Commuting in Sanborn 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, 8:38 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Sanborn County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:38 PM
Commute Time Burden in Sanborn County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Sanborn County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 173 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 35% more time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 5.4 minutes.
Sanborn County holds about 0.3% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Sanborn County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,143 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)
Sanborn County
20.7 min
41.5 min
173 hrs/yr
$5,359
204
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
20.7
minutes to get to work in
Sanborn County.
That's 7% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 92% 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 18.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Sanborn County
Car:
77.0%
Worked at Home:
18.6%
Walked:
4.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Other:
< 0.1%
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Sanborn County, versus 0.2% in South Dakota.
Public transit is essentially absent in Sanborn County, versus 0.5% in South Dakota.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Sanborn County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.
Biking is essentially absent in Sanborn County, versus 0.3% in South Dakota.
Commute Mode Trends in Sanborn County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Sanborn 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Other
2009
78.3%
14.5%
5.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.3%
0.6%
2010
80.7%
12.4%
5.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
0.6%
2011
80.4%
11.6%
5.3%
1.2%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
0.8%
2012
83.5%
10.2%
4.5%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.7%
2013
83.0%
11.1%
4.3%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.4%
2014
85.7%
11.5%
1.5%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
81.8%
15.5%
1.5%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
85.0%
13.8%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
84.9%
14.0%
1.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
82.1%
14.8%
2.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.5%
2019
78.5%
15.8%
4.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
1.2%
2020
79.3%
15.0%
4.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
1.3%
2021
75.4%
18.7%
4.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.8%
2022
74.2%
19.3%
5.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
1.0%
2023
75.7%
17.3%
6.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
2024
77.0%
18.6%
4.3%
0.0%
0.0%
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 85.7% and lowest in 2022 at 74.2%. Overall it fell from 78.3% in 2009 to 77.0% in 2024, down 1.3 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Sanborn County: its share of workers rose from 14.5% in 2009 to 18.6% in 2024, up 4.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.6% to 4.3% of workers (down 1.3 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Sanborn County
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe 3rd-biggest shift to later mornings among South Dakota's 66 counties: the typical start is 10 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Sanborn County?
The bars show when commuters in Sanborn 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 AMSanborn County7.9%South Dakota4.1%
7.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMSanborn County3.3%South Dakota3.1%
3.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMSanborn County2.3%South Dakota5.1%
2.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMSanborn County8.8%South Dakota6.9%
8.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMSanborn County6.9%South Dakota11.3%
6.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMSanborn County20.3%South Dakota16.2%
20.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMSanborn County23.8%South Dakota19.9%
23.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMSanborn County11.7%South Dakota10.2%
11.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMSanborn County0.8%South Dakota3.7%
0.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMSanborn County4.5%South Dakota4.3%
4.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMSanborn County1.1%South Dakota2.0%
1.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMSanborn County0.3%South Dakota1.4%
0.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMSanborn County4.0%South Dakota6.1%
4.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMSanborn County4.3%South Dakota5.8%
4.3%
Sanborn CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Sanborn County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 23.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are more common than in South Dakota: 13.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Dakota: 62.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 7 commuters (14.3%) 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 Sanborn 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 Sanborn 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 Sanborn 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
Sanborn County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:21 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:25 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:25 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:23 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:23 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:16 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:13 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:10 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:14 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:31 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Sanborn County were on the road by 7:31 AM, 10 minutes later than in 2009 (7:21 AM). That goes against the trend across South Dakota, where the typical commuter now leaves 5 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Sanborn County now leave 7 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 Sanborn County has moved 10 minutes later.
How does Sanborn County's commute time compare?
Metric
Sanborn County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.7 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
18.6%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
4.3%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Sanborn County is 20.7 minutes, longer than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 4.3% commute by walking, higher than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Sanborn County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Sanborn County, SD is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 2,384 residents against a local median of 3,472. Sanborn County, SD's work from home, at 18.6%, runs 90% above the 9.8% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.7 min against a local median of 11.5 min, 81% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 81% above the local median it puts Sanborn County, SD at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 13.6% on work from home, so Sanborn County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Sanborn County, SD has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Sanborn County, South Dakota.
Is living in Sanborn County, South Dakota good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 173 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,359 at a typical national wage. That's 35% more than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Sanborn County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Sanborn 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 Sanborn 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.
How much time do residents in Sanborn County, South Dakota save by working from home?
About 18.6% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Sanborn County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,143 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).