Commuting in Hill 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, 8:33 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Hill County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:33 PM
Commute Time Burden in Hill County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Hill County spend about 24 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 101 hours, about 4.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 25% less time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 4.0 minutes.
Hill County holds about 1.4% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 1.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Hill County would save about 40 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,249 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)
Hill County
12.1 min
24.2 min
101 hrs/yr
$3,121
95
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
12.1
minutes to get to work in
Hill County.
That's 46% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by walking. About 5.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Hill County
Car:
85.8%
Walked:
7.9%
Worked at Home:
5.1%
Bicycle:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
0.3%
Public Transportation:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.2%unusually high
Other:
< 0.1%
Taking a taxi is unusually common in Hill County: 3.4 times more than the Montana average (0.2% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Hill County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Hill 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
Walked
Worked at Home
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Public Transportation
Taxi
Other
2009
89.8%
6.0%
2.1%
1.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.5%
2010
89.1%
6.8%
2.5%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
88.6%
5.7%
3.3%
1.0%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.6%
2012
88.0%
6.4%
3.4%
0.9%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.7%
2013
87.8%
6.8%
4.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.8%
2014
88.2%
6.0%
4.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.6%
2015
88.4%
6.2%
4.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.6%
2016
87.2%
6.8%
4.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.9%
2017
89.3%
5.7%
3.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.7%
2018
90.0%
5.6%
3.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.5%
0.0%
0.6%
2019
89.9%
5.5%
3.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.5%
0.0%
0.4%
2020
89.9%
4.2%
4.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.6%
0.0%
0.5%
2021
89.3%
3.9%
5.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2022
89.1%
4.5%
5.0%
0.6%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2023
88.4%
6.0%
4.6%
0.3%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
85.8%
7.9%
5.1%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2018 at 90.0%. Overall it fell from 89.8% in 2009 to 85.8% in 2024, down 4.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Hill County: its share of workers rose from 2.1% in 2009 to 5.1% in 2024, up 3.0 percentage points.
Commute Start Times in Hill County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Hill County?
The bars show when commuters in Hill 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 AMHill County4.7%Montana4.0%
4.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMHill County1.5%Montana2.7%
1.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMHill County3.8%Montana4.0%
3.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMHill County6.4%Montana6.7%
6.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMHill County10.9%Montana10.3%
10.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMHill County9.4%Montana13.7%
9.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMHill County26.5%Montana19.2%
26.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMHill County11.4%Montana11.7%
11.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMHill County4.4%Montana5.7%
4.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMHill County2.7%Montana6.3%
2.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMHill County3.4%Montana3.3%
3.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMHill County1.5%Montana1.5%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMHill County10.5%Montana5.7%
10.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMHill County2.9%Montana5.2%
2.9%
Hill CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Hill County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 26.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are about as common as in Montana: 10.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Montana: 58.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.1%) 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 Hill 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 Hill 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 Hill 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
Hill County
Montana
United States
2009
7:46 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:46 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:46 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:47 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:45 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:45 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:46 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:44 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:43 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:42 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:40 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:42 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:45 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Hill County were on the road by 7:45 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Montana, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Hill County now leave 7 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Hill County has moved 4 minutes later.
How does Hill County's commute time compare?
Metric
Hill County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
12.1 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
5.1%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
7.9%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Hill County is 12.1 minutes, shorter than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Montana. 7.9% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.
Hill County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Hill County, MT is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 16,155 residents against a local median of 5,058. Hill County, MT's work from home, at 5.1%, runs 69% below the 16.6% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 17.2% on work from home, so Hill County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Hill County, MT has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Hill County, Montana.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Hill County, Montana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 101 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,121 at a typical national wage. That's 25% less than the typical Montana commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Hill County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Hill County, Montana. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 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).