Commuting in Brown County, South Dakota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:11 PM
Is the commute in Brown County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:11 PM
Commute Time Burden in Brown County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Brown County spend about 23 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 97 hours, about 4.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 24% less time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 3.7 minutes.
Brown County holds about 4.2% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 3.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Brown County would save about 39 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,207 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)
Brown County
11.7 min
23.4 min
97 hrs/yr
$3,017
396
South Dakota
15.3 min
30.7 min
128 hrs/yr
$3,961
353
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
11.7
minutes to get to work in
Brown County.
That's 48% 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 6.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Brown County
Car:
89.0%
Worked at Home:
6.3%
Walked:
3.1%
Other:
0.6%
Public Transportation:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Biking is unusually rare in Brown County: 3.3 times less than the South Dakota average (0.1% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Brown County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Brown 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
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
88.6%
4.2%
5.0%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.9%
2010
89.1%
3.6%
5.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.4%
0.1%
0.7%
2011
89.9%
3.1%
5.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.7%
2012
90.1%
3.3%
4.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
0.4%
0.6%
2013
90.9%
3.1%
3.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.3%
0.5%
0.4%
2014
90.9%
3.0%
3.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.2%
0.6%
0.3%
2015
91.4%
3.8%
2.8%
0.7%
0.3%
0.2%
0.5%
0.3%
2016
90.8%
3.8%
3.0%
0.9%
0.3%
0.2%
0.5%
0.6%
2017
91.5%
3.9%
2.4%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
0.5%
2018
90.3%
4.9%
2.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.5%
0.6%
2019
89.4%
5.8%
3.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.4%
0.4%
0.6%
2020
89.4%
4.7%
4.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.5%
0.3%
0.6%
2021
88.1%
6.0%
4.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.4%
0.4%
0.4%
2022
89.1%
5.4%
3.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
2023
88.3%
6.5%
3.9%
0.4%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
89.0%
6.3%
3.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2017 at 91.5% and lowest in 2021 at 88.1%. Overall it held roughly steady, at 88.6% in 2009 and 89.0% in 2024. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Brown County: its share of workers rose from 4.2% in 2009 to 6.3% in 2024, up 2.1 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.0% to 3.1% of workers (down 1.9 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2015 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Brown County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Brown County?
The bars show when commuters in Brown 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 South Dakota for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMBrown County4.0%South Dakota4.1%
4.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMBrown County2.2%South Dakota3.1%
2.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMBrown County5.6%South Dakota5.1%
5.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMBrown County4.5%South Dakota6.9%
4.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMBrown County12.1%South Dakota11.3%
12.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMBrown County14.6%South Dakota16.2%
14.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMBrown County25.6%South Dakota19.9%
25.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMBrown County9.5%South Dakota10.2%
9.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMBrown County3.4%South Dakota3.7%
3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMBrown County4.8%South Dakota4.3%
4.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMBrown County0.9%South Dakota2.0%
0.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMBrown County1.0%South Dakota1.4%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMBrown County5.8%South Dakota6.1%
5.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMBrown County6.0%South Dakota5.8%
6.0%
Brown CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Brown County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 25.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are about as common as in South Dakota: 11.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Dakota: 61.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (18.5%) 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 Brown 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 Brown 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 Brown County next to South 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
Brown County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:46 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:46 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:45 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:44 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:44 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:44 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:38 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Brown County were on the road by 7:38 AM, 7 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:46 AM). The shift is sharper than across South Dakota, where the typical start moved 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Brown County now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Brown County has moved 4 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Brown County in the whole series.
How does Brown County's commute time compare?
Metric
Brown County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
11.7 min
15.3 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
6.3%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
3.1%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Brown County is 11.7 minutes, shorter than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as South Dakota. The share of commuters using walking is about the same as South Dakota.
Brown County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Brown County, SD is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 37,877 residents against a local median of 4,935. Where Brown County, SD breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 47% below the local median of 12.0% at 6.3%.
The counties themselves spread 9.7% on work from home, so Brown County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Brown County, SD has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Brown County, South Dakota.
Is commuting expensive in Brown County, South Dakota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 97 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,017 at a typical national wage. That's 24% less than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Brown County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Brown County, South 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.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in South Dakota?
Among counties in South Dakota, the shortest average commutes are in Jones County (6.7 min), Bennett County (7.5 min), Jackson County (7.8 min). The longest are in Custer County (25.5 min), McCook County (25.4 min), Turner County (23.1 min).