Pricing
Map Drive-Time Zone10-min drive time • PDF report

Sanders County Commute Time Map & Patterns

Help

Commuting in Sanders 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, 7:14 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Sanders County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 7:14 PM

Commute Time Burden in Sanders County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Sanders County spend about 26 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 108 hours, about 4.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 19% less time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 3.1 minutes.

Sanders County holds about 1.2% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 1.0% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Sanders County would save about 43 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,337 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)
Sanders County 12.9 min 25.9 min 108 hrs/yr $3,341 223
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
  1. Treasure County (7.2 min)
  2. Rosebud County (8.2 min)
  3. Fallon County (8.4 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Montana
  1. Broadwater County (30.3 min)
  2. Stillwater County (27.8 min)
  3. Granite County (23.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Sanders County
Click a county to open it Explore the map →
Average commute time

On average, it takes 12.9 minutes to get to work in Sanders County. That's 42% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 15.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Sanders County

  • Car: 74.8%
  • Worked at Home: 15.2%
  • Walked: 6.7%
  • Other: 1.3%
  • Bicycle: 1.2%
  • Public Transportation: 0.6%
  • Motorcycle: 0.1%
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low

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

Commute Mode Trends in Sanders County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Sanders 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 Bicycle Public Transportation Motorcycle Taxi
2009 82.8% 10.0% 6.2% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2010 83.2% 8.2% 7.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2011 82.2% 8.6% 7.4% 0.6% 0.5% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0%
2012 84.4% 7.1% 6.5% 0.3% 0.7% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0%
2013 84.7% 8.1% 5.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2014 84.4% 9.5% 4.2% 0.7% 0.5% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2015 82.5% 12.2% 3.6% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0%
2016 79.5% 13.0% 5.6% 0.8% 0.5% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2017 75.8% 17.3% 5.6% 1.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
2018 71.4% 18.4% 7.1% 2.6% 0.4% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
2019 73.6% 17.0% 6.8% 2.4% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 73.7% 16.6% 6.2% 3.2% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 76.1% 16.0% 4.5% 3.0% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 75.0% 15.2% 5.9% 2.6% 1.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
2023 77.4% 14.5% 5.1% 1.3% 1.5% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
2024 74.8% 15.2% 6.7% 1.3% 1.2% 0.6% 0.1% 0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2013 at 84.7% and lowest in 2018 at 71.4%. Overall it fell from 82.8% in 2009 to 74.8% in 2024, down 8.0 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Sanders County: its share of workers rose from 10.0% in 2009 to 15.2% in 2024, up 5.2 percentage points.

Biking overtook public transit to become the 5th most common choice in the 2018 release and has stayed ahead since.

Working from home peaked at 18.4% in 2018 and has since fallen back to 15.2%.

Commute Start Times in Sanders County

  • Dawn PatrolThe highest share of pre-6 AM departures among Montana's 56 counties: 24.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe lowest share of rush-hour departures among Montana's 56 counties: only 41.3% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
  • Early BirdThe 3rd-earliest start among Montana's 56 counties: half of commuters are on the road by 7:16 AM.
  • Earlier AlarmsThe 3rd-biggest shift to earlier mornings among Montana's 56 counties: the typical start is 23 minutes earlier than in 2009.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Sanders County?

The bars show when commuters in Sanders 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
11.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
3.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
8.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
13.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
10.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
15.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
9.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.2%
9:00-9:59 AM
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
1.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
5.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
1.5%

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

The busiest time to head out in Sanders County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are more common than in Montana: 24.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Montana: 41.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.8%) 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 Sanders 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 Sanders 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 Sanders 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 Sanders County Montana United States
2009 7:40 AM 7:45 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:44 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:42 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:43 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:44 AM 7:45 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:47 AM 7:45 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:46 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:49 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:46 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:45 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:42 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:41 AM 7:45 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:38 AM 7:45 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:34 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:29 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:16 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Sanders County were on the road by 7:16 AM, 23 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 Sanders County now leave 22 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 Sanders County has moved 26 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Sanders County in the whole series.

How does Sanders County's commute time compare?

Metric Sanders County Montana US Average
Avg. Commute Time 12.9 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 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 15.2% 12.5% 15.0%
Walked 6.7% 3.9% 2.4%
Public Transit 0.6% 0.6% 3.2%

The average commute time in Sanders County is 12.9 minutes, shorter than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.

The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Montana. 6.7% commute by walking, higher than the 3.9% in Montana.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Sanders County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Sanders County, MT is typical in size for this group, 13,282 residents against a local median of 13,782, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Sanders County, MT breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 51% above the local median of 10.1% at 15.2%.

The counties themselves spread 7.4% on work from home, so Sanders County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Sanders 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
Sanders County, MT 13,282 12.9 min #2/6 15.2% #2/6 7:16 AM #2/6
Mineral County, MT 4,955 20.5 min 9.9% 7:24 AM
Shoshone County, ID 13,782 13.4 min 8.1% 7:30 AM
Lincoln County, MT 21,175 11.2 min 15.5% 7:32 AM
Lake County, MT 32,553 17.1 min 13.2% 7:42 AM
Clearwater County, ID 9,011 15.2 min 10.1% 7:01 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Sanders County, Montana.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Sanders County, Montana?

Commuters here spend an estimated 108 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,341 at a typical national wage. That's 19% less than the typical Montana commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Sanders County, Montana?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Sanders County, Montana. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).