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Traffic heat map of Cherokee County, Iowa: 281 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on 2nd Street and IA 3

Cherokee County, Iowa Traffic Counts

TrafficZoom tracks traffic on 281 road miles in Cherokee County, Iowa, divided into 2,401 segments averaging 619 ft. Its busiest road, 2nd Street, carries 7,253 vehicles a day, 5.7 times the average road. Built from cross-verified mobile and road-sensor data, these counts help you size up a retail site, plan logistics routes or assess infrastructure needs.
Data sourced from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform.
Data current as of:
Q3 2026
Updated:
September 29, 2026
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Total Traffic Volume & Performance in Cherokee County, Iowa

Traffic

The average number of vehicles that travel each day over any road in the road network.

vehicles per day1,277
Trucks

The percentage of the total traffic volume composed of heavy vehicles.

9.2%
Average travel time

The average time of travel averaged among all vehicles traveling on the road network.

39.5 min
Congestion ratio

The rate at which the actual travel time exceeds free-flow travel time, averaged among all roads in the network.

5.9%
Drivers’ average age

Average age of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

51.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income

Average income of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

$70,347

The average monitored road in Cherokee County, Iowa carries 1,277 vehicles per day. Across its 281 miles of monitored roads, that adds up to 269,725 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈98.4 million per year). About 1 in 11 vehicles is a truck, fewer than the 1 in 9 across Iowa.

Longer trips than 94% of counties in Iowa

Cherokee sees 58% lower average daily traffic volume than the state average (1,277 vehicles per day against 3,042), suggesting less demand on each road - quiet roads that suit freight movement more than drive-by retail. Network-wide, Cherokee accounts for about 0.3% of Iowa's statewide total of vehicle-miles. 81% of counties in Iowa see more traffic than Cherokee's 1,277 vehicles per day.

The average trip takes 39.5 minutes, 20% higher than the state level. 94% of counties in Iowa have a shorter average travel time than Cherokee's 39.5 minutes.

The congestion ratio of 5.9% is 48% lower, pointing to smoother traffic flow than the state level - fewer delays make delivery windows more reliable.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Cherokee County, Iowa, the peak hour concentrates about 7% of the day's traffic.

Cherokee County vs. Iowa Traffic Comparison

The average daily traffic per road sets Cherokee County apart: 58% below the Iowa average. Its average travel time, by contrast, is 20% above.

MetricCherokee CountyIowa averageDifference
Traffic1,2773,042-58.0%
Truck % (Total Traffic)9.2%11.0%-16.7%
Avg. Travel Time39.5 min33.0 min+19.8%

How Cherokee County compares

Cherokee County against nearby counties

Cherokee County tracks the 4 areas around it closely - no measure in this table sets it far apart from the areas immediately next to it, though it has the quietest roads of the five. Quiet roads and long journeys - a rural pattern, where the distance between destinations rather than the traffic on the way is what takes the time.

Cherokee County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the Iowa average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Cherokee County1,2779.2%269,72539.5 min5.9%
O'Brien County, Iowa1,3468.9%318,71637.8 min6.8%
Buena Vista County, Iowa1,9288.8%367,15732.1 min8.0%
Ida County, Iowa1,33011.6%213,21628.4 min5.8%
Plymouth County, Iowa1,9349.3%804,17734.5 min8.3%
Iowa average3,04211.0%N/A33.0 min11.4%

Cherokee County ranked within Iowa

Average travel time places Cherokee County #7 of 99 in Iowa - the top quarter of the state.

Cherokee County ranked among 99 county-level areas in Iowa (1 = highest).
MeasureCherokee CountyIowa rank
Traffic volume (AADT)1,277#80 of 99
Average travel time39.5 min#7 of 99
Average driver income$70,347#66 of 99
Average driver age51.3 yrs#33 of 99

The two ends of this table sit far apart: #7 of 99 on average travel time, against #80 of 99 on average daily traffic volume.

Busiest roads in Cherokee County, Iowa

The three busiest roads in Cherokee County average 4,654 vehicles a day, 3.6 times the county average of 1,277 across all its monitored roads.

2nd Street leads with 7,253 vehicles a day, 434 of them trucks (6.0%). No other road comes close: IA 3, in second place, carries 3,489. It also carries the most trucks.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
12nd StreetPrimary road · 7,253vehicles434trucks · 6.0%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
11.5%
Median trip time
40.0 min
Drivers’ median age
51.7 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$65,665

At 5.7 times the county average, 2nd Street draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $65,665 in household income.

2IA 3Primary road · 3,489vehicles336trucks · 9.6%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
8.4%
Median trip time
39.5 min
Drivers’ median age
50.6 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$68,906

IA 3 peaks at 3,489 vehicles a day, 2.7 times the county average; trucks are 9.6% of it, above the county-wide 9.2%.

3500th StreetPrimary road · 3,219vehicles358trucks · 11.1%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
7.5%
Median trip time
39.5 min
Drivers’ median age
52.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$67,899

500th Street carries 2.5 times the county average at its busiest, 358 of them trucks (11.1%, above the county-wide 9.2%).

4Ames AvenuePrimary road · 3,004vehicles278trucks · 9.2%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
7.8%
Median trip time
32.0 min
Drivers’ median age
52.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$78,445

Ames Avenue carries 2.4 times the county average on its busiest stretch, where the median trip lasts 32.0 minutes.

5Main StreetSecondary road · 2,842vehicles139trucks · 4.9%
Road class
Secondary road
Congestion ratio
6.8%
Median trip time
42.1 min
Drivers’ median age
52.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$61,040

At 2.2 times the county average, Main Street draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $61,040 in household income.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
12nd StreetPrimary road · #1 by traffic7,253vehicles434trucks · 6.0%
2500th StreetPrimary road · #3 by traffic3,219vehicles358trucks · 11.1%
3IA 3Primary road · #2 by traffic3,489vehicles336trucks · 9.6%
4IA 7Primary road · 2,787vehicles299trucks · 10.7%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
6.4%
Median trip time
28.7 min
Drivers’ median age
45.6 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$70,100

Trips on IA 7 are short, a median 28.7 minutes against 39.5 county-wide, so it mostly serves local errands and commutes.

51st StreetPrimary road · 2,581vehicles299trucks · 11.6%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
7.2%
Median trip time
28.8 min
Drivers’ median age
46.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$69,498

1st Street is a local road at heart: the median trip using it lasts 28.8 minutes, against 39.5 for the county.

How to read these road counts
  • The first number is AADT, annual average daily traffic: the vehicles passing a point on an average day, both directions combined and trucks included. On a divided highway both carriageways are added together.
  • Traffic changes along a road, with more near interchanges and towns and less in open country. Every figure for a road describes its busiest stretch in the county, so the two rankings show the same numbers for the same road.
  • The second number is the trucks on that stretch, a part of its AADT. The bar splits the AADT into cars and light vehicles (blue) and trucks (amber).
  • See segment-level AADT for any road on TrafficZoom.

Data Sources & Methodology

The data presented on this page is derived from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform, which aggregates and normalizes information from multiple sources, including:

Mobile device location data (anonymized and aggregated)

Road sensor networks and traffic counters

Historical traffic pattern databases

Public traffic count programs published by the

CherokeeDepartment of Transportation

Demographic Baseline for O-D Modeling

U.S. Census Bureau
All metrics represent estimates based on statistical modeling and are intended for strategic planning purposes.
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Data current as of:
Q3 2026

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Counties near Cherokee County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Cherokee County, Iowa.

Need segment-level traffic data?

Identify traffic patterns street by street and analyze the exact corridors that matter to your project.