Commuting in Clark 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, 7:58 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Clark County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:58 PM
Commute Time Burden in Clark County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Clark County spend about 32 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 135 hours, about 5.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 6% more time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 0.9 minutes.
Clark County holds about 0.4% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Clark County would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,673 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)
Clark County
16.2 min
32.4 min
135 hrs/yr
$4,183
266
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
16.2
minutes to get to work in
Clark County.
That's 28% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 72% of counties in South Dakota
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 17.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Clark County
Car:
80.1%
Worked at Home:
17.1%
Walked:
2.3%
Other:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Clark County, versus 0.2% in South Dakota.
Public transit is essentially absent in Clark County, versus 0.5% in South Dakota.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Clark County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.
Commute Mode Trends in Clark County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Clark 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
77.9%
9.9%
11.2%
0.0%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
75.2%
10.8%
12.1%
0.0%
0.8%
0.8%
0.0%
0.4%
2011
76.2%
9.5%
12.4%
0.0%
0.9%
0.5%
0.0%
0.5%
2012
77.2%
13.9%
7.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
75.7%
16.2%
7.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
74.7%
16.1%
8.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
73.6%
15.8%
9.4%
0.9%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
74.9%
12.3%
11.0%
1.0%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
79.7%
8.8%
9.6%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
79.0%
11.2%
7.1%
2.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
77.8%
15.3%
4.4%
1.7%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
79.0%
16.6%
3.4%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
77.8%
18.2%
3.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
75.8%
18.9%
4.3%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
77.5%
17.1%
4.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
80.1%
17.1%
2.3%
0.4%
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 bottomed out in 2015 at 73.6%. Overall it rose from 77.9% in 2009 to 80.1% in 2024, up 2.2 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Clark County: its share of workers rose from 9.9% in 2009 to 17.1% in 2024, up 7.2 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 11.2% to 2.3% of workers (down 8.9 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2018 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 18.9% in 2022 and has since fallen back to 17.1%.
Commute Start Times in Clark County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Clark County?
The bars show when commuters in Clark 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 AMClark County3.9%South Dakota4.1%
3.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMClark County8.6%South Dakota3.1%
8.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMClark County6.8%South Dakota5.1%
6.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMClark County8.4%South Dakota6.9%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMClark County13.8%South Dakota11.3%
13.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMClark County16.3%South Dakota16.2%
16.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMClark County19.4%South Dakota19.9%
19.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMClark County6.4%South Dakota10.2%
6.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMClark County3.9%South Dakota3.7%
3.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMClark County2.9%South Dakota4.3%
2.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMClark County2.2%South Dakota2.0%
2.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMClark County0.1%South Dakota1.4%
0.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMClark County6.1%South Dakota6.1%
6.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMClark County1.3%South Dakota5.8%
1.3%
Clark CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Clark County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 19.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are more common than in South Dakota: 19.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush looks much like South Dakota's: 55.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 8 commuters (12.5%) 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 Clark 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 Clark 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 Clark 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
Clark County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:25 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:30 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:25 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:18 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:20 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:25 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:24 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:26 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:16 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Clark County were on the road by 7:16 AM, 10 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:25 AM). The shift is sharper than across South Dakota, where the typical start moved 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Clark County now leave 22 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 Clark County has moved 17 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Clark County in the whole series.
How does Clark County's commute time compare?
Metric
Clark County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.2 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
17.1%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Clark County is 16.2 minutes, longer than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 2.3% commute by walking, lower than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Clark County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Clark County, SD is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 3,917 residents against a local median of 6,219. Clark County, SD's work from home, at 17.1%, runs 100% above the 8.5% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 16.2 min against a local median of 13.5 min, 20% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 20% above the local median it puts Clark County, SD at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 9.1% on work from home, so Clark County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Clark County, SD has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Clark County, South Dakota.
Is living in Clark County, South Dakota good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 135 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,183 at a typical national wage. That's 6% more than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Clark County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Clark 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.
How common is public transit use in Clark County, South Dakota?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.5% in South Dakota, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Is Clark County, South Dakota a good location for remote and hybrid workers?
About 17.1% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Clark County would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,673 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Which counties in South Dakota have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).