Commuting in Yankton 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, 8:10 PM
Is the commute in Yankton County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Yankton County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Yankton County spend about 24 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 98 hours, about 4.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 23% less time on the road than the South Dakota average of 15.3 minutes each way, a difference of 3.6 minutes.
Yankton County holds about 2.6% of South Dakota's population but accounts for roughly 2.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Yankton County would save about 39 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,215 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)
Yankton County
11.8 min
23.5 min
98 hrs/yr
$3,039
325
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
11.8
minutes to get to work in
Yankton County.
That's 48% 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 6.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Yankton County
Car:
87.9%
Worked at Home:
6.2%
Walked:
3.3%
Public Transportation:
1.7%unusually high
Other:
0.6%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Yankton County, versus 0.2% in South Dakota.
Public transit is unusually common in Yankton County: 3.5 times more than the South Dakota average (1.7% vs 0.5%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Yankton County, versus 0.1% in South Dakota.
Commute Mode Trends in Yankton County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Yankton 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
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
87.7%
7.0%
4.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
88.1%
7.4%
3.2%
0.3%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
89.4%
5.0%
3.9%
0.7%
0.4%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2012
89.4%
5.3%
3.5%
0.6%
0.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
2013
91.2%
3.6%
3.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
90.6%
3.3%
4.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
89.8%
3.9%
4.3%
0.8%
0.1%
0.9%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
90.7%
4.3%
3.1%
0.7%
0.1%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
91.3%
4.5%
2.5%
0.9%
0.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
90.7%
4.6%
2.9%
1.0%
0.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
91.9%
4.3%
1.7%
1.0%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
90.9%
5.2%
2.3%
0.2%
0.9%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
91.4%
5.1%
2.2%
0.2%
1.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
90.4%
5.5%
2.8%
0.2%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
89.1%
5.5%
3.2%
1.1%
1.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
87.9%
6.2%
3.3%
1.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2019 at 91.9%. Overall it held roughly steady, at 87.7% in 2009 and 87.9% in 2024. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Public transit gained the most ground in Yankton County: its share of workers rose from 0.4% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2024, up 1.3 percentage points.
Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 7.0% to 6.2% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Yankton County
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe 3rd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among South Dakota's 66 counties: only 44.2% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Yankton County?
The bars show when commuters in Yankton 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 AMYankton County7.0%South Dakota4.1%
7.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMYankton County4.6%South Dakota3.1%
4.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMYankton County8.8%South Dakota5.1%
8.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMYankton County7.2%South Dakota6.9%
7.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMYankton County7.3%South Dakota11.3%
7.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMYankton County9.6%South Dakota16.2%
9.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMYankton County16.4%South Dakota19.9%
16.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMYankton County10.9%South Dakota10.2%
10.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMYankton County4.7%South Dakota3.7%
4.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMYankton County3.2%South Dakota4.3%
3.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMYankton County3.2%South Dakota2.0%
3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMYankton County2.6%South Dakota1.4%
2.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMYankton County7.5%South Dakota6.1%
7.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMYankton County6.9%South Dakota5.8%
6.9%
Yankton CountySouth DakotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Yankton County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 16.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 19.9% across South Dakota. Early starts are more common than in South Dakota: 20.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in South Dakota: 44.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 57.7% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.4%) 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 Yankton 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 Yankton 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 Yankton 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
Yankton County
South Dakota
United States
2009
7:43 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:44 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:42 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:40 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Yankton County were on the road by 7:40 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:43 AM). South Dakota followed the same path, with the typical start moving 5 minutes earlier. Commuters in Yankton County now leave 2 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 Yankton County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Yankton County's commute time compare?
Metric
Yankton County
South Dakota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
11.8 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
6.2%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
3.3%
3.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.7%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Yankton County is 11.8 minutes, shorter than the 15.3 minutes in South Dakota.
1.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.5% in South Dakota. 3.3% commute by walking, higher than the 3.1% in South Dakota.
Yankton County, SD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Yankton County, SD is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 23,415 residents against a local median of 8,315. Where Yankton County, SD breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 17% below the local median of 7.4% at 6.2%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 11.8 min against a local median of 14.0 min, 16% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 16% below the local median it puts Yankton County, SD at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 3.5% on work from home, so Yankton County, SD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Yankton County, SD has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Yankton County, South Dakota.
Is commuting expensive in Yankton County, South Dakota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 98 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,039 at a typical national wage. That's 23% less than the typical South Dakota commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Yankton County, South Dakota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Yankton 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Yankton County, South Dakota?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 1.7% of commuters use it versus 0.5% in South Dakota, making it a realistic option for many 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).