Commuting in Garfield 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, 8:00 PM
Is the commute in Garfield County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Garfield County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Garfield County spend about 18 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 74 hours, about 3.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 45% less time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 7.1 minutes.
Garfield County holds about 0.1% of Montana's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Garfield County would save about 30 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $920 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)
Garfield County
8.9 min
17.8 min
74 hrs/yr
$2,299
62
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
8.9
minutes to get to work in
Garfield County.
That's 60% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 91% 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 43.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Garfield County
Car:
45.7%unusually low
Worked at Home:
43.7%unusually high
Walked:
10.6%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Other:
< 0.1%
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Garfield County, versus 0.1% in Montana.
Driving is 43% less common in Garfield County than the Montana average (45.7% vs 80.8%).
Public transit is essentially absent in Garfield County, versus 0.6% in Montana.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Garfield County, versus 0.1% in Montana.
Working from home is unusually common in Garfield County: 3.5 times more than the Montana average (43.7% vs 12.5%).
Biking is essentially absent in Garfield County, versus 1.0% in Montana.
Commute Mode Trends in Garfield County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Garfield 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Other
2009
48.1%
35.3%
11.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
3.6%
1.3%
2010
60.4%
27.7%
10.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
1.4%
2011
69.0%
19.9%
9.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
1.6%
2012
75.7%
18.2%
4.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
1.2%
2013
84.8%
11.3%
3.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
85.1%
11.2%
3.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
80.5%
14.6%
3.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.7%
0.5%
2016
76.5%
16.8%
4.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.7%
0.9%
2017
70.5%
18.3%
8.0%
0.5%
0.0%
1.2%
0.7%
0.7%
2018
59.1%
24.3%
13.5%
0.2%
0.0%
1.8%
0.7%
0.5%
2019
54.0%
24.3%
18.8%
0.4%
0.0%
1.3%
0.9%
0.4%
2020
53.1%
22.5%
22.8%
0.0%
0.0%
1.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
50.3%
30.4%
17.8%
0.0%
0.0%
1.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
52.4%
31.1%
16.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
46.7%
39.5%
13.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
45.7%
43.7%
10.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2014 at 85.1%. Overall it fell from 48.1% in 2009 to 45.7% in 2024, down 2.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Garfield County: its share of workers rose from 35.3% in 2009 to 43.7% in 2024, up 8.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 19.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 3.6% to 0.0% of workers (down 3.6 percentage points).
Walking peaked at 22.8% in 2020 and has since fallen back to 10.6%.
Commute Start Times in Garfield County
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among Montana's 56 counties: the typical start is 27 minutes earlier than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Garfield County?
The bars show when commuters in Garfield 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 AMGarfield County1.8%Montana4.0%
1.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMGarfield County9.1%Montana2.7%
9.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMGarfield County5.8%Montana4.0%
5.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMGarfield County10.5%Montana6.7%
10.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMGarfield County6.9%Montana10.3%
6.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMGarfield County21.7%Montana13.7%
21.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMGarfield County24.3%Montana19.2%
24.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMGarfield County10.1%Montana11.7%
10.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMGarfield County1.1%Montana5.7%
1.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMGarfield County2.5%Montana6.3%
2.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMGarfield County0.0%Montana3.3%
0.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMGarfield County0.0%Montana1.5%
0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMGarfield County2.2%Montana5.7%
2.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMGarfield County4.0%Montana5.2%
4.0%
Garfield CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Garfield County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 24.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are more common than in Montana: 16.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Montana: 63.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 11 commuters (8.7%) 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 Garfield 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 Garfield 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 Garfield 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
Garfield County
Montana
United States
2009
7:49 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:32 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:33 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:37 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:38 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:39 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:34 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:33 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:27 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:25 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:22 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Garfield County were on the road by 7:22 AM, 27 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:49 AM). The shift is sharper than across Montana, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Garfield County now leave 16 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 Garfield County has moved 12 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Garfield County in the whole series.
How does Garfield County's commute time compare?
Metric
Garfield County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
8.9 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
43.7%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
10.6%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Garfield County is 8.9 minutes, shorter than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Montana. 10.6% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.
Garfield County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Garfield County, MT is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 1,094 residents against a local median of 1,669. Where Garfield County, MT breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 175% above the local median of 15.9% at 43.7%.
The counties themselves sit within 18.2% of each other on work from home, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Garfield County, MT, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Garfield County, MT has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Garfield County, Montana.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Garfield County, Montana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 74 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,299 at a typical national wage. That's 45% less than the typical Montana commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Garfield County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Garfield 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.
How common is public transit use in Garfield County, Montana?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.6% in Montana, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Is Garfield County, Montana a good location for remote and hybrid workers?
About 43.7% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Garfield County would save about 30 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $920 at the same national wage assumption used above.
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).