Powder River County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Powder River County, Montana: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 8:31 PM

How many minutes is the average drive to work in Powder River County?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:31 PM

Commute Time Burden in Powder River County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Powder River County spend about 21 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 88 hours, about 3.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 34% less time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 5.5 minutes.

Powder River County holds about 0.2% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Powder River County would save about 35 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,093 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)
Powder River County	10.6 min	21.2 min	88 hrs/yr	$2,733	68
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.

Commute Time Map: Montana Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Montana

Treasure County (7.2 min)
Rosebud County (8.2 min)
Fallon County (8.4 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Montana

Broadwater County (30.3 min)
Stillwater County (27.8 min)
Granite County (23.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Powder River County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 10.6 minutes to get to work in Powder River County. That's 53% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 84% of counties in Montana

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 19.6% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Powder River County

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Powder River County, versus 0.1% in Montana.

Driving is 20% less common in Powder River County than the Montana average (64.6% vs 80.8%).

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Powder River County, versus 0.1% in Montana.

Biking is essentially absent in Powder River County, versus 1.0% in Montana.

Commute Mode Trends in Powder River County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Powder River 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	61.7%	23.5%	13.7%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%	0.2%
2010	60.9%	22.3%	15.5%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%	0.1%
2011	63.9%	19.8%	15.3%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.2%	0.0%
2012	62.2%	23.1%	12.4%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	1.9%	0.0%
2013	62.2%	22.8%	12.4%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	2.1%	0.0%
2014	65.7%	19.9%	11.7%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	2.1%	0.0%
2015	66.9%	20.6%	9.6%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	2.4%	0.0%
2016	69.4%	18.8%	9.1%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	2.2%	0.0%
2017	77.4%	14.4%	8.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	72.8%	10.7%	14.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	2.3%
2019	75.4%	7.5%	13.3%	1.2%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	2.5%
2020	68.2%	5.7%	18.6%	6.1%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	1.3%
2021	64.7%	8.9%	18.8%	6.5%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.8%
2022	59.2%	12.8%	20.4%	6.5%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.8%
2023	66.5%	14.9%	11.3%	6.9%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	64.6%	19.6%	9.5%	5.4%	1.0%	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 was highest in 2017 at 77.4% and lowest in 2022 at 59.2%. Overall it rose from 61.7% in 2009 to 64.6% in 2024, up 2.9 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.

Public transit gained the most ground in Powder River County: its share of workers rose from 0.0% in 2009 to 1.0% in 2024, up 1.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 0.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 13.7% to 9.5% of workers (down 4.2 percentage points).

Public transit overtook riding a motorcycle to become the 5th most common choice in the 2019 release and has stayed ahead since.

Biking peaked at 2.5% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 0.0%.

Commute Start Times in Powder River County

Earlier AlarmsThe 2nd-biggest shift to earlier mornings among Montana's 56 counties: the typical start is 24 minutes earlier than in 2009.
Rush-Hour RegularsThe 3rd-highest share of rush-hour departures among Montana's 56 counties: 74.3% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Powder River County?

The bars show when commuters in Powder River 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		3.4%
5:00-5:29 AM		1.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		2.2%
6:00-6:29 AM		11.5%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM		34.9%
7:30-7:59 AM		21.7%
8:00-8:29 AM		7.4%
8:30-8:59 AM		0.0%
9:00-9:59 AM		1.1%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.6%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM		2.2%
4:00-11:59 PM		0.0%

Powder River County Montana Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Powder River County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 34.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.7% across Montana. Early starts are less common than in Montana: 7.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Montana: 74.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 15 commuters (6.8%) 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 Powder River 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 Powder River 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 Powder River 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	Powder River County	Montana	United States
2009	7:42 AM	7:45 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:35 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:34 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:26 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:21 AM	7:45 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:26 AM	7:45 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:23 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:20 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:24 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:30 AM	7:44 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:30 AM	7:44 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:25 AM	7:45 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:30 AM	7:45 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:24 AM	7:44 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:21 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:18 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Powder River County were on the road by 7:18 AM, 24 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:42 AM). The shift is sharper than across Montana, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Powder River County now leave 20 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 Powder River County has moved 12 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Powder River County in the whole series.

How does Powder River County's commute time compare?

Metric	Powder River County	Montana	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	10.6 min	16.0 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	19.6%	12.5%	15.0%
Walked	9.5%	3.9%	2.4%
Public Transit	1.0%	0.6%	3.2%

The average commute time in Powder River County is 10.6 minutes, shorter than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.

1.0% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in Montana. 9.5% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Powder River County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Powder River County, MT is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 1,815 residents against a local median of 8,165. Where Powder River County, MT breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 181% above the local median of 7.0% at 19.6%.

One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 10.6 min against a local median of 13.4 min, 21% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 21% below the local median it puts Powder River County, MT at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 34.6% on work from home, so Powder River County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Powder River County, MT has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Powder River County, MT	1,815	10.6 min #3/6	19.6% #2/6	7:18 AM #3/6
Custer County, MT	11,960	10.3 min	5.0%	7:40 AM
Carter County, MT	1,308	13.4 min	39.5%	7:32 AM
Campbell County, WY	47,252	15.8 min	5.7%	7:17 AM
Crook County, WY	7,442	17.5 min	11.2%	6:54 AM
Rosebud County, MT	8,165	8.2 min	7.0%	7:30 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Powder River County, Montana.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Powder River County, Montana?

Commuters here spend an estimated 88 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,733 at a typical national wage. That's 34% less than the typical Montana commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Powder River County, Montana?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Powder River County, Montana. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.

How much time do residents in Powder River County, Montana save by working from home?

About 19.6% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Powder River County would save about 35 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,093 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).