Commuting in Walla Walla County, Washington: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in Walla Walla County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:29 PM
Commute Time Burden in Walla Walla County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Walla Walla 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 102 hours, about 4.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 46% less time on the road than the Washington average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 10.2 minutes.
Walla Walla County holds about 0.8% of Washington's population but accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Walla Walla County would save about 41 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,259 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)
Walla Walla County
12.2 min
24.4 min
102 hrs/yr
$3,148
770
Washington
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,785
1,525
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
12.2
minutes to get to work in
Walla Walla County.
That's 46% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Fastest county in Washington
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 11.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Walla Walla County
Car:
78.3%
Worked at Home:
11.5%
Walked:
7.1%
Bicycle:
1.4%
Other:
0.7%
Public Transportation:
0.6%unusually low
Motorcycle:
0.3%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Walla Walla County: 5.9 times less than the Washington average (0.6% vs 3.4%).
Commute Mode Trends in Walla Walla County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Walla Walla 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
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
84.2%
4.5%
7.6%
2.0%
0.4%
0.8%
0.6%
0.0%
2010
84.8%
4.7%
6.8%
2.1%
0.4%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
2011
84.1%
4.8%
7.1%
2.0%
0.3%
1.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2012
83.1%
4.8%
7.5%
2.5%
0.3%
1.2%
0.6%
0.0%
2013
82.5%
4.7%
7.6%
2.7%
0.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2014
83.5%
4.7%
7.7%
2.2%
0.5%
0.9%
0.6%
0.0%
2015
83.2%
4.3%
8.7%
1.9%
0.5%
0.7%
0.7%
0.0%
2016
81.7%
5.5%
8.9%
1.9%
0.5%
0.8%
0.6%
0.0%
2017
83.8%
5.2%
8.0%
1.3%
0.6%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
2018
83.6%
5.5%
8.1%
1.3%
0.5%
0.6%
0.3%
0.1%
2019
84.4%
5.6%
7.2%
1.0%
0.5%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2020
81.5%
8.3%
6.9%
1.1%
1.0%
1.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
80.8%
9.8%
6.5%
1.0%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
80.0%
10.4%
6.6%
1.3%
0.7%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
2023
79.1%
11.2%
6.6%
1.2%
0.7%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
2024
78.3%
11.5%
7.1%
1.4%
0.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 84.8%. Overall it fell from 84.2% in 2009 to 78.3% in 2024, down 5.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Walla Walla County: its share of workers rose from 4.5% in 2009 to 11.5% in 2024, up 7.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 2.0% to 1.4% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 8.9% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 7.1%.
Commute Start Times in Walla Walla County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Walla Walla County?
The bars show when commuters in Walla Walla 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 Washington for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Walla Walla CountyWashingtonSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Walla Walla County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.0% across Washington. Early starts are less common than in Washington: 13.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Washington: 46.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.9%) 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 Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla County next to Washington 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
Walla Walla County
Washington
United States
2009
7:45 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:44 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:44 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:42 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:45 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:43 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:42 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:40 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:40 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:36 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:37 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:41 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:40 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:41 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Walla Walla County were on the road by 7:41 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:45 AM). That goes against the trend across Washington, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Walla Walla County now leave 3 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Walla Walla County's commute time compare?
Metric
Walla Walla County
Washington
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
12.2 min
22.4 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
11.5%
19.8%
15.0%
Walked
7.1%
3.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.6%
3.4%
3.2%
The average commute time in Walla Walla County is 12.2 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Washington.
0.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.4% in Washington. 7.1% commute by walking, higher than the 3.0% in Washington.
Walla Walla County, WA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Walla Walla County, WA is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 62,160 residents against a local median of 20,799. Where Walla Walla County, WA breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 42% above the local median of 8.1% at 11.5%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 12.2 min against a local median of 16.7 min, 27% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 27% below the local median it puts Walla Walla County, WA at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 10.8% on work from home, so Walla Walla County, WA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Walla Walla County, WA has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Walla Walla County, Washington.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Walla Walla County, Washington?
Commuters here spend an estimated 102 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,148 at a typical national wage. That's 46% less than the typical Washington commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Walla Walla County, Washington?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Walla Walla County, Washington. 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 Walla Walla County, Washington?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.6% of commuters use it versus 3.4% in Washington, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Washington?
Among counties in Washington, the shortest average commutes are in Walla Walla County (12.2 min), San Juan County (12.3 min), Asotin County (13.2 min). The longest are in Mason County (32.0 min), Garfield County (28.4 min), Snohomish County (28.3 min).