Commuting in Barron County, Wisconsin: 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
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Barron County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:19 PM
Commute Time Burden in Barron County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Barron County spend about 33 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 136 hours, about 5.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 13% less time on the road than the Wisconsin average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 2.5 minutes.
Barron County holds about 0.8% of Wisconsin's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Barron County would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,681 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)
Barron County
16.3 min
32.5 min
136 hrs/yr
$4,201
358
Wisconsin
18.8 min
37.5 min
156 hrs/yr
$4,846
811
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
16.3
minutes to get to work in
Barron County.
That's 27% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 85% of counties in Wisconsin
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 8.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Barron County
Car:
86.9%
Worked at Home:
8.5%
Walked:
3.3%
Other:
0.7%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Public Transportation:
0.2%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Barron County: 6.0 times less than the Wisconsin average (0.2% vs 1.1%).
Biking is unusually rare in Barron County: 5.6 times less than the Wisconsin average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in Barron County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Barron 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
Other
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
87.9%
6.0%
4.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
0.6%
2010
88.0%
5.8%
4.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.7%
2011
89.7%
5.5%
3.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.4%
2012
89.7%
5.7%
3.5%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
88.3%
6.3%
4.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
87.1%
6.1%
5.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
86.8%
6.2%
5.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
87.1%
6.5%
4.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2017
87.8%
6.3%
4.1%
1.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2018
88.8%
6.5%
2.8%
1.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2019
89.2%
6.3%
2.7%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
88.1%
6.6%
3.9%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
87.4%
7.1%
4.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
87.3%
7.7%
3.9%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
87.3%
8.2%
3.5%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
86.9%
8.5%
3.3%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2011 at 89.7% and lowest in 2015 at 86.8%. Overall it fell from 87.9% in 2009 to 86.9% in 2024, down 1.0 percentage points.
Working from home gained the most ground in Barron County: its share of workers rose from 6.0% in 2009 to 8.5% in 2024, up 2.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.4% to 3.3% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Barron County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Barron County?
The bars show when commuters in Barron 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 Wisconsin for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMBarron County11.4%Wisconsin6.9%
11.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMBarron County4.7%Wisconsin4.7%
4.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMBarron County6.8%Wisconsin6.1%
6.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMBarron County7.8%Wisconsin8.5%
7.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMBarron County10.4%Wisconsin10.4%
10.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMBarron County13.7%Wisconsin14.7%
13.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMBarron County14.9%Wisconsin12.7%
14.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMBarron County6.2%Wisconsin9.0%
6.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMBarron County2.9%Wisconsin4.0%
2.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMBarron County3.5%Wisconsin4.7%
3.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMBarron County1.8%Wisconsin2.4%
1.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMBarron County0.8%Wisconsin1.3%
0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMBarron County9.3%Wisconsin8.1%
9.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMBarron County5.7%Wisconsin6.4%
5.7%
Barron CountyWisconsinSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Barron County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.7% across Wisconsin. Early starts are more common than in Wisconsin: 22.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Wisconsin's: 45.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.8% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.0%) 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 Barron 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 Barron 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 Barron County next to Wisconsin 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
Barron County
Wisconsin
United States
2009
7:27 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:26 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:26 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:27 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:26 AM
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:25 AM
7:30 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:22 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:20 AM
7:29 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:22 AM
7:29 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:19 AM
7:28 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:20 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:23 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:24 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:19 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:18 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:19 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Barron County were on the road by 7:19 AM, 8 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:27 AM). The shift is sharper than across Wisconsin, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Barron County now leave 19 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Barron County's commute time compare?
Metric
Barron County
Wisconsin
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.3 min
18.8 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
8.5%
13.1%
15.0%
Walked
3.3%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
1.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Barron County is 16.3 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in Wisconsin.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.1% in Wisconsin. 3.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in Wisconsin.
Barron County, WI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Barron County, WI is typical in size for this group, 46,797 residents against a local median of 45,527, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Barron County, WI breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 27% below the local median of 11.8% at 8.5%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 16.3 min against a local median of 20.2 min, 20% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 20% below the local median it puts Barron County, WI at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 2.6% on work from home, so Barron County, WI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Barron County, WI has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Barron County, Wisconsin.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Barron County, Wisconsin?
Commuters here spend an estimated 136 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,201 at a typical national wage. That's 13% less than the typical Wisconsin commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Barron County, Wisconsin?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Barron County, Wisconsin. 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 Barron County, Wisconsin?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 1.1% in Wisconsin, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in Wisconsin?
Among counties in Wisconsin, the shortest average commutes are in Ashland County (12.8 min), Door County (13.6 min), Eau Claire County (15.3 min). The longest are in Oconto County (26.4 min), St. Croix County (25.3 min), Waushara County (23.9 min).