Commuting in Madison 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, 7:10 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Madison County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Madison County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Madison County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 148 hours, about 6.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 11% more time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.8 minutes.
Madison County holds about 0.8% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 0.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Madison County would save about 59 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,841 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)
Madison County
17.8 min
35.6 min
148 hrs/yr
$4,603
298
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
17.8
minutes to get to work in
Madison County.
That's 20% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 87% of counties in Montana
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 working from home. About 20.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Madison County
Car:
72.4%
Worked at Home:
20.5%
Walked:
5.2%
Other:
1.9%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Madison County, versus 0.1% in Montana.
Public transit is essentially absent in Madison County, versus 0.6% in Montana.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Madison County, versus 0.1% in Montana.
Biking is essentially absent in Madison County, versus 1.0% in Montana.
Commute Mode Trends in Madison County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Madison 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
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
76.4%
14.7%
6.0%
1.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.6%
2010
72.5%
18.4%
6.3%
1.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.4%
0.9%
2011
72.5%
17.7%
8.0%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.5%
0.8%
2012
70.7%
18.5%
8.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.6%
1.0%
2013
70.2%
16.9%
11.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.8%
2014
68.8%
17.0%
12.7%
0.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
2015
71.3%
15.2%
11.0%
1.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
2016
71.5%
12.7%
12.6%
1.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.3%
0.9%
2017
74.1%
11.6%
11.0%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.9%
2018
75.6%
11.5%
9.0%
1.5%
1.1%
0.0%
0.2%
1.1%
2019
75.2%
10.3%
9.8%
1.6%
1.7%
0.0%
0.1%
1.3%
2020
72.6%
12.5%
10.0%
1.2%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.7%
2021
73.7%
15.6%
7.2%
1.1%
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.7%
2022
72.7%
15.5%
8.2%
1.5%
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.6%
2023
70.6%
20.1%
6.7%
1.2%
1.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2024
72.4%
20.5%
5.2%
1.9%
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 bottomed out in 2014 at 68.8%. Overall it fell from 76.4% in 2009 to 72.4% in 2024, down 4.0 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Madison County: its share of workers rose from 14.7% in 2009 to 20.5% in 2024, up 5.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 6.0% to 5.2% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Public transit peaked at 2.0% in 2020 and has since fallen back to 0.0%.
Commute Start Times in Madison County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Madison County?
The bars show when commuters in Madison 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 AMMadison County4.7%Montana4.0%
4.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMadison County4.5%Montana2.7%
4.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMadison County6.5%Montana4.0%
6.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMadison County5.2%Montana6.7%
5.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMadison County7.6%Montana10.3%
7.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMadison County13.7%Montana13.7%
13.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMadison County16.3%Montana19.2%
16.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMadison County16.0%Montana11.7%
16.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMadison County2.9%Montana5.7%
2.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMadison County6.4%Montana6.3%
6.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMadison County5.0%Montana3.3%
5.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMadison County0.8%Montana1.5%
0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMadison County5.4%Montana5.7%
5.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMadison County5.1%Montana5.2%
5.1%
Madison CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Madison County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 16.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are more common than in Montana: 15.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Montana's: 53.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.6%) 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 Madison 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 Madison 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 Madison 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
Madison County
Montana
United States
2009
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:33 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:28 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:27 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:26 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:29 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:25 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:31 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:29 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:29 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:27 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:30 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:26 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:30 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:39 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:44 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Madison County were on the road by 7:44 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:39 AM). That goes against the trend across Montana, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Madison 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 Madison County has moved 18 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Madison County in the whole series.
How does Madison County's commute time compare?
Metric
Madison County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.8 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
20.5%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
5.2%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Madison County is 17.8 minutes, longer than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Montana. 5.2% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.
Madison County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Madison County, MT is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 9,223 residents against a local median of 12,778. Where Madison County, MT breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 118% above the local median of 9.4% at 20.5%.
The counties themselves spread 7.9% on work from home, so Madison County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Madison County, MT has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Madison County, Montana.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Madison County, Montana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 148 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,603 at a typical national wage. That's 11% more than the typical Montana commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Madison County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Madison 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Madison 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.
How much time do residents in Madison County, Montana save by working from home?
About 20.5% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Madison County would save about 59 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,841 at the same national wage assumption used above.
How do commute times compare across 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).