Commuting in North Dakota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 11:43 AM
How much time do drivers in North Dakota spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 11:43 AM
Commute Time Burden in North Dakota: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in North Dakota spend about 28 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 115 hours, about 4.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 38% less time on the road than the US average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 8.6 minutes.
North Dakota holds about 0.2% of US's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in North Dakota would save about 46 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,427 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)
North Dakota
13.8 min
27.6 min
115 hrs/yr
$3,567
360
US
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
13.8
minutes to get to work in
North Dakota.
That's 38% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 3 fastest states in US
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 8.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in North Dakota
Car:
86.8%
Worked at Home:
8.1%
Walked:
3.2%
Other:
1.0%
Public Transportation:
0.3%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in North Dakota: 9.5 times less than the US average (0.3% vs 3.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in North Dakota, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in North Dakota 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
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
88.5%
5.7%
4.0%
0.6%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
88.3%
5.7%
3.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
88.4%
5.7%
3.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
88.5%
5.7%
3.9%
0.6%
0.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
88.9%
5.2%
4.0%
0.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
89.1%
5.1%
3.9%
0.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2015
89.4%
5.0%
3.9%
0.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
89.8%
4.9%
3.6%
0.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
89.9%
4.8%
3.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
90.2%
4.7%
3.4%
0.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
90.5%
4.4%
3.4%
0.6%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
89.7%
5.2%
3.2%
0.8%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
89.1%
5.8%
3.2%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
88.7%
6.3%
3.2%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
87.7%
7.3%
3.2%
0.9%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
86.8%
8.1%
3.2%
1.0%
0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2019 at 90.5%. Overall it fell from 88.5% in 2009 to 86.8% in 2024, down 1.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in North Dakota: its share of workers rose from 5.7% in 2009 to 8.1% in 2024, up 2.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.0% to 3.2% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in North Dakota
What Time Do People Leave for Work in North Dakota?
The bars show when commuters in North Dakota 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 the U.S. for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMNorth Dakota3.6%The U.S.5.5%
3.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMNorth Dakota2.7%The U.S.4.0%
2.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMNorth Dakota4.4%The U.S.4.9%
4.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMNorth Dakota6.7%The U.S.8.7%
6.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMNorth Dakota11.2%The U.S.9.4%
11.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMNorth Dakota14.8%The U.S.14.4%
14.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMNorth Dakota20.9%The U.S.11.9%
20.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMNorth Dakota11.0%The U.S.11.5%
11.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMNorth Dakota4.7%The U.S.5.5%
4.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMNorth Dakota4.5%The U.S.6.8%
4.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMNorth Dakota2.3%The U.S.3.1%
2.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMNorth Dakota1.0%The U.S.1.5%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMNorth Dakota6.4%The U.S.6.8%
6.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMNorth Dakota5.9%The U.S.6.1%
5.9%
North DakotaThe U.S.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in North Dakota is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 20.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.9% across the U.S.. Early starts are less common than in the U.S.: 10.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in the U.S.: 57.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.1%) 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 North Dakota, 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota next to 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
North Dakota
United States
2009
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:40 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in North Dakota were on the road by 7:40 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:42 AM). Commuters in North Dakota now leave 2 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 North Dakota has moved 2 minutes later.
How does North Dakota's commute time compare?
Metric
North Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.8 min
22.4 min
Work From Home
8.1%
15.0%
Walked
3.2%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in North Dakota is 13.8 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in US.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.2% in US. 3.2% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in US.
North Dakota is the 5th largest of the 6 states compared here, 784,730 residents against a local median of 1,978,686. The measure that sets North Dakota apart most is work from home: 8.1%, 26% below the local median of 11.1%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 13.8 min against a local median of 17.0 min, 19% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 19% below the local median it puts North Dakota at the better end of the local range. The states themselves spread 8.2% on work from home, so North Dakota sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. North Dakota has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Commuters here spend an estimated 115 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,567 at a typical national wage. That's 38% less than the typical US commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in North Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in North Dakota. 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in North Dakota?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.3% of commuters use it versus 3.2% in the U.S., meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in North Dakota?
Among counties in North Dakota, the shortest average commutes are in McIntosh County (6.9 min), Foster County (7.7 min), Pierce County (7.7 min). The longest are in McHenry County (28.9 min), Renville County (23.5 min), Oliver County (22.8 min).