Eau Claire Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Eau Claire, Wisconsin: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Eau Claire: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Eau Claire spend about 27 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 112 hours, about 4.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 28% less time on the road than the Wisconsin average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 5.3 minutes.
Eau Claire holds about 1.0% of Wisconsin's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Eau Claire would save about 45 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,390 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eau Claire | 13.5 min | 26.9 min | 112 hrs/yr | $3,475 | 1,818 |
| 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.
Eau Claire Commute Map
On average, it takes 13.5 minutes to get to work in Eau Claire. That's 40% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 11.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Eau Claire
- Car: 82.4%
- Worked at Home: 11.8%
- Walked: 3.3%
- Public Transportation: 1.4%
- Bicycle: 0.5%
- Motorcycle: 0.3%
- Other: 0.2%
- Taxi: < 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Eau Claire, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Eau Claire 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Public Transportation | Bicycle | Motorcycle | Other | Taxi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 86.7% | 3.1% | 6.7% | 1.6% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 86.8% | 2.9% | 7.0% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 87.1% | 3.9% | 6.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2012 | 86.9% | 3.8% | 6.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 87.2% | 4.0% | 5.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 2014 | 86.1% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 85.8% | 5.3% | 5.2% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 2016 | 85.5% | 5.6% | 5.3% | 1.5% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 86.0% | 5.9% | 5.2% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 86.3% | 6.1% | 5.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2019 | 86.9% | 5.7% | 4.6% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 86.0% | 7.2% | 4.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2021 | 85.3% | 8.7% | 3.7% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 84.4% | 9.2% | 3.5% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2023 | 83.4% | 10.6% | 3.6% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2024 | 82.4% | 11.8% | 3.3% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 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 2013 at 87.2%. Overall it fell from 86.7% in 2009 to 82.4% in 2024, down 4.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Eau Claire: its share of workers rose from 3.1% in 2009 to 11.8% in 2024, up 8.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 6.7% to 3.3% of workers (down 3.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2015 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Eau Claire
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Eau Claire?
The bars show when commuters in Eau Claire 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 AM
Eau Claire6.4%
Wisconsin6.9%
|
6.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Eau Claire3.3%
Wisconsin4.7%
|
3.3% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Eau Claire4.8%
Wisconsin6.1%
|
4.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Eau Claire5.5%
Wisconsin8.5%
|
5.5% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Eau Claire9.8%
Wisconsin10.4%
|
9.8% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Eau Claire10.7%
Wisconsin14.7%
|
10.7% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Eau Claire12.8%
Wisconsin12.7%
|
12.8% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Eau Claire8.6%
Wisconsin9.0%
|
8.6% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Eau Claire6.5%
Wisconsin4.0%
|
6.5% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Eau Claire6.0%
Wisconsin4.7%
|
6.0% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Eau Claire4.3%
Wisconsin2.4%
|
4.3% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Eau Claire2.4%
Wisconsin1.3%
|
2.4% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Eau Claire11.2%
Wisconsin8.1%
|
11.2% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Eau Claire7.7%
Wisconsin6.4%
|
7.7% |
Eau Claire Wisconsin Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Eau Claire is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 12.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.7% across Wisconsin. Early starts are less common than in Wisconsin: 14.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.7% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Wisconsin: 41.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.8% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (31.6%) 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 Eau Claire, 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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Eau Claire | Wisconsin | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:58 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:55 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:54 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:55 AM | 7:31 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:56 AM | 7:31 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:55 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:55 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:54 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:55 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:52 AM | 7:28 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:52 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:53 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:57 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:56 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:54 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:52 AM | 7:27 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Eau Claire were on the road by 7:52 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:58 AM). The shift is sharper than across Wisconsin, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Eau Claire now leave 14 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Eau Claire's commute time compare?
| Metric | Eau Claire | Wisconsin | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 13.5 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 | 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 11.8% | 13.1% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 3.3% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 1.4% | 1.1% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Eau Claire is 13.5 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in Wisconsin.
1.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.1% in Wisconsin. 3.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in Wisconsin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Eau Claire, Wisconsin?
Commuters here spend an estimated 112 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,475 at a typical national wage. That's 28% less than the typical Wisconsin commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Eau Claire, Wisconsin?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 12:00 PM – 03:59 PM also sees a secondary bump.