Commuting in Washington County, Nebraska: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:31 PM
Is the commute in Washington County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:31 PM
Commute Time Burden in Washington County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Washington County spend about 43 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 181 hours, about 7.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 28% more time on the road than the Nebraska average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 4.7 minutes.
Washington County holds about 1.1% of Nebraska's population but accounts for roughly 1.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Washington County would save about 72 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,243 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)
Washington County
21.7 min
43.4 min
181 hrs/yr
$5,608
1,540
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
21.7
minutes to get to work in
Washington County.
That's 3% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 92% 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 14.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Washington County
Car:
83.3%
Worked at Home:
14.3%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
0.9%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is essentially absent in Washington County, versus 0.5% in Nebraska.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Washington County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.
Biking is unusually rare in Washington County: 2659029.7 times less than the Nebraska average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Washington County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Washington 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
Motorcycle
Public Transportation
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
88.3%
7.4%
3.3%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
89.0%
6.5%
3.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
90.2%
6.6%
2.2%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
90.5%
5.8%
2.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
91.9%
4.9%
2.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
92.0%
4.4%
3.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
92.0%
4.5%
3.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
91.0%
4.1%
4.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
90.0%
5.2%
4.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
91.0%
4.5%
3.4%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
90.7%
4.5%
2.9%
1.1%
0.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
89.4%
6.3%
2.6%
1.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
86.6%
9.4%
2.0%
1.5%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
86.0%
9.8%
2.3%
1.4%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
86.3%
10.8%
1.3%
1.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
83.3%
14.3%
1.2%
0.9%
0.2%
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 peaked in 2014 at 92.0%. Overall it fell from 88.3% in 2009 to 83.3% in 2024, down 5.0 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Washington County: its share of workers rose from 7.4% in 2009 to 14.3% in 2024, up 6.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.3% to 1.2% of workers (down 2.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Washington County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Washington County?
The bars show when commuters in Washington 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 AMWashington County4.1%Nebraska4.3%
4.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWashington County4.1%Nebraska3.2%
4.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWashington County4.7%Nebraska5.1%
4.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWashington County9.3%Nebraska7.7%
9.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWashington County12.6%Nebraska10.5%
12.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWashington County19.3%Nebraska15.5%
19.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWashington County16.5%Nebraska16.7%
16.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWashington County9.6%Nebraska10.5%
9.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWashington County2.9%Nebraska4.4%
2.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWashington County3.7%Nebraska4.8%
3.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWashington County1.1%Nebraska2.4%
1.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWashington County0.6%Nebraska1.4%
0.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWashington County4.5%Nebraska7.1%
4.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWashington County6.9%Nebraska6.5%
6.9%
Washington CountyNebraskaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Washington County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 19.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across Nebraska. Early starts are about as common as in Nebraska: 12.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Nebraska: 58.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 53.1% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.8%) 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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
Washington County
Nebraska
United States
2009
7:22 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:24 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:20 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:18 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:14 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:17 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:20 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Washington County were on the road by 7:24 AM, 1 minute later than in 2009 (7:22 AM). That goes against the trend across Nebraska, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Washington County now leave 14 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 Washington County has moved 5 minutes later.
How does Washington County's commute time compare?
Metric
Washington County
Nebraska
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.7 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
14.3%
11.1%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Washington County is 21.7 minutes, longer than the 17.0 minutes in Nebraska.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in Nebraska. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.3% in Nebraska.
Washington County, NE Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Washington County, NE is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 21,106 residents against a local median of 37,351. Where Washington County, NE breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 20% above the local median of 12.0% at 14.3%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 21.7 min against a local median of 18.4 min, 18% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 18% above the local median it puts Washington County, NE at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 12.0% on work from home, so Washington County, NE sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Washington County, NE has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Washington County, Nebraska.
Is commuting expensive in Washington County, Nebraska?
Commuters here spend an estimated 181 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,608 at a typical national wage. That's 28% more than the typical Nebraska commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Washington County, Nebraska?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Washington 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 Washington 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).