Sioux Falls Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Sioux Falls: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Sioux Falls 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.
Sioux Falls holds about 20.0% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 21.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Sioux Falls would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,674 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 16.2 min | 32.4 min | 135 hrs/yr | $4,185 | 1,948 |
| 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.
Sioux Falls Commute Map
On average, it takes 16.2 minutes to get to work in Sioux Falls. That's 28% 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 working from home. About 10.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Sioux Falls
- Car: 85.6%
- Worked at Home: 10.3%
- Walked: 2.0%
- Other: 0.8%
- Public Transportation: 0.7%
- Taxi: 0.3%
- Bicycle: 0.2%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Sioux Falls, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Sioux Falls 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Other | Public Transportation | Taxi | Bicycle | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 92.4% | 3.1% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| 2010 | 92.3% | 3.2% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| 2011 | 91.9% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| 2012 | 91.9% | 3.0% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| 2013 | 92.4% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| 2014 | 92.4% | 2.5% | 2.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| 2015 | 92.4% | 2.5% | 2.2% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| 2016 | 92.8% | 2.6% | 2.2% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| 2017 | 92.6% | 2.9% | 2.2% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 92.7% | 3.0% | 2.1% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2019 | 92.5% | 3.3% | 2.2% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2020 | 91.4% | 4.6% | 2.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2021 | 89.4% | 6.6% | 2.2% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 88.1% | 8.2% | 2.2% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2023 | 86.9% | 9.2% | 2.1% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2024 | 85.6% | 10.3% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2016 at 92.8%. Overall it fell from 92.4% in 2009 to 85.6% in 2024, down 6.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Sioux Falls: its share of workers rose from 3.1% in 2009 to 10.3% in 2024, up 7.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Sioux Falls
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Sioux Falls?
The bars show when commuters in Sioux Falls 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 AM
Sioux Falls3.6%
South Dakota4.1%
|
3.6% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Sioux Falls2.5%
South Dakota3.1%
|
2.5% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Sioux Falls4.6%
South Dakota5.1%
|
4.6% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Sioux Falls5.8%
South Dakota6.9%
|
5.8% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Sioux Falls11.2%
South Dakota11.3%
|
11.2% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Sioux Falls15.9%
South Dakota16.2%
|
15.9% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Sioux Falls18.3%
South Dakota19.9%
|
18.3% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Sioux Falls10.0%
South Dakota10.2%
|
10.0% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Sioux Falls3.9%
South Dakota3.7%
|
3.9% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Sioux Falls5.2%
South Dakota4.3%
|
5.2% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Sioux Falls2.6%
South Dakota2.0%
|
2.6% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Sioux Falls1.6%
South Dakota1.4%
|
1.6% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Sioux Falls7.6%
South Dakota6.1%
|
7.6% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Sioux Falls7.0%
South Dakota5.8%
|
7.0% |
Sioux Falls South Dakota Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Sioux Falls is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 18.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are less common than in South Dakota: 10.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in South Dakota: 55.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.0%) 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 Sioux Falls, 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 Sioux Falls 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 Sioux Falls 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Sioux Falls | South Dakota | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:45 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:44 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:46 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:46 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:47 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:46 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:46 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:41 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:43 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:43 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:42 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:41 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:40 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Sioux Falls were on the road by 7:40 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:45 AM). South Dakota followed the same path, with the typical start moving 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Sioux Falls now leave 2 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Sioux Falls in the whole series.
How does Sioux Falls's commute time compare?
| Metric | Sioux Falls | 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 | 10.3% | 9.7% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 2.0% | 3.1% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 0.7% | 0.5% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Sioux Falls is 16.2 minutes, longer than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
0.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 2.0% commute by walking, lower than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Is commuting expensive in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 135 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,185 at a typical national wage. That's 6% more than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Sioux Falls, 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.