Day County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Day County, South Dakota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 8:37 PM

How many minutes is the average drive to work in Day County?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:37 PM

Commute Time Burden in Day County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Day County spend about 31 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 127 hours, about 5.3 full days, spent commuting. That is about the same time on the road as the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way.

Day County holds about 0.6% of South Dakota's population and accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Day County would save about 51 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,577 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)
Day County	15.3 min	30.5 min	127 hrs/yr	$3,942	221
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.

Commute Time Map: South Dakota Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in South Dakota

Jones County (6.7 min)
Bennett County (7.5 min)
Jackson County (7.8 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in South Dakota

Custer County (25.5 min)
McCook County (25.4 min)
Turner County (23.1 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Day County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 15.3 minutes to get to work in Day County. That's 32% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

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 12.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Day County

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Day County, versus 0.2% in South Dakota.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Day County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.

Biking is essentially absent in Day County, versus 0.3% in South Dakota.

Commute Mode Trends in Day County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Day 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	Public Transportation	Other	Taxi	Motorcycle	Bicycle
2009	82.8%	9.4%	5.7%	0.2%	0.9%	0.0%	0.3%	0.7%
2010	82.8%	9.1%	6.4%	0.2%	0.3%	0.0%	0.3%	0.8%
2011	83.2%	9.0%	5.1%	0.4%	1.0%	0.0%	0.4%	0.9%
2012	82.5%	9.7%	4.8%	0.7%	1.4%	0.0%	0.2%	0.7%
2013	83.7%	9.2%	5.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.0%	0.4%	0.4%
2014	84.4%	8.4%	5.9%	0.3%	0.3%	0.0%	0.6%	0.2%
2015	79.7%	13.0%	5.5%	0.4%	0.8%	0.0%	0.5%	0.2%
2016	78.4%	14.4%	5.3%	0.2%	0.9%	0.0%	0.6%	0.1%
2017	79.5%	13.2%	5.8%	0.3%	1.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
2018	79.1%	11.9%	7.1%	0.3%	0.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%
2019	79.7%	12.4%	6.3%	0.3%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.5%
2020	84.1%	9.6%	5.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%
2021	82.8%	10.3%	5.2%	0.4%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.5%
2022	83.7%	10.9%	4.3%	0.2%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%
2023	83.3%	11.6%	4.3%	0.3%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	83.6%	12.0%	3.2%	0.7%	0.5%	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 84.4% and lowest in 2016 at 78.4%. Overall it rose from 82.8% in 2009 to 83.6% in 2024, up 0.8 percentage points.

Working from home gained the most ground in Day County: its share of workers rose from 9.4% in 2009 to 12.0% in 2024, up 2.6 percentage points.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.7% to 3.2% of workers (down 2.5 percentage points).

Public transit overtook riding a motorcycle to become the 4th most common choice in the 2017 release and has stayed ahead since.

Working from home peaked at 14.4% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 12.0%.

Commute Start Times in Day County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Day County?

The bars show when commuters in Day 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		3.0%
5:00-5:29 AM		0.6%
5:30-5:59 AM		7.0%
6:00-6:29 AM		8.9%
6:30-6:59 AM		4.6%
7:00-7:29 AM		22.6%
7:30-7:59 AM		21.6%
8:00-8:29 AM		16.4%
8:30-8:59 AM		2.2%
9:00-9:59 AM		4.0%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.9%
12:00-3:59 PM		2.9%
4:00-11:59 PM		2.1%

Day County South Dakota Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Day County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 22.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.2% across South Dakota. Early starts are less common than in South Dakota: 10.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Dakota: 65.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 8 commuters (13.1%) 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 Day 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 Day 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 Day 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	Day County	South Dakota	United States
2009	7:35 AM	7:40 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:40 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:36 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:39 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:35 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:35 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:33 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:33 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:30 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:31 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:34 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:36 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:37 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:36 AM	7:36 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:33 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:35 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Day County were on the road by 7:35 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across South Dakota, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 5 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Day County now leave 3 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).

How does Day County's commute time compare?

Metric	Day County	South Dakota	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	15.3 min	15.3 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	12.0%	9.7%	15.0%
Walked	3.2%	3.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.7%	0.5%	3.2%

The average commute time in Day County is about the same as in South Dakota.

0.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 3.2% commute by walking, higher than the 3.1% in South Dakota.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Day County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Day County, SD is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 5,437 residents against a local median of 4,344. Where Day County, SD breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 108% above the local median of 5.8% at 12.0%.

One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 15.3 min against a local median of 12.6 min, 21% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 21% above the local median it puts Day County, SD at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 12.2% on work from home, so Day County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Day County, SD has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Day County, SD	5,437	15.3 min #5/6	12.0% #2/6	7:35 AM #3/6
Marshall County, SD	4,344	11.4 min	4.9%	7:35 AM
Clark County, SD	3,917	16.2 min	17.1%	7:16 AM
Codington County, SD	28,767	11.8 min	5.6%	7:38 AM
Roberts County, SD	10,221	13.7 min	9.0%	7:38 AM
Sargent County, ND	3,804	12.6 min	5.8%	7:27 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Day County, South Dakota.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Day County, South Dakota?

Commuters here spend an estimated 127 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,942 at a typical national wage.

When is rush hour worst in Day County, South Dakota?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Day County, South Dakota. 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 do commute times compare across 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).