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Average Iowa commute tied for 7th-fastest in US

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May 7th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Census Bureau data show Iowa’s average commute is nearly 6 minutes shorter than the national average. The Des Moines Register reports that the average Iowa commute is 19.1 minutes. That ties the state with Kansas for the seventh-fastest average commute in the country. The national average is 25 minutes.The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey says North Dakota residents enjoy the nation’s shortest average commute: 16.1 minutes. 

The Iowa Transportation Department says Iowan residents travel an average of 11.5 miles to work. The census data say Madison County residents have the longest average commute: 29 minutes. Many of them work in the Des Moines area. 

In the immediate KJAN listening area, commuting times include: 17.9-minutes in Cass County; 21-minutes in Adair County; 20.2-minutes in Adams and Pottawattamie Counties; 19.3-minutes in Audubon County; 27-minutes in Guthrie County; 20.6-minutes in Montgomery County, and 17.6-minutes in Shelby County. The state’s shortest average commute is the 12.3 minutes in Sioux County.