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Traffic heat map of Ottawa County, Kansas: 150 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on US 81 and 140th Road

Ottawa County, Kansas Traffic Counts

How busy are the roads of Ottawa County, Kansas? We measure 150 road miles, divided into 760 segments, with multi-sourced, cross-verified mobile and sensor data. Its busiest road, US 81, carries 8,286 vehicles a day, 6.5 times the average road. The breakdown below covers volume, trucks, congestion and driver profiles for retailers, logistics planners and engineers.
Data sourced from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform.
Data current as of:
Q3 2026
Updated:
September 29, 2026
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total traffic icon

Total Traffic Volume & Performance in Ottawa County, Kansas

Traffic

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

vehicles per day1,275
Trucks

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

13.3%
Average travel time

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

33.7 min
Drivers’ average age

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

49.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income

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

$71,701

The average monitored road in Ottawa County, Kansas carries 1,275 vehicles per day. Across its 150 miles of monitored roads, that adds up to 271,828 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈99.2 million per year). At 13.3%, the truck share runs above the 10.2% across Kansas: about 1 in 8 vehicles.

Traffic 70% below the Kansas average

At 1,275 vehicles per day, the average monitored road in Ottawa carries 70% less traffic than the state average of 4,243, suggesting less demand on each road - very light roads: easy truck access, but little passing trade for roadside retail. Network-wide, Ottawa accounts for about 0.4% of Kansas's statewide total of vehicle-miles. Ottawa carries less traffic than 76% of counties in Kansas.

The average trip takes 33.7 minutes, 6% higher than the state level. 60% of counties in Kansas have a longer average travel time than Ottawa's 33.7 minutes.

Highway vs. Non-Highway Traffic Analysis

highway traffic icon

Highway Traffic in Ottawa County, Kansas

Trafficvehicles per day3,548
Trucks15.7%
Average travel time52.2 min
Drivers’ average age49.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income$67,347

Highways carry more than half of all travel in Ottawa County, Kansas (69% of vehicle-miles). The average highway carries 3,548 vehicles per day, 253% more than the average non-highway road in the same area, which carries 1,004 vehicles per day.

With 34% of the road miles (51 miles in 81 segments), highways punch above their length, carrying 187,975 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈68.6 million per year).

A typical mix of freight and passenger traffic

Highway truck concentration here runs 9% higher than the state average, at 15.7%. The highway traffic mix is typical for Kansas: neither freight- nor commuter-dominated.

62% of counties in Kansas see a lower highway truck share than Ottawa's 15.7%. By raw truck volume, Ottawa carries fewer highway trucks than 52% of counties in Kansas.

non-highway traffic icon

Non-highway Traffic in Ottawa County, Kansas

Trafficvehicles per day1,004
Trucks7.9%
Average travel time31.5 min
Drivers’ average age49.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income$76,967

Local roads carry a significant share of travel in Ottawa County, Kansas: 31% of all vehicle-miles. The average non-highway road carries 1,004 vehicles per day.

Spread over 99 miles and 679 segments, 66% of the road network, local roads carry a lighter load per mile: 83,853 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈30.6 million per year). About 1 in 13 vehicles on non-highway roads is a truck (7.9%).

Drivers from higher-income areas than 65% of counties in Kansas

The concentration of trucks on non-highway roads is 50% lower than on highways.

Trip origins here have higher average income than 65% of counties in Kansas. The driver population here skews younger than 54% of counties in Kansas.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Ottawa County, Kansas, the peak hour concentrates about 8% of the day's traffic.

Ottawa County vs. Kansas Traffic Comparison

Ottawa County's biggest difference from the Kansas average is its average daily traffic per road, 70% below it. Its truck share, by contrast, is 30% above.

MetricOttawa CountyKansas averageDifference
Traffic1,2754,243-69.9%
Truck % (Total Traffic)13.3%10.2%+29.9%
Truck % (Highway)15.7%14.4%+8.7%
Avg. Travel Time33.7 min31.8 min+6.2%

How Ottawa County compares

Ottawa County against nearby counties

Set against the average of the 4 areas nearest to it, Ottawa County carries 47.9% less traffic on a typical road and moves 49.9% of the total daily travel; it has the fourth busiest roads of the five. Smaller and quieter on both counts: a shorter network than the areas around it, carrying lighter traffic across it.

Ottawa County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the Kansas average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Ottawa County1,27513.3%271,82833.7 minN/A
Cloud County, Kansas2,47311.8%333,78135.6 minN/A
Saline County, Kansas4,75811.8%1,452,78437.5 minN/A
Lincoln County, Kansas85820.0%206,06844.3 minN/A
Clay County, Kansas1,7037.3%186,72034.1 minN/A
Kansas average4,24310.2%N/A31.8 min17.1%

Ottawa County ranked within Kansas

Ottawa County sits in the bottom quarter of the Kansas field on average daily traffic volume, at #80 of 105.

Ottawa County ranked among 105 county-level areas in Kansas (1 = highest); measures without data in every county rank a smaller field, down to 82.
MeasureOttawa CountyKansas rank
Traffic volume (AADT)1,275#80 of 105
Highway vehicle-miles per day187,975#47 of 82
Truck share on highways15.7%#32 of 82
Highway trucks per day556#43 of 82
Average travel time33.7 min#62 of 105
Average driver income$71,701#37 of 105
Average driver age49.2 yrs#57 of 105

Busiest roads in Ottawa County, Kansas

On their busiest stretches, the three busiest roads in Ottawa County carry 5,727 vehicles a day on average, 4.5 times the typical road in the county (1,275).

US 81 leads with 8,286 vehicles a day, 1,376 of them trucks (16.6%). It tops the truck ranking too, with the most trucks.

140th Road carries longer journeys than most roads here, with a median trip of 54.6 minutes against 33.7 county-wide.

Few trucks use Laurel Street: 6.4% of its traffic, under half the county's 13.3%.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1US 81Motorway · 8,286vehicles1,376trucks · 16.6%
Road class
Motorway
Median trip time
51.1 min
Drivers’ median age
49.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$69,426

Drivers on US 81 are on long journeys, a median 51.1 minutes against 33.7 county-wide: a through route more than a local street.

2140th RoadTrunk road · 5,787vehicles816trucks · 14.1%
Road class
Trunk road
Median trip time
54.6 min
Drivers’ median age
49.1 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$62,533

At 4.5 times the county average, 140th Road draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $62,533 in household income.

3Laurel StreetSecondary road · 3,108vehicles200trucks · 6.4%
Road class
Secondary road
Median trip time
24.7 min
Drivers’ median age
49.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$73,639

Laurel Street is a local road at heart: the median trip using it lasts 24.7 minutes, against 33.7 for the county.

4Rothsay AvenueSecondary road · 2,794vehicles193trucks · 6.9%
Road class
Secondary road
Median trip time
29.5 min
Drivers’ median age
49.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$72,888

The busiest stretch of Rothsay Avenue carries 2.2 times the county average; trucks are 6.9% of it, below the county-wide 13.3%.

5KS 18Secondary road · 2,643vehicles162trucks · 6.1%
Road class
Secondary road
Median trip time
31.0 min
Drivers’ median age
48.5 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$84,292

On its busiest stretch, KS 18 carries 2.1 times the county average; trucks are 6.1% of it, below the county-wide 13.3%.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1US 81Motorway · #1 by traffic8,286vehicles1,376trucks · 16.6%
2140th RoadTrunk road · #2 by traffic5,787vehicles816trucks · 14.1%
3Laurel StreetSecondary road · #3 by traffic3,108vehicles200trucks · 6.4%
4Rothsay AvenueSecondary road · #4 by traffic2,794vehicles193trucks · 6.9%
5Dove RoadPrimary road · 1,906vehicles183trucks · 9.6%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
33.7 min
Drivers’ median age
50.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$72,725

Dove Road peaks at 1,906 vehicles a day, 49% more than the county average; trucks are 9.6% of it, below the county-wide 13.3%.

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

OttawaDepartment 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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TrafficZoom platform

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Map AI

— demographics, housing and mobility data.

Counties near Ottawa County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Ottawa County, Kansas.

Need segment-level traffic data?

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