Madison Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Madison, Wisconsin: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 1:21 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in Madison?

Map AI 9/24/26, 1:21 PM

Commute Time Burden in Madison: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Madison spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 151 hours, about 6.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 4% less time on the road than the Wisconsin average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 0.7 minutes.

Madison holds about 4.4% of Wisconsin's population but accounts for roughly 4.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Madison would save about 60 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,868 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)
Madison	18.1 min	36.1 min	151 hrs/yr	$4,669	3,422
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.

Madison Commute Map

On average, it takes 18.1 minutes to get to work in Madison. That's 19% 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 20.4% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Madison

Driving is 25% less common in Madison than the Wisconsin average (61.4% vs 81.6%).

Walking is unusually common in Madison: 3.2 times more than the Wisconsin average (8.4% vs 2.6%).

Public transit is unusually common in Madison: 5.0 times more than the Wisconsin average (5.5% vs 1.1%).

Biking is unusually common in Madison: 6.5 times more than the Wisconsin average (3.1% vs 0.5%).

Madison stands out for active commuting: 11.5% of workers walk or bike to work, 3.7 times the Wisconsin average of 3.1%.

Commute Mode Trends in Madison, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Madison 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	Bicycle	Other	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	72.9%	2.9%	10.7%	8.3%	4.4%	0.3%	0.1%	0.3%
2010	73.2%	3.0%	9.7%	8.6%	4.7%	0.4%	0.1%	0.3%
2011	72.6%	3.5%	9.5%	8.5%	5.1%	0.4%	0.1%	0.3%
2012	71.8%	3.6%	9.4%	8.9%	5.4%	0.4%	0.1%	0.3%
2013	70.9%	3.7%	9.9%	9.1%	5.5%	0.5%	0.1%	0.2%
2014	70.5%	3.9%	9.8%	9.3%	5.6%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%
2015	70.4%	4.1%	9.7%	9.6%	5.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%
2016	70.3%	4.1%	9.7%	9.6%	5.3%	0.4%	0.2%	0.3%
2017	70.2%	4.2%	9.8%	9.8%	4.9%	0.6%	0.2%	0.3%
2018	70.5%	4.2%	9.7%	9.6%	4.8%	0.6%	0.3%	0.4%
2019	70.6%	4.6%	9.5%	9.5%	4.6%	0.7%	0.2%	0.4%
2020	68.8%	7.9%	9.3%	8.6%	4.1%	0.8%	0.2%	0.2%
2021	66.6%	11.7%	9.2%	7.4%	3.7%	0.8%	0.2%	0.2%
2022	64.3%	14.9%	9.4%	6.7%	3.5%	0.8%	0.2%	0.1%
2023	62.5%	18.0%	8.9%	6.0%	3.2%	1.0%	0.2%	0.2%
2024	61.4%	20.4%	8.4%	5.5%	3.1%	0.9%	0.2%	0.2%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 73.2%. Overall it fell from 72.9% in 2009 to 61.4% in 2024, down 11.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Madison: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 20.4% in 2024, up 17.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 15.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 8.3% to 5.5% of workers (down 2.8 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.

Biking peaked at 5.6% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 3.1%.

Commute Start Times in Madison

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Madison?

The bars show when commuters in Madison 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		2.4%
5:00-5:29 AM		1.8%
5:30-5:59 AM		2.7%
6:00-6:29 AM		4.8%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.4%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.7%
7:30-7:59 AM		15.7%
8:00-8:29 AM		15.1%
8:30-8:59 AM		8.5%
9:00-9:59 AM		9.2%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.8%
11:00-11:59 AM		2.0%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.7%
4:00-11:59 PM		6.2%

Madison Wisconsin Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Madison is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.7% across Wisconsin. Early starts are less common than in Wisconsin: 7.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Wisconsin: 51.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.8% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.9%) 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 Madison, 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 Madison 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 Madison 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	Madison	Wisconsin	United States
2009	8:04 AM	7:30 AM	7:37 AM
2010	8:02 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2011	8:01 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2012	8:00 AM	7:31 AM	7:38 AM
2013	8:01 AM	7:31 AM	7:39 AM
2014	8:00 AM	7:30 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:59 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2016	8:00 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2017	8:00 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2018	8:00 AM	7:28 AM	7:37 AM
2019	8:00 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2020	8:00 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2021	8:00 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2022	8:01 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2023	8:01 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM
2024	8:03 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Madison were on the road by 8:03 AM, 1 minute earlier than in 2009 (8:04 AM). Across Wisconsin the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Madison now leave 25 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 Madison has moved 3 minutes later.

How does Madison's commute time compare?

Metric	Madison	Wisconsin	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	18.1 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	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	20.4%	13.1%	15.0%
Walked	8.4%	2.6%	2.4%
Public Transit	5.5%	1.1%	3.2%

The average commute time in Madison is 18.1 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in Wisconsin.

5.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.1% in Wisconsin. 8.4% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in Wisconsin.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Madison, WI Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Madison, WI compares with the 1 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Madison, WI	260,079	18.1 min #1/2	20.4% #1/2	8:03 AM #2/2
Fitchburg, WI	34,584	18.9 min	17.2%	7:46 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Madison, Wisconsin.

Is living in Madison, Wisconsin good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 151 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,669 at a typical national wage. That's 4% less than the typical Wisconsin commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Madison, Wisconsin?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Madison, Wisconsin. 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.

Do people use public transit in Madison, Wisconsin?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 5.5% of commuters use it versus 1.1% in Wisconsin, making it a realistic option for many workers.

Is Madison, Wisconsin a good location for remote and hybrid workers?

About 20.4% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Madison would save about 60 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,868 at the same national wage assumption used above.