See what the average commute is in Pennington County, SD

American commutes are getting longer, with a U.S. Census Bureau report released in 2021 revealing the average one-way commute in 2019 reached a record high of 27.6 minutes. Combined with high gas prices, workers' daily commutes are increasingly time-consuming and expensive—so much so that some are calling for commutes to count as part of the workday.

Even worse are travel times for "super commuters"—that unlucky 10% of Americans traveling more than one hour each way to punch a clock.

Stacker compiled statistics about the average commute in Pennington County using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics are calculated based on 2020 5-year estimates. Pennington County has a longer commute than three out of five neighboring counties, with Jackson County, SD having the shortest commute at 14.4 minutes.

Pennington County commuting by the numbers
- Average commute: 18.8 minutes
--- 8.9% higher than state average
--- #21 worst commute in the state
- Workers with 1+ hour commute: 3.2%
- Workers who drive to work: 89.7%
--- Workers who carpool to work: 7.4%
- Workers who take public transport to work: 0.9%
- Workers who work from home: 6.0%
- Left for work between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.: 11.4%
- Worked outside county of residence: 5.0%

Commutes in neighboring counties
#1. Jackson County, SD: 14.4 minutes
#2. Haakon County, SD: 15.6 minutes
#3. Lawrence County, SD: 17.6 minutes
#4. Pennington County, SD: 18.8 minutes
#5. Meade County, SD: 20.2 minutes
#6. Weston County, WY: 23.5 minutes

Counties with the best commute in South Dakota
#1. Hyde County: 11.5 minutes
#2. Hughes County: 12.0 minutes
#3. Davison County: 12.2 minutes

Counties with the worst commute in South Dakota
#1. Custer County: 28.5 minutes
#2. Turner County: 25.5 minutes
#3. McCook County: 25.2 minutes