Commuting in Columbia 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, 8:37 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Columbia County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:37 PM
Commute Time Burden in Columbia County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Columbia County spend about 47 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 196 hours, about 8.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 25% more time on the road than the Wisconsin average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 4.8 minutes.
Columbia County holds about 1.0% of Wisconsin's population but accounts for roughly 1.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Columbia County would save about 78 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,433 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)
Columbia County
23.5 min
47.1 min
196 hrs/yr
$6,082
541
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
23.5
minutes to get to work in
Columbia County.
That's 5% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 93% of counties in Wisconsin
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Columbia County
Car:
83.9%
Worked at Home:
12.5%
Walked:
2.2%
Other:
0.4%
Taxi:
0.3%
Public Transportation:
0.3%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Columbia County: 3.5 times less than the Wisconsin average (0.3% vs 1.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Columbia County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Columbia 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
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
91.8%
4.3%
2.4%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2010
91.9%
4.3%
2.3%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2011
92.2%
3.7%
2.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.3%
2012
92.0%
3.8%
2.8%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.4%
2013
92.2%
3.9%
2.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2014
92.1%
3.5%
2.7%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2015
92.0%
3.5%
2.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2016
91.9%
4.2%
2.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
2017
91.9%
4.5%
2.2%
0.7%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
91.3%
4.8%
2.3%
0.9%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
91.9%
5.0%
1.9%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
90.3%
6.8%
1.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
88.9%
7.8%
2.2%
0.5%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
87.0%
9.5%
2.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
85.2%
11.3%
2.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2024
83.9%
12.5%
2.2%
0.4%
0.3%
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 2011 at 92.2%. Overall it fell from 91.8% in 2009 to 83.9% in 2024, down 7.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Columbia County: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 12.5% in 2024, up 8.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Columbia County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Columbia County?
The bars show when commuters in Columbia 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 AMColumbia County7.4%Wisconsin6.9%
7.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMColumbia County6.0%Wisconsin4.7%
6.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMColumbia County7.5%Wisconsin6.1%
7.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMColumbia County9.5%Wisconsin8.5%
9.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMColumbia County13.4%Wisconsin10.4%
13.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMColumbia County16.2%Wisconsin14.7%
16.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMColumbia County10.9%Wisconsin12.7%
10.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMColumbia County7.5%Wisconsin9.0%
7.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMColumbia County3.0%Wisconsin4.0%
3.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMColumbia County4.0%Wisconsin4.7%
4.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMColumbia County2.1%Wisconsin2.4%
2.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMColumbia County0.9%Wisconsin1.3%
0.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMColumbia County6.9%Wisconsin8.1%
6.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMColumbia County4.7%Wisconsin6.4%
4.7%
Columbia CountyWisconsinSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Columbia County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.7% across Wisconsin. Early starts are more common than in Wisconsin: 20.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Wisconsin's: 48.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.8% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (18.5%) 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 Columbia 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 Columbia 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 Columbia 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
Columbia County
Wisconsin
United States
2009
7:15 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:16 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:13 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:14 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:15 AM
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:14 AM
7:30 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:14 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:14 AM
7:29 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:10 AM
7:29 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:10 AM
7:28 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:08 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:09 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:10 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:12 AM
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:13 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:11 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Columbia County were on the road by 7:11 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:15 AM). Wisconsin followed the same path, with the typical start moving 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Columbia County now leave 26 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Columbia County has moved 4 minutes later.
How does Columbia County's commute time compare?
Metric
Columbia County
Wisconsin
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.5 min
18.8 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.5%
13.1%
15.0%
Walked
2.2%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
1.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Columbia County is 23.5 minutes, longer than the 18.8 minutes in Wisconsin.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.1% in Wisconsin. 2.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.6% in Wisconsin.
Columbia County, WI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Columbia County, WI is typical in size for this group, 58,269 residents against a local median of 66,009, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Columbia County, WI's work from home, at 12.5%, runs 29% above the 9.7% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 11.4% on work from home, so Columbia County, WI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Columbia County, WI has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Columbia County, Wisconsin.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Columbia County, Wisconsin?
Commuters here spend an estimated 196 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,082 at a typical national wage. That's 25% more than the typical Wisconsin commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Columbia County, Wisconsin?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Columbia County, Wisconsin. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Columbia County, Wisconsin?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.3% 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).