Commuting in Yellowstone 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, 8:34 PM
How much time do drivers in Yellowstone County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:34 PM
Commute Time Burden in Yellowstone County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Yellowstone County spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 141 hours, about 5.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 6% more time on the road than the Montana average of 16.0 minutes each way, a difference of 0.9 minutes.
Yellowstone County holds about 15.1% of Montana's population but accounts for roughly 16.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Yellowstone County would save about 56 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,751 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)
Yellowstone County
16.9 min
33.9 min
141 hrs/yr
$4,379
1,398
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
16.9
minutes to get to work in
Yellowstone County.
That's 24% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 78% 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 8.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Yellowstone County
Car:
86.8%
Worked at Home:
8.9%
Walked:
1.9%
Public Transportation:
1.0%
Other:
0.9%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Yellowstone County: 3.9 times less than the Montana average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Yellowstone County: 3.3 times less than the Montana average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Yellowstone County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Yellowstone 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
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
90.6%
3.6%
2.8%
1.3%
0.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2010
90.7%
3.7%
2.8%
1.3%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
2011
90.3%
3.8%
3.1%
1.5%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
90.4%
3.5%
3.2%
1.1%
0.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
90.4%
3.9%
3.1%
0.9%
0.8%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
90.9%
3.7%
2.8%
1.0%
0.7%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
91.0%
3.7%
2.8%
1.0%
0.6%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
91.1%
3.8%
2.8%
0.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2017
91.4%
4.0%
2.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
2018
91.9%
3.7%
2.6%
0.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
2019
91.7%
3.8%
2.7%
0.5%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2020
90.6%
5.2%
2.3%
0.8%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
89.7%
6.3%
2.1%
0.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
88.6%
7.1%
1.8%
1.0%
0.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
87.7%
8.0%
2.0%
0.9%
0.9%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
86.8%
8.9%
1.9%
1.0%
0.9%
0.5%
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 2018 at 91.9%. Overall it fell from 90.6% in 2009 to 86.8% in 2024, down 3.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Yellowstone County: its share of workers rose from 3.6% in 2009 to 8.9% in 2024, up 5.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.8% to 1.9% of workers (down 0.9 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Yellowstone County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Yellowstone County?
The bars show when commuters in Yellowstone 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 AMYellowstone County4.6%Montana4.0%
4.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMYellowstone County2.7%Montana2.7%
2.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMYellowstone County4.5%Montana4.0%
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMYellowstone County6.5%Montana6.7%
6.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMYellowstone County12.3%Montana10.3%
12.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMYellowstone County15.4%Montana13.7%
15.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMYellowstone County17.8%Montana19.2%
17.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMYellowstone County10.4%Montana11.7%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMYellowstone County5.1%Montana5.7%
5.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMYellowstone County5.2%Montana6.3%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMYellowstone County2.9%Montana3.3%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMYellowstone County1.4%Montana1.5%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMYellowstone County5.4%Montana5.7%
5.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMYellowstone County5.8%Montana5.2%
5.8%
Yellowstone CountyMontanaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Yellowstone County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 17.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.2% across Montana. Early starts are more common than in Montana: 11.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Montana's: 55.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 55.0% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.7%) 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 Yellowstone 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 Yellowstone 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 Yellowstone 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
Yellowstone County
Montana
United States
2009
7:45 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:42 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:42 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:42 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:43 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:41 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:40 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:40 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:39 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:39 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:41 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:41 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:41 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:40 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:37 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Yellowstone County were on the road by 7:37 AM, 8 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:45 AM). The shift is sharper than across Montana, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Yellowstone County now leave 1 minute 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 Yellowstone County has moved 4 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Yellowstone County in the whole series.
How does Yellowstone County's commute time compare?
Metric
Yellowstone County
Montana
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.9 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
8.9%
12.5%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
3.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.0%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Yellowstone County is 16.9 minutes, longer than the 16.0 minutes in Montana.
1.0% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in Montana. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 3.9% in Montana.
Yellowstone County, MT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Yellowstone County, MT is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 168,956 residents against a local median of 5,152. Yellowstone County, MT's work from home, at 8.9%, runs 37% below the 14.1% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 14.8% on work from home, so Yellowstone County, MT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Yellowstone County, MT has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Yellowstone County, Montana.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Yellowstone County, Montana?
Commuters here spend an estimated 141 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,379 at a typical national wage. That's 6% more than the typical Montana commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Yellowstone County, Montana?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Yellowstone 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.
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).