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Traffic heat map of Steele County, North Dakota: 109 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on Lincoln Avenue

Steele County, North Dakota Traffic Counts

TrafficZoom tracks traffic on 109 road miles in Steele County, North Dakota, divided into 485 segments averaging 1,186 ft. Trips here are among the 5 longest of any county in North Dakota. 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 Steele County, North Dakota

Traffic

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

vehicles per day554
Trucks

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

9.3%
Average travel time

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

51.3 min
Congestion ratio

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

2.5%
Drivers’ average age

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

54.3 yrs
Drivers’ average income

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

$78,325

The average monitored road in Steele County, North Dakota carries 554 vehicles per day. Across its 109 miles of monitored roads, that adds up to 58,228 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈21.3 million per year). About 1 in 11 vehicles is a truck, fewer than the 1 in 9 across North Dakota.

Longer trips than 94% of counties in North Dakota

Steele sees 75% lower average daily traffic volume than the state average (554 vehicles per day against 2,174), suggesting less demand on each road - very light roads: easy truck access, but little passing trade for roadside retail. Network-wide, Steele accounts for about 0.3% of North Dakota's statewide total of vehicle-miles. Steele carries less traffic than 92% of counties in North Dakota.

At 51.3 minutes, the average travel time is 38% higher than the state level. On travel time, Steele runs longer than 94% of counties in North Dakota.

Congestion runs 77% lower than the state level, at a ratio of 2.5%, which means smoother traffic flow - delays are rare enough to plan travel times almost to the minute.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Steele County, North Dakota, the peak hour concentrates about 8% of the day's traffic.

Steele County vs. North Dakota Traffic Comparison

The average daily traffic per road sets Steele County apart: 75% below the North Dakota average. Its average travel time, by contrast, is 38% above.

MetricSteele CountyNorth Dakota averageDifference
Traffic5542,174-74.5%
Truck % (Total Traffic)9.3%11.1%-16.5%
Avg. Travel Time51.3 min37.0 min+38.5%

How Steele County compares

Trips in Steele County run longer than in any nearby county

Set against the average of the 4 areas nearest to it, Steele County is 64.3% less congested and moves 15.2% of the total daily travel; it has the fourth busiest roads of the five. Trips here run longer without running slower: distance, not congestion, is what drivers spend their time on.

Steele County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the North Dakota average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Steele County5549.3%58,22851.3 min2.5%
Griggs County, North Dakota5849.2%50,66442.4 min3.2%
Traill County, North Dakota97612.2%335,35528.5 min6.2%
Grand Forks County, North Dakota3,1338.3%1,036,03635.2 min15.7%
Nelson County, North Dakota52311.1%112,94242.2 min2.5%
North Dakota average2,17411.1%N/A37.0 min10.6%

Steele County ranked within North Dakota

Steele County sits in the top quarter of the North Dakota field on average travel time, at #4 of 53.

Steele County ranked among 53 county-level areas in North Dakota (1 = highest).
MeasureSteele CountyNorth Dakota rank
Traffic volume (AADT)554#49 of 53
Average travel time51.3 min#4 of 53
Average driver income$78,325#25 of 53
Average driver age54.3 yrs#12 of 53

Steele County ranks #4 of 53 on average travel time but #49 of 53 on average daily traffic volume. Some of the longest trips in North Dakota on some of its emptiest roads - distance, not congestion, is what sets travel time here.

Busiest roads in Steele County, North Dakota

On their busiest stretches, the three busiest roads in Steele County carry 1,038 vehicles a day on average, 87% more than the typical road in the county (554).

Lincoln Avenue is the busiest road, at 1,277 vehicles a day, 156 of them trucks (12.2%). It tops the truck ranking too, with the most trucks.

ND 200 carries longer journeys than most roads here, with a median trip of 90.9 minutes against 51.3 county-wide.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Lincoln AvenuePrimary road · 1,277vehicles156trucks · 12.2%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
41.8 min
Drivers’ median age
56.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$84,069

At 2.3 times the county average, Lincoln Avenue draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $84,069 in household income.

2Washington AvenuePrimary road · 951vehicles130trucks · 13.7%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
40.6 min
Drivers’ median age
56.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$84,197

Washington Avenue peaks at 951 vehicles a day, 72% more than the county average; trucks are 13.7% of it, above the county-wide 9.3%.

3ND 32Primary road · 888vehicles89trucks · 10.1%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
59.9 min
Drivers’ median age
53.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$76,921

ND 32 carries 60% more than the county average at its busiest, 89 of them trucks (10.1%, above the county-wide 9.3%).

4ND 200Primary road · 824vehicles75trucks · 9.1%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
2.5%
Median trip time
90.9 min
Drivers’ median age
51.0 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$75,507

ND 200 carries 49% more than the county average on its busiest stretch, where the median trip lasts 90.9 minutes.

5ND 38Secondary road · 753vehicles56trucks · 7.5%
Road class
Secondary road
Median trip time
51.8 min
Drivers’ median age
51.4 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$81,193

At 36% more than the county average, ND 38 draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $81,193 in household income.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Lincoln AvenuePrimary road · #1 by traffic1,277vehicles156trucks · 12.2%
2Washington AvenuePrimary road · #2 by traffic951vehicles130trucks · 13.7%
3ND 32Primary road · #3 by traffic888vehicles89trucks · 10.1%
4ND 200Primary road · #4 by traffic824vehicles75trucks · 9.1%
5ND 38Secondary road · #5 by traffic753vehicles56trucks · 7.5%
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

SteeleDepartment 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 Steele County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Steele County, North Dakota.

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