According to the Statista Consumer Insights, for the period between October 2023 and September 2024, around of U.S. American workers spent an average of **** an hour or less commuting to work. In the period between 2019 and 2024, the share of workers commuting less than ** minutes dropped by ***** percentage points to ** percent, while the share of workers commuting over **** an hour decreased from ** to ** percent. Rise of hybrid work models The transformation in commute times coincides with a surge in hybrid work arrangements. By the second quarter of 2024, ** percent of U.S. workers reported adopting a hybrid work model, blending remote and on-site work. This shift, initially sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reshaped how Americans balance their professional and personal lives, offering increased flexibility and potentially reducing overall commute times for many. Driving remains most common form of commuting Among those workers who continue to travel to their place of work, driving remained the most popular mode. Over ********** of U.S. Americans drove to work by car, truck or van in 2022 and an additional nearly **** percent used a carpool to get to their job. Public transportation, meanwhile, was only used by *** percent of workers.

Average commute time in each U.S. county in minutes.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

When asked about "Duration of daily commute", ** percent of U.S. respondents answer ******************. This online survey was conducted in 2025, among 13,687 consumers.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY (B080ACS036061) from 2009 to 2023 about New York County, NY; commuting time; New York; workers; average; NY; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Los Angeles County, CA (B080ACS006037) from 2009 to 2023 about commuting time; Los Angeles County, CA; Los Angeles; average; workers; 5-year; CA; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in St. Louis city, MO (B080ACS029510) from 2009 to 2023 about St. Louis City, MO; commuting time; St. Louis; MO; workers; average; 5-year; and USA.

This statistic depicts the average time people spend on their way to work with public transport in Latin America as of May 2018. In that period, Colombia's capital Bogota was at the top of the list, with an average commute time of ** minutes.

This statistic depicts the average time spent by U.S. workers to commute to work in 2019, by region. In that year, U.S. workers from the Northeast region spent on average 31 minutes to travel to work.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Denver County, CO (B080ACS008031) from 2009 to 2023 about Denver County, CO; commuting time; Denver; CO; workers; average; 5-year; and USA.

The Travel Time to Work indicator compares the mean, or average, commute time for Champaign County residents to the mean commute time for residents of Illinois and the United States as a whole. On its own, mean travel time of all commuters on all mode types could be reflective of a number of different conditions. Congestion, mode choice, changes in residential patterns, changes in the location of major employment centers, and changes in the transit network can all impact travel time in different and often conflicting ways. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the workplace location (office vs. home) is another factor that can impact the mean travel time of an area. We don’t recommend trying to draw any conclusions about conditions in Champaign County, or anywhere else, based on mean travel time alone.

However, when combined with other indicators in the Mobility category (and other categories), mean travel time to work is a valuable measure of transportation behaviors in Champaign County.

Champaign County’s mean travel time to work is lower than the mean travel time to work in Illinois and the United States. Based on this figure, the state of Illinois has the longest commutes of the three analyzed areas.

The year-to-year fluctuations in mean travel time have been statistically significant in the United States since 2014, and in Illinois in 2021 and 2022. Champaign County’s year-to-year fluctuations in mean travel time were statistically significant from 2021 to 2022, the first time since this data first started being tracked in 2005.

Mean travel time data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Travel Time to Work.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (16 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (10 October 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (17 October 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (29 March 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (29 March 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (14 September 2017).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR Commute Time (T4)

FULL MEASURE NAME Commute time by employment location

LAST UPDATED April 2020

DESCRIPTION Commute time refers to the average number of minutes a commuter spends traveling to work on a typical day. The dataset includes metropolitan area, county, city, and census tract tables by place of residence.

DATA SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census (1980-2000) - via MTC/ABAG Bay Area Census http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/transportation.htm

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey Table B08536 (2018 only; by place of employment) Table B08601 (2018 only; by place of employment) www.api.census.gov

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) For the decennial Census datasets, breakdown of commute times was unavailable by mode; only overall data could be provided on a historical basis.

For the American Community Survey datasets, 1-year rolling average data was used for all metros, region, and county geographic levels, while 5-year rolling average data was used for cities and tracts. This is due to the fact that more localized data is not included in the 1-year dataset across all Bay Area cities. Similarly, modal data is not available for every Bay Area city or census tract, even when the 5-year data is used for those localized geographies.

Regional commute times were calculated by summing aggregate county travel times and dividing by the relevant population; similarly, modal commute time were calculated using aggregate times and dividing by the number of communities choosing that mode for the given geography. Census tract data is not available for tracts with insufficient numbers of residents.

The metropolitan area comparison was performed for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area in addition to the primary MSAs for the nine other major metropolitan areas.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in San Diego County, CA (B080ACS006073) from 2009 to 2023 about San Diego County, CA; commuting time; San Diego; workers; average; 5-year; CA; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Cook County, IL (B080ACS017031) from 2009 to 2023 about Cook County, IL; commuting time; Chicago; IL; workers; average; 5-year; and USA.

This statistic represents the U.S. metropolitan areas with the shortest commuting time in 2017. People in smaller metro areas like Enid, OK metro area had the shortest commute time, with an average of 13.6 minutes in that year.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Dallas County, TX (B080ACS048113) from 2009 to 2023 about Dallas County, TX; commuting time; Dallas; average; workers; TX; 5-year; and USA.

As of 2025, the median driving time to the nearest rural hospital that offered maternity care services ranged from over 90 minutes in Alaska to 27 minutes in Delaware. This statistic displays the median driving time in minutes to the nearest rural hospital that provided maternity services in the U.S. as of 2025, by state.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Commute Time (T3)

FULL MEASURE NAME
Commute time by residential location

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Commute time refers to the average number of minutes a commuter spends traveling to work on a typical day. The dataset includes metropolitan area, county, city, and census tract tables by place of residence.

DATA SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census (1980-2000) - via MTC/ABAG Bay Area Census - http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/transportation.htm

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
2006-2021
Form C08136
Form C08536
Form B08301
Form B08301
Form B08301

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
For the decennial Census datasets, breakdown of commute times was unavailable by mode; only overall data could be provided on a historical basis.

For the American Community Survey (ACS) datasets, 1-year rolling average data was used for all metros, region and county geographic levels, while 5-year rolling average data was used for cities and tracts. This is due to the fact that more localized data is not included in the 1-year dataset across all Bay Area cities. Similarly, modal data is not available for every Bay Area city or census tract, even when the 5-year data is used for those localized geographies.

Regional commute times were calculated by summing aggregate county travel times and dividing by the relevant population; similarly, modal commute times were calculated using aggregate times and dividing by the number of communities choosing that mode for the given geography.

Census tract data is not available for tracts with insufficient numbers of residents. The metropolitan area comparison was performed for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area in addition to the primary metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for the nine other major metropolitan areas.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Kings County, CA (B080ACS006031) from 2009 to 2023 about Kings County, CA; Hanford; commuting time; workers; average; 5-year; CA; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Queens County, NY (B080ACS036081) from 2009 to 2023 about Queens County, NY; commuting time; New York; average; workers; NY; 5-year; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Middlesex County, MA (B080ACS025017) from 2009 to 2023 about Middlesex County, MA; commuting time; Boston; MA; workers; average; 5-year; and USA.