Commuting in Wayne 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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How much time do drivers in Wayne County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:06 PM
Commute Time Burden in Wayne County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Wayne County spend about 21 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 89 hours, about 3.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 37% less time on the road than the Nebraska average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 6.3 minutes.
Wayne County holds about 0.5% of Nebraska's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Wayne County would save about 36 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,107 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)
Wayne County
10.7 min
21.4 min
89 hrs/yr
$2,768
568
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
10.7
minutes to get to work in
Wayne County.
That's 52% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 78% 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 14.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Wayne County
Car:
76.0%
Worked at Home:
14.0%
Walked:
9.3%unusually high
Bicycle:
0.5%
Other:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Wayne County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.
Walking is unusually common in Wayne County: 4.0 times more than the Nebraska average (9.3% vs 2.3%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Wayne County: 23.2 times less than the Nebraska average (0.0% vs 0.5%).
Wayne County stands out for active commuting: 9.8% of workers walk or bike to work, 3.7 times the Nebraska average of 2.7%.
Commute Mode Trends in Wayne County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Wayne 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
Taxi
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
2009
84.4%
6.6%
6.9%
1.1%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
83.9%
7.8%
7.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
85.4%
7.4%
6.2%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
86.8%
7.2%
4.5%
1.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
87.5%
7.5%
3.8%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2014
86.0%
8.4%
4.5%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
86.1%
8.2%
4.4%
1.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
86.0%
8.6%
4.2%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
87.7%
7.5%
4.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
88.1%
7.0%
4.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
88.5%
7.6%
3.8%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
84.6%
11.6%
3.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
81.5%
11.8%
6.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
80.0%
11.5%
8.3%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
78.0%
12.6%
9.2%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
76.0%
14.0%
9.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
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 2019 at 88.5%. Overall it fell from 84.4% in 2009 to 76.0% in 2024, down 8.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Wayne County: its share of workers rose from 6.6% in 2009 to 14.0% in 2024, up 7.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 1.1% to 0.5% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Wayne County
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among Nebraska's 93 counties: the typical start is 26 minutes earlier than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Wayne County?
The bars show when commuters in Wayne 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 AMWayne County7.6%Nebraska4.3%
7.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWayne County4.8%Nebraska3.2%
4.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWayne County5.5%Nebraska5.1%
5.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWayne County8.7%Nebraska7.7%
8.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWayne County5.8%Nebraska10.5%
5.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWayne County17.6%Nebraska15.5%
17.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWayne County13.9%Nebraska16.7%
13.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWayne County6.6%Nebraska10.5%
6.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWayne County9.5%Nebraska4.4%
9.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWayne County3.3%Nebraska4.8%
3.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWayne County2.0%Nebraska2.4%
2.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWayne County2.5%Nebraska1.4%
2.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWayne County5.6%Nebraska7.1%
5.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWayne County6.4%Nebraska6.5%
6.4%
Wayne CountyNebraskaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Wayne County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across Nebraska. Early starts are more common than in Nebraska: 17.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.6% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Nebraska: 44.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 53.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.8%) 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 Wayne 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 Wayne 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 Wayne 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
Wayne County
Nebraska
United States
2009
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:38 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Wayne County were on the road by 7:30 AM, 26 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:56 AM). The shift is sharper than across Nebraska, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Wayne County now leave 8 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 Wayne County has moved 9 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Wayne County in the whole series.
How does Wayne County's commute time compare?
Metric
Wayne County
Nebraska
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
10.7 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
14.0%
11.1%
15.0%
Walked
9.3%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Wayne County is 10.7 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Nebraska.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in Nebraska. 9.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in Nebraska.
Wayne County, NE Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Wayne County, NE is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 9,844 residents against a local median of 7,325. The measure that sets Wayne County, NE apart most is work from home: 14.0%, 75% above the local median of 8.0%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 10.7 min against a local median of 18.7 min, 43% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 43% below the local median it puts Wayne County, NE at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves sit within 2.8% of each other on work from home, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Wayne County, NE, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Wayne County, NE has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Wayne County, Nebraska.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Wayne County, Nebraska?
Commuters here spend an estimated 89 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,768 at a typical national wage. That's 37% less than the typical Nebraska commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Wayne County, Nebraska?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Wayne 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 Wayne 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).