Marathon County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Marathon County, 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, 8:17 PM

How many minutes is the average drive to work in Marathon County?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:17 PM

Commute Time Burden in Marathon County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Marathon County spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 142 hours, about 5.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% less time on the road than the Wisconsin average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 1.8 minutes.

Marathon County holds about 2.3% of Wisconsin's population but accounts for roughly 2.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Marathon County would save about 57 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,755 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)
Marathon County	17.0 min	34.0 min	142 hrs/yr	$4,388	741
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.

Commute Time Map: Wisconsin Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Wisconsin

Ashland County (12.8 min)
Door County (13.6 min)
Eau Claire County (15.3 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Wisconsin

Oconto County (26.4 min)
St. Croix County (25.3 min)
Waushara County (23.9 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Marathon County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 17.0 minutes to get to work in Marathon County. That's 24% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 73% of counties in Wisconsin

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.9% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Marathon County

Public transit is unusually rare in Marathon County: 4.7 times less than the Wisconsin average (0.2% vs 1.1%).

Commute Mode Trends in Marathon County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Marathon 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	Bicycle	Public Transportation	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	91.6%	4.0%	2.3%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.0%	0.2%
2010	91.5%	4.0%	2.3%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%
2011	91.9%	3.9%	2.2%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%
2012	91.5%	4.0%	2.2%	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.2%	0.4%
2013	90.9%	4.5%	2.4%	0.6%	0.7%	0.5%	0.1%	0.4%
2014	91.1%	4.5%	2.2%	0.6%	0.7%	0.4%	0.1%	0.4%
2015	91.0%	4.6%	2.3%	0.5%	0.7%	0.4%	0.1%	0.4%
2016	90.5%	5.0%	2.3%	0.5%	0.7%	0.5%	0.1%	0.4%
2017	91.1%	5.0%	2.3%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.0%	0.2%
2018	91.3%	5.0%	2.2%	0.6%	0.2%	0.5%	0.0%	0.2%
2019	91.1%	5.2%	2.3%	0.6%	0.2%	0.4%	0.1%	0.2%
2020	89.6%	6.9%	2.1%	0.6%	0.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%
2021	87.5%	9.1%	1.9%	0.7%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%
2022	86.5%	10.0%	1.8%	0.7%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%
2023	84.9%	11.7%	1.9%	0.6%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%
2024	83.7%	12.9%	1.9%	0.7%	0.4%	0.2%	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 91.9%. Overall it fell from 91.6% in 2009 to 83.7% in 2024, down 7.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Marathon County: its share of workers rose from 4.0% in 2009 to 12.9% in 2024, up 8.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Commute Start Times in Marathon County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Marathon County?

The bars show when commuters in Marathon 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		7.3%
5:00-5:29 AM		4.4%
5:30-5:59 AM		6.4%
6:00-6:29 AM		8.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		12.3%
7:00-7:29 AM		15.0%
7:30-7:59 AM		13.8%
8:00-8:29 AM		8.0%
8:30-8:59 AM		3.1%
9:00-9:59 AM		3.4%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.5%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM		7.5%
4:00-11:59 PM		6.2%

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

The busiest time to head out in Marathon County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.7% across Wisconsin. Early starts are about as common as in Wisconsin: 18.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.7% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Wisconsin: 49.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.8% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.1%) 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 Marathon 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 Marathon 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 Marathon 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	Marathon County	Wisconsin	United States
2009	7:23 AM	7:30 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:24 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:24 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:25 AM	7:31 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:24 AM	7:31 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:26 AM	7:30 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:24 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:23 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:22 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:22 AM	7:28 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:20 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:20 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:21 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:20 AM	7:27 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:19 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:22 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Marathon County were on the road by 7:22 AM, 1 minute earlier than in 2009 (7:23 AM). Wisconsin followed the same path, with the typical start moving 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Marathon County now leave 16 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 Marathon County has moved 2 minutes later.

How does Marathon County's commute time compare?

Metric	Marathon County	Wisconsin	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	17.0 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	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	12.9%	13.1%	15.0%
Walked	1.9%	2.6%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.2%	1.1%	3.2%

The average commute time in Marathon County is 17.0 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in Wisconsin.

0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.1% in Wisconsin. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.6% in Wisconsin.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Marathon County, WI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Marathon County, WI is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 138,251 residents against a local median of 28,426. Where Marathon County, WI breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 28% above the local median of 10.1% at 12.9%.

The counties themselves spread 5.1% on work from home, so Marathon County, WI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Marathon County, WI has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Marathon County, WI	138,251	17.0 min #5/6	12.9% #1/6	7:22 AM #5/6
Lincoln County, WI	28,426	18.8 min	11.6%	7:00 AM
Portage County, WI	70,832	16.1 min	12.6%	7:30 AM
Wood County, WI	74,006	15.8 min	10.1%	7:18 AM
Langlade County, WI	19,490	16.2 min	7.5%	7:07 AM
Taylor County, WI	20,024	16.3 min	9.2%	7:04 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Marathon County, Wisconsin.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Marathon County, Wisconsin?

Commuters here spend an estimated 142 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,388 at a typical national wage. That's 9% less than the typical Wisconsin commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Marathon County, Wisconsin?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Marathon County, Wisconsin. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Marathon 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.

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).