Commuting in Douglas 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, 12:37 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Douglas County?
Map AI9/24/26, 12:37 PM
Commute Time Burden in Douglas County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Douglas County spend about 27 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 113 hours, about 4.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 12% less time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 1.8 minutes.
Douglas County holds about 0.3% of South Dakota's population and accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Douglas County would save about 45 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,401 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)
Douglas County
13.6 min
27.1 min
113 hrs/yr
$3,503
141
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
13.6
minutes to get to work in
Douglas County.
That's 39% 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 walking. About 7.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Douglas County
Car:
83.1%
Walked:
8.3%
Worked at Home:
7.1%
Other:
0.9%
Public Transportation:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Douglas County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.
Biking is unusually rare in Douglas County: 265807217.8 times less than the South Dakota average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Douglas County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Douglas 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
Walked
Worked at Home
Other
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
73.6%
6.9%
17.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.4%
2010
75.3%
6.9%
16.3%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.9%
2011
76.2%
6.3%
16.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
76.3%
5.4%
17.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
77.6%
5.6%
16.1%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2014
78.4%
5.4%
15.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
79.0%
5.2%
14.5%
0.3%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.5%
2016
78.7%
4.3%
14.8%
1.0%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.5%
2017
80.9%
3.9%
12.9%
1.0%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.5%
2018
81.1%
4.6%
12.1%
1.3%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.5%
2019
78.9%
5.4%
13.0%
1.8%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.4%
2020
77.8%
8.9%
10.3%
2.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2021
77.7%
10.7%
9.6%
1.4%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
78.6%
9.7%
9.6%
1.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
80.6%
9.1%
8.7%
1.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
83.1%
8.3%
7.1%
0.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share rose from 73.6% in 2009 to 83.1% in 2024, up 9.5 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 3 releases.
Walking gained the most ground in Douglas County: its share of workers rose from 6.9% in 2009 to 8.3% in 2024, up 1.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 17.7% to 7.1% of workers (down 10.6 percentage points).
Walking overtook working from home to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 10.7% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 8.3%.
Commute Start Times in Douglas County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Douglas County?
The bars show when commuters in Douglas 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 AMDouglas County3.9%South Dakota4.1%
3.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMDouglas County4.5%South Dakota3.1%
4.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMDouglas County4.3%South Dakota5.1%
4.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMDouglas County6.5%South Dakota6.9%
6.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMDouglas County9.6%South Dakota11.3%
9.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMDouglas County21.0%South Dakota16.2%
21.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMDouglas County27.2%South Dakota19.9%
27.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMDouglas County9.9%South Dakota10.2%
9.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMDouglas County1.8%South Dakota3.7%
1.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMDouglas County3.7%South Dakota4.3%
3.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMDouglas County1.3%South Dakota2.0%
1.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMDouglas County0.0%South Dakota1.4%
0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMDouglas County3.7%South Dakota6.1%
3.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMDouglas County2.6%South Dakota5.8%
2.6%
Douglas CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Douglas County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 27.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are about as common as in South Dakota: 12.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Dakota: 67.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 9 commuters (11.3%) 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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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
Douglas County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:36 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:40 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:30 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Douglas County were on the road by 7:30 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:36 AM). South Dakota followed the same path, with the typical start moving 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Douglas 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 Douglas County has moved 5 minutes earlier.
How does Douglas County's commute time compare?
Metric
Douglas County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.6 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
7.1%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
8.3%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.4%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Douglas County is 13.6 minutes, shorter than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
0.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 8.3% commute by walking, higher than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Douglas County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Douglas County, SD is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 2,828 residents against a local median of 7,404. Where Douglas County, SD breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 20% below the local median of 8.9% at 7.1%.
The counties themselves spread 5.9% on work from home, so Douglas County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Douglas County, SD has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Douglas County, South Dakota.
Is living in Douglas County, South Dakota good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 113 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,503 at a typical national wage. That's 12% less than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Douglas County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Douglas 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.
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).