Commuting in Otoe County, Nebraska: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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Is the commute in Otoe County longer than the national average?
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Commute Time Burden in Otoe County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Otoe 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 1% less time on the road than the Nebraska average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 0.1 minutes.
Otoe County holds about 0.8% of Nebraska's population and accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Otoe County would save about 56 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,745 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)
Otoe County
16.9 min
33.8 min
141 hrs/yr
$4,362
410
Nebraska
17.0 min
34.0 min
142 hrs/yr
$4,390
691
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
Otoe County.
That's 25% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 70% of counties in Nebraska
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 5.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Otoe County
Car:
91.4%
Worked at Home:
5.2%
Walked:
2.9%
Other:
0.3%
Bicycle:
0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Otoe County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.
Public transit is unusually rare in Otoe County: 19.1 times less than the Nebraska average (0.0% vs 0.5%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Otoe County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.
Biking is unusually rare in Otoe County: 3.0 times less than the Nebraska average (0.1% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Otoe County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Otoe 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
90.0%
6.8%
2.0%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2010
90.1%
7.0%
1.7%
0.9%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
90.4%
7.0%
1.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2012
89.3%
7.0%
2.3%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2013
91.3%
4.7%
2.5%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
91.8%
3.6%
3.4%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
91.3%
3.9%
3.5%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
90.0%
4.8%
3.9%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
90.8%
5.4%
3.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
89.8%
6.3%
3.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
90.5%
6.7%
2.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
90.5%
6.1%
3.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
90.5%
5.6%
3.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
89.7%
6.4%
3.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
90.8%
5.9%
2.8%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
91.4%
5.2%
2.9%
0.3%
0.1%
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 was highest in 2014 at 91.8% and lowest in 2012 at 89.3%. Overall it rose from 90.0% in 2009 to 91.4% in 2024, up 1.4 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Walking gained the most ground in Otoe County: its share of workers rose from 2.0% in 2009 to 2.9% in 2024, up 0.9 percentage points.
Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 6.8% to 5.2% of workers (down 1.6 percentage points).
Walking peaked at 3.9% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 2.9%.
Commute Start Times in Otoe County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Otoe County?
The bars show when commuters in Otoe 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 Nebraska for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMOtoe County5.6%Nebraska4.3%
5.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMOtoe County5.8%Nebraska3.2%
5.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMOtoe County5.4%Nebraska5.1%
5.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMOtoe County7.8%Nebraska7.7%
7.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMOtoe County9.9%Nebraska10.5%
9.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMOtoe County18.5%Nebraska15.5%
18.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMOtoe County16.4%Nebraska16.7%
16.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMOtoe County6.1%Nebraska10.5%
6.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMOtoe County3.4%Nebraska4.4%
3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMOtoe County4.7%Nebraska4.8%
4.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMOtoe County2.0%Nebraska2.4%
2.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMOtoe County0.5%Nebraska1.4%
0.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMOtoe County5.3%Nebraska7.1%
5.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMOtoe County8.3%Nebraska6.5%
8.3%
Otoe CountyNebraskaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Otoe County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 18.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across Nebraska. Early starts are more common than in Nebraska: 16.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.6% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Nebraska: 51.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 53.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.9%) 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 Otoe 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 Otoe 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 Otoe County next to Nebraska 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
Otoe County
Nebraska
United States
2009
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:23 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:25 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:26 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:26 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:25 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:27 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Otoe County were on the road by 7:25 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:27 AM). Nebraska followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Otoe County now leave 13 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 Otoe County has moved 5 minutes earlier.
How does Otoe County's commute time compare?
Metric
Otoe County
Nebraska
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.9 min
17.0 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 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
5.2%
11.1%
15.0%
Walked
2.9%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Otoe County is about the same as in Nebraska.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in Nebraska. 2.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in Nebraska.
Otoe County, NE Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Otoe County, NE is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 16,241 residents against a local median of 7,046. The measure that sets Otoe County, NE apart most is work from home: 5.2%, 57% below the local median of 12.3%.
The counties themselves spread 5.9% on work from home, so Otoe County, NE sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Otoe County, NE has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Otoe County, Nebraska.
Is living in Otoe County, Nebraska good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 141 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,362 at a typical national wage. That's 1% less than the typical Nebraska commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Otoe County, Nebraska?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Otoe County, Nebraska. 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.
How common is public transit use in Otoe County, Nebraska?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.5% in Nebraska, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in Nebraska have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Nebraska, the shortest average commutes are in Hooker County (7.4 min), Cherry County (8.0 min), Box Butte County (8.0 min). The longest are in Cass County (28.0 min), Banner County (27.2 min), Saunders County (26.9 min).