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Oliver County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 8:33 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Oliver County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:33 PM

Commute Time Burden in Oliver County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Oliver County spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 190 hours, about 7.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 65% more time on the road than the North Dakota average of 13.8 minutes each way, a difference of 9.0 minutes.

Oliver County holds about 0.2% of North Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Oliver County would save about 76 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,360 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)
Oliver County 22.8 min 45.7 min 190 hrs/yr $5,900 258
North Dakota 13.8 min 27.6 min 115 hrs/yr $3,567 360
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: North Dakota Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in North Dakota
  1. McIntosh County (6.9 min)
  2. Foster County (7.7 min)
  3. Pierce County (7.7 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in North Dakota
  1. McHenry County (28.9 min)
  2. Renville County (23.5 min)
  3. Oliver County (22.8 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Oliver County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 22.8 minutes to get to work in Oliver County. That's 2% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Among the 3 slowest counties in North Dakota

The most common departure window is 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 9.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Oliver County

  • Car: 88.1%
  • Worked at Home: 9.0%
  • Other: 2.0%
  • Walked: 0.9% unusually low
  • 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 Oliver County, versus 0.2% in North Dakota.

Walking is unusually rare in Oliver County: 3.6 times less than the North Dakota average (0.9% vs 3.2%).

Public transit is essentially absent in Oliver County, versus 0.3% in North Dakota.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Oliver County, versus 0.1% in North Dakota.

Biking is essentially absent in Oliver County, versus 0.3% in North Dakota.

Few people walk or bike to work in Oliver County: just 0.9%, 3.9 times below the North Dakota average of 3.5%.

Commute Mode Trends in Oliver County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Oliver 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 Other Walked Public Transportation Taxi Motorcycle Bicycle
2009 73.2% 20.6% 0.4% 5.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2010 73.8% 21.7% 0.4% 4.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2011 75.3% 20.4% 0.7% 3.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2012 68.6% 25.2% 1.9% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2013 73.5% 19.9% 2.5% 3.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1%
2014 73.2% 20.5% 2.7% 2.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1%
2015 72.1% 21.1% 2.1% 3.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.3%
2016 75.3% 19.2% 1.5% 2.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1%
2017 78.8% 17.5% 0.7% 1.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1%
2018 79.9% 17.1% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2019 82.1% 14.9% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 86.3% 10.6% 0.2% 2.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 81.4% 13.1% 3.4% 2.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 80.0% 13.3% 3.6% 3.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 84.8% 11.5% 2.9% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 88.1% 9.0% 2.0% 0.9% 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 2012 at 68.6%. Overall it rose from 73.2% in 2009 to 88.1% in 2024, up 14.9 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.

Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 20.6% to 9.0% of workers (down 11.6 percentage points).

Biking peaked at 1.3% in 2015 and has since fallen back to 0.0%.

Commute Start Times in Oliver County

  • Early BirdThe earliest start among North Dakota's 53 counties: half of commuters are on the road by 7:00 AM.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe lowest share of rush-hour departures among North Dakota's 53 counties: only 38.1% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
  • Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among North Dakota's 53 counties: the typical start is 30 minutes earlier than in 2009.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Oliver County?

The bars show when commuters in Oliver 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 North Dakota for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM
4.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
7.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
7.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
23.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
7.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
12.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
13.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
4.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
2.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
0.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
5.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
7.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
3.2%

Oliver County North Dakota Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Oliver County is 6:00-6:29 AM, when 23.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 6.7% across North Dakota. Early starts are more common than in North Dakota: 19.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in North Dakota: 38.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.9% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.4%) 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 Oliver 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 Oliver 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 Oliver County next to North Dakota 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 Oliver County North Dakota United States
2009 7:30 AM 7:42 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:27 AM 7:42 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:18 AM 7:41 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:18 AM 7:40 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:18 AM 7:40 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:15 AM 7:39 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:15 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:14 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:11 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:12 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:09 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:01 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:00 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:03 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:02 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:00 AM 7:40 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Oliver County were on the road by 7:00 AM, 30 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:30 AM). The shift is sharper than across North Dakota, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Oliver County now leave 38 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 Oliver County has moved 9 minutes earlier.

How does Oliver County's commute time compare?

Metric Oliver County North Dakota US Average
Avg. Commute Time 22.8 min 13.8 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 06:00 AM – 06:29 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 9.0% 8.1% 15.0%
Walked 0.9% 3.2% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.3% 3.2%

The average commute time in Oliver County is 22.8 minutes, longer than the 13.8 minutes in North Dakota.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.3% in North Dakota. 0.9% commute by walking, lower than the 3.2% in North Dakota.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Oliver County, ND Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Oliver County, ND is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 1,839 residents against a local median of 9,823. Where Oliver County, ND breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 50% above the local median of 15.3 min at 22.8 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 7.0 min on one-way commute, so Oliver County, ND sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Oliver County, ND has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Oliver County, ND 1,839 22.8 min #6/6 9.0% #3/6 7:00 AM #1/6
Morton County, ND 33,777 17.0 min 10.6% 7:40 AM
McLean County, ND 9,823 17.5 min 8.2% 7:28 AM
Mercer County, ND 8,337 15.3 min 5.2% 7:25 AM
Grant County, ND 2,269 10.5 min 16.4% 7:17 AM
Burleigh County, ND 100,591 15.3 min 8.8% 7:39 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Oliver County, North Dakota.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Oliver County, North Dakota?

Commuters here spend an estimated 190 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,900 at a typical national wage. That's 65% more than the typical North Dakota commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Oliver County, North Dakota?

Traffic peaks between 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM in Oliver County, North Dakota. 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.

Do people use public transit in Oliver County, North Dakota?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.3% in North Dakota, 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).