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Traffic heat map of Custer County, South Dakota: 247 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on 5th Street

Custer County, South Dakota Traffic Counts

TrafficZoom tracks traffic on 247 road miles in Custer County, South Dakota, divided into 1,232 segments averaging 1,058 ft. Its busiest road, 5th Street, carries 12,211 vehicles a day, 4.6 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 Custer County, South Dakota

Traffic

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

vehicles per day2,656
Trucks

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

8.3%
Average travel time

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

27.2 min
Drivers’ average age

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

55.9 yrs
Drivers’ average income

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

$78,594

The average monitored road in Custer County, South Dakota carries 2,656 vehicles per day. Across its 247 miles of monitored roads, that adds up to 380,827 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈139 million per year). About 1 in 12 vehicles is a truck, fewer than the 1 in 10 across South Dakota.

Shorter trips than 98% of counties in South Dakota

At 2,656 vehicles per day, the average monitored road in Custer carries 16% less traffic than the state average of 3,156, suggesting less demand on each road - a factor worth weighing in site selection and logistics planning. In total volume terms, its road network carries about 1.6% of South Dakota's statewide total of vehicle-miles. 83% of counties in South Dakota see less traffic than Custer's 2,656 vehicles per day.

The average trip takes 27.2 minutes, 16% lower than the state level. Its average travel time of 27.2 minutes is shorter than 98% of counties in South Dakota.

Highway vs. Non-Highway Traffic Analysis

highway traffic icon

Highway Traffic in Custer County, South Dakota

Trafficvehicles per day6,794
Trucks9.7%
Average travel time30.7 min
Drivers’ average age54.1 yrs
Drivers’ average income$77,055

Highways carry about half of all travel in Custer County, South Dakota, 48% of vehicle-miles. The average highway carries 6,794 vehicles per day, 231% more than the average non-highway road in the same area, which carries 2,051 vehicles per day.

Highways make up 26% of the monitored road miles (63 miles, 157 segments), so they carry more than their share: 184,583 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈67.4 million per year).

By highway travel volume, Custer outranks 58% of counties in South Dakota.

Lower highway truck share than 96% of counties in South Dakota

At 9.7%, highway truck share is 29% lower than the state average. Highways here mostly serve passenger trips, so local access matters more than long-haul routing for logistics operators.

96% of counties in South Dakota see a higher highway truck share than Custer's 9.7%. By raw truck volume, Custer carries fewer highway trucks than 58% of counties in South Dakota.

non-highway traffic icon

Non-highway Traffic in Custer County, South Dakota

Trafficvehicles per day2,051
Trucks7.1%
Average travel time26.7 min
Drivers’ average age57.6 yrs
Drivers’ average income$79,990

Local roads carry about half of all travel in Custer County, South Dakota, 52% of vehicle-miles. The average non-highway road carries 2,051 vehicles per day.

Spread over 184 miles and 1,075 segments, 74% of the road network, local roads carry a lighter load per mile: 196,244 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈71.6 million per year). About 1 in 14 vehicles on non-highway roads is a truck (7.1%).

Older drivers than 94% of counties in South Dakota

Non-highway roads carry a truck concentration that's 27% lower than the highway network.

86% of counties in South Dakota see lower average driver income among trip origins than Custer. The driver population here skews older than 94% of counties in South Dakota.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Custer County, South Dakota, the peak hour concentrates about 9% of the day's traffic.

Custer County vs. South Dakota Traffic Comparison

Of the four measures, highway truck share differs most: Custer County runs 29% below the South Dakota average. Its truck share is also 19% below.

MetricCuster CountySouth Dakota averageDifference
Traffic2,6563,156-15.9%
Truck % (Total Traffic)8.3%10.3%-19.1%
Truck % (Highway)9.7%13.6%-28.9%
Avg. Travel Time27.2 min32.5 min-16.2%

How Custer County compares

Custer County has the shortest trips among its nearby counties

Compared with its 4 closest neighbours, Custer County sees 31.2% shorter typical trips and moves 42.7% of the total daily travel; it has the second busiest roads of the five. The same kind of road, just less of it: traffic per road matches the areas around it while the network itself is smaller.

Custer County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the South Dakota average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Custer County2,6568.3%380,82727.2 minN/A
Fall River County, South Dakota1,96112.0%254,57939.5 minN/A
Pennington County, South Dakota5,6827.8%3,062,27931.8 min17.0%
Weston County, Wyoming1,80810.5%173,66148.4 minN/A
Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota53910.2%75,59438.7 minN/A
South Dakota average3,15610.3%N/A32.5 min12.9%

Custer County ranked within South Dakota

Custer County sits in the bottom quarter of the South Dakota field on average travel time, at #65 of 66.

Custer County ranked among 66 county-level areas in South Dakota (1 = highest); measures without data in every county rank a smaller field, down to 49.
MeasureCuster CountySouth Dakota rank
Traffic volume (AADT)2,656#12 of 66
Highway vehicle-miles per day184,583#21 of 49
Truck share on highways9.7%#47 of 49
Highway trucks per day656#29 of 49
Average travel time27.2 min#65 of 66
Average driver income$78,594#10 of 66
Average driver age55.9 yrs#5 of 66

The two ends of this table sit far apart: #5 of 66 on average driver age, against #65 of 66 on average travel time.

Busiest roads in Custer County, South Dakota

The three busiest roads in Custer County average 10,887 vehicles a day, 4.1 times the county average of 2,656 across all its monitored roads.

5th Street is the busiest road, at 12,211 vehicles a day, 593 of them trucks (4.9%). Crazy Horse Memorial Highway carries the most trucks, 676 a day (6.4% of its traffic), although it ranks #2 for all traffic.

Highway 79 carries longer journeys than most roads here, with a median trip of 47.0 minutes against 27.2 county-wide.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
15th StreetTrunk road · 12,211vehicles593trucks · 4.9%
Road class
Trunk road
Median trip time
25.8 min
Drivers’ median age
56.6 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$80,671

The busiest stretch of 5th Street carries 4.6 times the county average; trucks are 4.9% of it, below the county-wide 8.3%.

2Crazy Horse Memorial HighwayTrunk road · 10,515vehicles676trucks · 6.4%
Road class
Trunk road
Median trip time
25.6 min
Drivers’ median age
54.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$79,030

On its busiest stretch, Crazy Horse Memorial Highway carries 4.0 times the county average; trucks are 6.4% of it, below the county-wide 8.3%.

3Mount Rushmore RoadPrimary road · 9,936vehicles465trucks · 4.7%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
24.6 min
Drivers’ median age
57.9 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$83,970

Mount Rushmore Road peaks at 9,936 vehicles a day, 3.7 times the county average; trucks are 4.7% of it, below the county-wide 8.3%.

4Highway 79Trunk road · 6,941vehicles647trucks · 9.3%
Road class
Trunk road
Median trip time
47.0 min
Drivers’ median age
49.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$78,843

Highway 79 carries 2.6 times the county average at its busiest, 647 of them trucks (9.3%, above the county-wide 8.3%).

5Heartland ExpresswayTrunk road · 6,906vehicles614trucks · 8.9%
Road class
Trunk road
Median trip time
47.0 min
Drivers’ median age
50.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$79,927

Heartland Expressway carries through traffic: the median trip using it lasts 47.0 minutes, against 27.2 for the county.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Crazy Horse Memorial HighwayTrunk road · #2 by traffic10,515vehicles676trucks · 6.4%
2Highway 79Trunk road · #4 by traffic6,941vehicles647trucks · 9.3%
3Heartland ExpresswayTrunk road · #5 by traffic6,906vehicles614trucks · 8.9%
45th StreetTrunk road · #1 by traffic12,211vehicles593trucks · 4.9%
5Mount Rushmore RoadPrimary road · #3 by traffic9,936vehicles465trucks · 4.7%
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

CusterDepartment 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 Custer County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Custer County, South Dakota.

Need segment-level traffic data?

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