Lake County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Lake 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, 8:11 PM

How much time do drivers in Lake County spend on the road daily?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:11 PM

Commute Time Burden in Lake County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Lake County spend about 22 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 90 hours, about 3.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 29% less time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 4.5 minutes.

Lake County holds about 1.2% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 0.9% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Lake County would save about 36 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,121 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)
Lake County	10.9 min	21.7 min	90 hrs/yr	$2,803	630
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

Lake County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 10.9 minutes to get to work in Lake County. That's 52% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 74% 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 10.5% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Lake County

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

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

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

Commute Mode Trends in Lake County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Lake 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	Taxi	Motorcycle	Bicycle
2009	87.7%	4.6%	6.7%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%
2010	86.3%	4.7%	8.2%	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.2%
2011	84.9%	6.3%	8.6%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2012	82.9%	7.4%	9.0%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%
2013	81.9%	8.1%	9.3%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%
2014	82.4%	8.7%	8.2%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%
2015	83.9%	8.5%	6.5%	0.6%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%
2016	82.5%	9.6%	6.1%	0.8%	0.3%	0.0%	0.3%	0.4%
2017	85.8%	8.5%	4.0%	0.9%	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%	0.1%
2018	88.2%	7.2%	3.3%	0.5%	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%	0.1%
2019	87.2%	6.7%	4.6%	0.6%	0.2%	0.2%	0.5%	0.0%
2020	87.3%	7.4%	2.9%	1.0%	0.6%	0.1%	0.6%	0.0%
2021	86.1%	8.1%	4.1%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2022	85.3%	9.1%	3.9%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2023	83.1%	9.6%	4.7%	1.1%	1.4%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	83.8%	10.5%	3.8%	1.0%	0.9%	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 2018 at 88.2% and lowest in 2013 at 81.9%. Overall it fell from 87.7% in 2009 to 83.8% in 2024, down 3.9 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Lake County: its share of workers rose from 4.6% in 2009 to 10.5% in 2024, up 5.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 6.7% to 3.8% of workers (down 2.9 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2014 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Lake County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Lake County?

The bars show when commuters in Lake 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		5.3%
5:00-5:29 AM		3.4%
5:30-5:59 AM		5.9%
6:00-6:29 AM		6.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.9%
7:00-7:29 AM		15.7%
7:30-7:59 AM		19.4%
8:00-8:29 AM		10.8%
8:30-8:59 AM		4.0%
9:00-9:59 AM		2.5%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.4%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.6%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM		6.3%

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

The busiest time to head out in Lake 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: 14.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush looks much like South Dakota's: 56.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (17.7%) 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 Lake 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 Lake 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 Lake 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	Lake County	South Dakota	United States
2009	7:36 AM	7:40 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:37 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:35 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:40 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:40 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:37 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:39 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:39 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:35 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:35 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:40 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:34 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:36 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:36 AM	7:36 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:39 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:33 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Lake County were on the road by 7:33 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:36 AM). Across South Dakota the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Lake County now leave 5 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 Lake County has moved 7 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Lake County in the whole series.

How does Lake County's commute time compare?

Metric	Lake County	South Dakota	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	10.9 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	10.5%	9.7%	15.0%
Walked	3.8%	3.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.9%	0.5%	3.2%

The average commute time in Lake County is 10.9 minutes, shorter than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.

0.9% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 3.8% commute by walking, higher than the 3.1% in South Dakota.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Lake County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Lake County, SD is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 10,972 residents against a local median of 6,397. The measure that sets Lake County, SD apart most is one-way commute: 10.9 min, 20% below the local median of 13.6 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 13.5 min on one-way commute, so Lake County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Lake County, SD has the lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Lake County, SD	10,972	10.9 min #1/6	10.5% #4/6	7:33 AM #3/6
McCook County, SD	5,751	25.4 min	11.2%	7:14 AM
Moody County, SD	6,397	11.9 min	9.5%	7:33 AM
Miner County, SD	2,300	13.6 min	9.8%	7:37 AM
Minnehaha County, SD	203,266	16.7 min	11.1%	7:37 AM
Brookings County, SD	35,353	11.9 min	11.1%	7:44 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Lake County, South Dakota.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Lake County, South Dakota?

Commuters here spend an estimated 90 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,803 at a typical national wage. That's 29% less than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Lake County, South Dakota?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Lake 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 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).