Need segment-level traffic data?

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

Get insights →
Traffic heat map of Sanders County, Montana: 193 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on Railroad Avenue and Main Street

Sanders County, Montana Traffic Counts

TrafficZoom tracks traffic on 193 road miles in Sanders County, Montana, divided into 1,430 segments averaging 712 ft. The average road here carries 1,919 vehicles a day, 54% less than the Montana average of 4,202. 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
Find my place
total traffic icon

Total Traffic Volume & Performance in Sanders County, Montana

Traffic

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

vehicles per day1,919
Trucks

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

9.6%
Average travel time

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

38.0 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.

61.5 yrs
Drivers’ average income

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

$57,218

A typical monitored road in Sanders County, Montana sees 1,919 vehicles per day, while its 193 miles of monitored roads together handle 320,953 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈117 million per year). Trucks are a smaller part of the mix than across Montana: 9.6% against 11.7%.

Traffic 54% below the Montana average

Sanders's average daily traffic volume is 54% lower than the state average - 1,919 vehicles per day against 4,202 - suggesting less traffic load per road - very light roads: easy truck access, but little passing trade for roadside retail. Across the whole network, that travel is about 1.1% of Montana's statewide total. By volume, Sanders's 1,919 vehicles per day outpaces 60% of counties in Montana.

Journey times here (38.0 minutes on average) closely track the state level. 62% of counties in Montana have a longer average travel time than Sanders's 38.0 minutes.

Congestion runs 52% lower than the state level, at a ratio of 5.9%, which means smoother traffic flow - delays are rare enough to plan travel times almost to the minute.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

peak hours icon
Peak Traffic Windows
Weekday peaks:
AM peak 9:00 AM–12:00 PM and PM peak 3:00 PM–6:00 PM, with volumes reaching approximately 87% higher than the daily average.
Weekend traffic:
Weekends are somewhat quieter: volumes run about 6% below weekday levels, the usual weekend dip.
seasonal traffic icon
Seasonal Fluctuation
Busy season:
July–September is the high season, with volumes +36% versus the annual average.
Lowest month:
January is the quietest month, with volumes -36% versus the annual average - the usual winter low.

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Sanders County, Montana, the peak hour concentrates about 8% of the day's traffic, and there is a strong seasonal swing of +36% in high season.

Sanders County vs. Montana Traffic Comparison

The average daily traffic per road sets Sanders County apart: 54% below the Montana average. Its truck share is also 18% below.

MetricSanders CountyMontana averageDifference
Traffic1,9194,202-54.3%
Truck % (Total Traffic)9.6%11.7%-18.0%
Avg. Travel Time38.0 min36.2 min+5.0%

How Sanders County compares

Sanders County against nearby counties

Compared with its 4 closest neighbours, Sanders County runs 6.0 percentage points less truck traffic and carries 29.9% less traffic on a typical road; it has the quietest roads of the five. Smaller and quieter on both counts: a shorter network than the areas around it, carrying lighter traffic across it.

Sanders County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the Montana average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Sanders County1,9199.6%320,95338.0 min5.9%
Shoshone County, Idaho2,00018.4%412,28430.7 minN/A
Mineral County, Montana1,95725.8%513,08648.6 min6.4%
Lake County, Montana4,3079.1%875,23739.6 min10.6%
Lincoln County, Montana2,6829.0%221,56730.0 min7.2%
Montana average4,20211.7%N/A36.2 min12.3%

Sanders County ranked within Montana

On average driver age, Sanders County is among the three highest county-level areas in Montana.

Sanders County ranked among 56 county-level areas in Montana (1 = highest).
MeasureSanders CountyMontana rank
Traffic volume (AADT)1,919#23 of 56
Average travel time38.0 min#35 of 56
Average driver income$57,218#49 of 56
Average driver age61.5 yrs#2 of 56

Sanders County ranks #2 of 56 on average driver age but #49 of 56 on average driver income - the two describe the same roads and are worth reading together rather than either on its own.

Busiest roads in Sanders County, Montana

Traffic concentrates on a few corridors: the three busiest roads average 4,560 vehicles a day, against 1,919 on the average road in Sanders County.

Railroad Avenue leads with 4,729 vehicles a day, 310 of them trucks (6.6%). Main Street carries the most trucks, 363 a day (7.9% of its traffic), although it ranks #2 for all traffic.

Trips using A Street are long: a median of 61.9 minutes against 38.0 county-wide, the mark of a through route.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Railroad AvenuePrimary road · 4,729vehicles310trucks · 6.6%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
11.3%
Median trip time
38.0 min
Drivers’ median age
59.4 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$55,185

The busiest stretch of Railroad Avenue carries 2.5 times the county average; trucks are 6.6% of it, below the county-wide 9.6%.

2Main StreetPrimary road · 4,589vehicles363trucks · 7.9%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
9.9%
Median trip time
23.3 min
Drivers’ median age
62.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$57,163

Main Street is a local road at heart: the median trip using it lasts 23.3 minutes, against 38.0 for the county.

3Montana Highway 200Primary road · 4,360vehicles294trucks · 6.7%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
8.8%
Median trip time
32.1 min
Drivers’ median age
61.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$57,635

On its busiest stretch, Montana Highway 200 carries 2.3 times the county average; trucks are 6.7% of it, below the county-wide 9.6%.

4MT 200Primary road · 2,743vehicles260trucks · 9.5%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
6.2%
Median trip time
51.4 min
Drivers’ median age
61.1 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$63,608

Drivers on MT 200 are on long journeys, a median 51.4 minutes against 38.0 county-wide: a through route more than a local street.

5A StreetPrimary road · 2,299vehicles230trucks · 10.0%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
61.9 min
Drivers’ median age
56.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$49,776

A Street is busy by local standards, at 20% more than the county average on its busiest stretch; trucks are 10.0% of it, in line with the county-wide 9.6%.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Main StreetPrimary road · #2 by traffic4,589vehicles363trucks · 7.9%
2Railroad AvenuePrimary road · #1 by traffic4,729vehicles310trucks · 6.6%
3Montana Highway 200Primary road · #3 by traffic4,360vehicles294trucks · 6.7%
4MT 200Primary road · #4 by traffic2,743vehicles260trucks · 9.5%
5A StreetPrimary road · #5 by traffic2,299vehicles230trucks · 10.0%
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

SandersDepartment 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.
link arrow icon
Data current as of:
Q3 2026

Explore further

TrafficZoom platform

— street-level analytics and custom corridor reports.

Map AI

— demographics, housing and mobility data.

Counties near Sanders County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Sanders County, Montana.

Need segment-level traffic data?

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