%
2.7%
2.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2022 at 80.0% and lowest in 2010 at 73.7%. Overall it rose from 74.9% in 2009 to 75.4% in 2024, up 0.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Carbon County: its share of workers rose from 9.0% in 2009 to 11.0% in 2024, up 2.0 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 10.1% to 7.6% of workers (down 2.5 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2015 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 14.8% in 2018 and has since fallen back to 11.0%.
Commute Start Times in Carbon County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Carbon County?
The bars show when commuters in Carbon 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 Montana for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMCarbon County5.1%Montana4.0%
5.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCarbon County7.3%Montana2.7%
7.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCarbon County7.7%Montana4.0%
7.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCarbon County8.8%Montana6.7%
8.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCarbon County6.5%Montana10.3%
6.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCarbon County13.8%Montana13.7%
13.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCarbon County16.4%Montana19.2%
16.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCarbon County11.5%Montana11.7%
11.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCarbon County6.3%Montana5.7%
6.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCarbon County3.0%Montana6.3%
3.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCarbon County2.8%Montana3.3%
2.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCarbon County3.2%Montana1.5%
3.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCarbon County3.1%Montana5.7%
3.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCarbon County4.4%Montana5.2%
4.4%
Carbon CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Carbon County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 16.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are more common than in Montana: 20.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Montana: 48.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.6%) 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 Carbon 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 Carbon 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 Carbon County next to Montana 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
Carbon County
Montana
United States
2009
7:43 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:45 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:43 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:36 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:35 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:35 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:30 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:27 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:25 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:22 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:19 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:25 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:31 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Carbon County were on the road by 7:31 AM, 11 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:43 AM). The shift is sharper than across Montana, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Carbon County now leave 7 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 Carbon County has moved 5 minutes later.
How does Carbon County's commute time compare?
Metric
Carbon County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.7 min
16.0 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
11.0%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
7.6%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.7%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Carbon County is 17.7 minutes, longer than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
2.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in Montana. 7.6% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.
Carbon County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Carbon County, MT is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 11,116 residents against a local median of 9,183. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Carbon County, MT an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 12% above the local median at 17.7 min against 15.7 min. Carbon County, MT has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Carbon County, Montana.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Carbon County, Montana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 147 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,562 at a typical national wage. That's 10% more than the typical Montana commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Carbon County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Carbon County, Montana. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Do people use public transit in Carbon County, Montana?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 2.7% of commuters use it versus 0.6% in Montana, making it a realistic option for many workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Montana?
Among counties in Montana, the shortest average commutes are in Treasure County (7.2 min), Rosebud County (8.2 min), Fallon County (8.4 min). The longest are in Broadwater County (30.3 min), Stillwater County (27.8 min), Granite County (23.3 min).