Walsh County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Walsh 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, 7:54 PM

Is the commute in Walsh County longer than the national average?

Map AI 9/24/26, 7:54 PM

Commute Time Burden in Walsh County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Walsh County spend about 25 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 105 hours, about 4.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% less time on the road than the North Dakota average of 13.8 minutes each way, a difference of 1.2 minutes.

Walsh County holds about 1.3% of North Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 1.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Walsh County would save about 42 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,305 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)
Walsh County	12.6 min	25.3 min	105 hrs/yr	$3,263	262
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

McIntosh County (6.9 min)
Foster County (7.7 min)
Pierce County (7.7 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in North Dakota

McHenry County (28.9 min)
Renville County (23.5 min)
Oliver County (22.8 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Walsh County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 12.6 minutes to get to work in Walsh County. That's 44% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

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 4.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Walsh County

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Walsh County, versus 0.2% in North Dakota.

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

Commute Mode Trends in Walsh County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Walsh 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	Bicycle	Other	Public Transportation	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	88.8%	7.7%	3.0%	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2010	86.5%	8.7%	4.4%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2011	87.9%	7.0%	4.6%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%
2012	88.1%	6.4%	4.8%	0.5%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%	0.1%
2013	88.1%	6.4%	4.9%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%	0.2%	0.0%
2014	87.7%	5.6%	5.8%	0.6%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%
2015	88.4%	5.4%	5.1%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%
2016	88.7%	5.3%	4.9%	0.7%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%
2017	88.7%	5.5%	4.6%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	90.5%	4.0%	4.2%	0.8%	0.3%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2019	91.7%	4.1%	3.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2020	93.2%	3.8%	2.3%	0.2%	0.4%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2021	91.7%	4.1%	3.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2022	91.8%	3.7%	3.9%	0.1%	0.1%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%
2023	90.8%	4.4%	3.7%	0.1%	0.6%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	90.9%	4.2%	3.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	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 2020 at 93.2% and lowest in 2010 at 86.5%. Overall it rose from 88.8% in 2009 to 90.9% in 2024, up 2.1 percentage points.

Walking gained the most ground in Walsh County: its share of workers rose from 3.0% in 2009 to 3.6% in 2024, up 0.6 percentage points.

Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 7.7% to 4.2% of workers (down 3.5 percentage points).

Walking peaked at 5.8% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 3.6%.

Commute Start Times in Walsh County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Walsh County?

The bars show when commuters in Walsh 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		4.7%
5:00-5:29 AM		2.8%
5:30-5:59 AM		6.5%
6:00-6:29 AM		6.3%
6:30-6:59 AM		12.8%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.6%
7:30-7:59 AM		26.8%
8:00-8:29 AM		9.1%
8:30-8:59 AM		3.7%
9:00-9:59 AM		4.0%
10:00-10:59 AM		0.5%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.3%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.5%
4:00-11:59 PM		2.4%

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

The busiest time to head out in Walsh County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 26.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 20.9% across North Dakota. Early starts are more common than in North Dakota: 14.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in North Dakota: 62.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.9% there. About 1 in 7 commuters (13.7%) 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 Walsh 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 Walsh 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 Walsh 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	Walsh County	North Dakota	United States
2009	7:31 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:36 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:33 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:34 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:38 AM	7:40 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:36 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:34 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:35 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:34 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:27 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:30 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:33 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:34 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:32 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:37 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:34 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Walsh County were on the road by 7:34 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:31 AM). That goes against the trend across North Dakota, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Walsh County now leave 4 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 Walsh County has moved 4 minutes later.

How does Walsh County's commute time compare?

Metric	Walsh County	North Dakota	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	12.6 min	13.8 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	4.2%	8.1%	15.0%
Walked	3.6%	3.2%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.3%	0.3%	3.2%

The average commute time in Walsh County is 12.6 minutes, shorter than the 13.8 minutes in North Dakota.

The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as North Dakota. 3.6% commute by walking, higher than the 3.2% in North Dakota.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Walsh County, ND Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Walsh County, ND is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 10,396 residents against a local median of 3,633. Walsh County, ND's work from home, at 4.2%, runs 48% below the 8.1% typical of the counties around it.

The counties themselves spread 5.8% on work from home, so Walsh County, ND sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Walsh County, ND has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Walsh County, ND	10,396	12.6 min #4/6	4.2% #6/6	7:34 AM #3/6
Pembina County, ND	6,727	12.9 min	7.9%	7:30 AM
Grand Forks County, ND	72,923	12.5 min	6.5%	7:45 AM
Nelson County, ND	3,016	12.0 min	8.1%	7:34 AM
Cavalier County, ND	3,633	11.9 min	8.6%	7:47 AM
Steele County, ND	1,804	13.2 min	12.3%	7:26 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Walsh County, North Dakota.

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

Commuters here spend an estimated 105 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,263 at a typical national wage. That's 9% less than the typical North Dakota commuter spends.

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

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Walsh County, 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.

Which counties in North Dakota have the fastest and slowest commutes?

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).