Commuting in Cascade 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, 7:06 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Cascade County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:06 PM
Commute Time Burden in Cascade County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Cascade County spend about 28 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 116 hours, about 4.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 13% less time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 2.1 minutes.
Cascade County holds about 7.6% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 6.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Cascade County would save about 46 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,439 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)
Cascade County
13.9 min
27.9 min
116 hrs/yr
$3,599
838
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
13.9
minutes to get to work in
Cascade County.
That's 38% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 7.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Cascade County
Car:
87.7%
Worked at Home:
7.4%
Walked:
2.7%
Public Transportation:
0.7%
Bicycle:
0.7%
Other:
0.6%
Taxi:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Cascade County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Cascade 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
Bicycle
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
91.2%
3.2%
2.9%
1.2%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
0.5%
2010
90.2%
3.7%
3.3%
1.3%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.4%
2011
90.5%
3.4%
3.1%
1.3%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.5%
2012
90.6%
3.4%
3.1%
0.9%
0.8%
0.7%
0.0%
0.5%
2013
91.3%
3.0%
3.6%
0.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.3%
2014
90.8%
3.2%
3.8%
0.9%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
90.9%
3.0%
3.7%
0.9%
0.5%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2016
91.5%
3.1%
3.5%
0.8%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
91.0%
3.4%
3.8%
0.7%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
90.9%
3.9%
3.5%
0.6%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
91.1%
4.0%
2.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
90.5%
5.0%
2.4%
0.8%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
89.3%
5.7%
2.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
89.3%
6.3%
2.0%
0.9%
0.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
88.2%
7.0%
2.3%
0.7%
0.7%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2024
87.7%
7.4%
2.7%
0.7%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2016 at 91.5%. Overall it fell from 91.2% in 2009 to 87.7% in 2024, down 3.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Cascade County: its share of workers rose from 3.2% in 2009 to 7.4% in 2024, up 4.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.2% to 0.7% of workers (down 0.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Cascade County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Cascade County?
The bars show when commuters in Cascade 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 AMCascade County3.8%Montana4.0%
3.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCascade County2.8%Montana2.7%
2.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCascade County4.2%Montana4.0%
4.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCascade County6.8%Montana6.7%
6.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCascade County12.9%Montana10.3%
12.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCascade County16.7%Montana13.7%
16.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCascade County17.0%Montana19.2%
17.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCascade County10.4%Montana11.7%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCascade County4.6%Montana5.7%
4.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCascade County5.9%Montana6.3%
5.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCascade County2.8%Montana3.3%
2.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCascade County1.3%Montana1.5%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCascade County4.8%Montana5.7%
4.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCascade County5.9%Montana5.2%
5.9%
Cascade CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Cascade County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are about as common as in Montana: 10.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Montana: 57.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.8%) 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 Cascade 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 Cascade 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 Cascade 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
Cascade County
Montana
United States
2009
7:40 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:40 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:40 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:40 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:41 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:39 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:37 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:36 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:36 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:36 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:36 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:37 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:35 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:35 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Cascade County were on the road by 7:35 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:40 AM). The shift is sharper than across Montana, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Cascade County now leave 3 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Cascade County's commute time compare?
Metric
Cascade County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.9 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
7.4%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
2.7%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Cascade County is 13.9 minutes, shorter than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
0.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in Montana. 2.7% commute by walking, lower than the 3.9% in Montana.
Cascade County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Cascade County, MT is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 84,603 residents against a local median of 6,353. Cascade County, MT's work from home, at 7.4%, runs 49% below the 14.5% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 5.2% on work from home, so Cascade County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Cascade County, MT has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Cascade County, Montana.
Is living in Cascade County, Montana good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 116 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,599 at a typical national wage. That's 13% less than the typical Montana commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Cascade County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Cascade 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.
Which counties in Montana have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).