Commuting in Stanley 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, 8:19 PM
Is the commute in Stanley County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:19 PM
Commute Time Burden in Stanley County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Stanley County spend about 30 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 125 hours, about 5.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% less time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 0.3 minutes.
Stanley 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 Stanley County would save about 50 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,551 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)
Stanley County
15.0 min
30.0 min
125 hrs/yr
$3,876
293
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
15.0
minutes to get to work in
Stanley County.
That's 33% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 6.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Stanley County
Car:
89.1%
Worked at Home:
6.6%
Walked:
2.3%
Bicycle:
1.3%unusually high
Other:
0.7%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Stanley County, versus 0.2% in South Dakota.
Public transit is essentially absent in Stanley County, versus 0.5% in South Dakota.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Stanley County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.
Biking is unusually common in Stanley County: 4.1 times more than the South Dakota average (1.3% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Stanley County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Stanley 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
Bicycle
Other
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
87.9%
7.1%
3.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
1.1%
0.4%
2010
89.6%
7.9%
1.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.9%
0.3%
2011
89.7%
9.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
90.1%
8.9%
0.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
2013
88.7%
9.2%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
1.4%
2014
90.0%
7.5%
1.1%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
1.1%
2015
87.1%
9.3%
1.7%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
1.4%
2016
89.3%
6.8%
1.8%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
1.4%
2017
86.8%
7.0%
4.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
1.6%
2018
87.7%
6.3%
4.6%
0.0%
0.0%
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
88.3%
7.0%
3.3%
0.0%
0.0%
1.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
89.4%
5.2%
3.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
87.2%
5.9%
4.1%
1.0%
0.0%
1.9%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
90.8%
6.3%
0.9%
0.9%
0.0%
1.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
93.8%
4.3%
0.6%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
89.1%
6.6%
2.3%
1.3%
0.7%
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 2023 at 93.8% and lowest in 2017 at 86.8%. Overall it rose from 87.9% in 2009 to 89.1% in 2024, up 1.2 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Biking gained the most ground in Stanley County: its share of workers rose from 0.2% in 2009 to 1.3% in 2024, up 1.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 1.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Taking a taxi lost the most ground, falling from 1.1% to 0.0% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Biking overtook taking a taxi to become the 4th most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 9.5% in 2011 and has since fallen back to 6.6%.
Commute Start Times in Stanley County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Stanley County?
The bars show when commuters in Stanley 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 AMStanley County2.6%South Dakota4.1%
2.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMStanley County1.6%South Dakota3.1%
1.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMStanley County1.0%South Dakota5.1%
1.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMStanley County1.4%South Dakota6.9%
1.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMStanley County5.8%South Dakota11.3%
5.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMStanley County9.6%South Dakota16.2%
9.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMStanley County44.7%South Dakota19.9%
44.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMStanley County13.0%South Dakota10.2%
13.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMStanley County0.9%South Dakota3.7%
0.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMStanley County3.7%South Dakota4.3%
3.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMStanley County1.6%South Dakota2.0%
1.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMStanley County0.9%South Dakota1.4%
0.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMStanley County6.8%South Dakota6.1%
6.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMStanley County6.4%South Dakota5.8%
6.4%
Stanley CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Stanley County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 44.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are less common than in South Dakota: 5.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Dakota: 73.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.3%) 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 Stanley 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 Stanley 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 Stanley 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
Stanley County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:42 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:38 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:38 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:40 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:41 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
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:43 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:49 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Stanley County were on the road by 7:49 AM, 7 minutes later than in 2009 (7:42 AM). That goes against the trend across South Dakota, where the typical commuter now leaves 5 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Stanley County now leave 11 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Stanley County has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Stanley County in the whole series.
How does Stanley County's commute time compare?
Metric
Stanley County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
15.0 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
6.6%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Stanley County is about the same as in South Dakota.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 2.3% commute by walking, lower than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Stanley County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Stanley County, SD is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 3,015 residents against a local median of 1,722. The measure that sets Stanley County, SD apart most is work from home: 6.6%, 51% below the local median of 13.4%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 15.0 min against a local median of 10.6 min, 41% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 41% above the local median it puts Stanley County, SD at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 9.5% on work from home, so Stanley County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Stanley County, SD has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Stanley County, South Dakota.
Is commuting expensive in Stanley County, South Dakota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 125 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,876 at a typical national wage. That's 2% less than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Stanley County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Stanley County, South Dakota. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Do people use public transit in Stanley 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.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).