Commuting in North Slope Borough, Alaska: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in North Slope Borough spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:26 PM
Commute Time Burden in North Slope Borough: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in North Slope Borough spend about 15 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 62 hours, about 2.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 54% less time on the road than the Alaska average of 16.1 minutes each way, a difference of 8.6 minutes.
North Slope Borough holds about 1.5% of Alaska's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in North Slope Borough would save about 25 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $770 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Area
One-Way Commute
Daily Round-Trip
Yearly Time Spent
Estimated Yearly Cost
Local Road Traffic (VPD)
North Slope Borough
7.4 min
14.9 min
62 hrs/yr
$1,924
31
Alaska
16.1 min
32.2 min
134 hrs/yr
$4,157
583
United States
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,790
1,355
The estimated yearly cost applies a single national rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area - treat it
as a rough estimate, not a paycheck figure. Local road traffic counts, vehicles per day
on non-highway roads, come from proprietary
Ticon and
TrafficZoom data.
On average, it takes
7.4
minutes to get to work in
North Slope Borough.
That's 67% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by walking. About 5.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in North Slope Borough
Car:
46.2%unusually low
Walked:
33.5%unusually high
Other:
10.5%
Worked at Home:
5.6%
Taxi:
2.5%unusually high
Public Transportation:
1.2%
Motorcycle:
0.3%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Driving is 40% less common in North Slope Borough than the Alaska average (46.2% vs 76.9%).
Walking is unusually common in North Slope Borough: 4.6 times more than the Alaska average (33.5% vs 7.2%).
Taking a taxi is unusually common in North Slope Borough: 5.3 times more than the Alaska average (2.5% vs 0.5%).
North Slope Borough stands out for active commuting: 33.7% of workers walk or bike to work, 4.2 times the Alaska average of 7.9%.
Commute Mode Trends in North Slope Borough, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in North Slope Borough get to work, as a share of all workers aged 16 and over, across 16 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) releases from 2009 to 2024. Each release is a 5-year estimate: the 2024 figures cover surveys taken from 2020 to 2024. Because neighboring releases share most of their survey years, the lines move gradually, and a sudden change such as the rise of remote work in 2020 spreads across several releases. Hover over or tap a line to highlight it, and use the legend to show or hide a mode. Driving starts hidden so the smaller modes stay readable.
Share of workers aged 16 and over, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show commute mode data by year
Year
Car
Walked
Other
Worked at Home
Taxi
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
56.2%
33.4%
5.0%
2.5%
2.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.6%
2010
43.4%
39.2%
8.5%
2.4%
6.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
44.0%
38.4%
6.4%
3.8%
5.3%
2.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
34.8%
28.3%
7.1%
23.3%
5.1%
1.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2013
36.2%
33.8%
6.0%
17.8%
3.8%
2.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2014
35.5%
37.9%
5.6%
15.1%
4.1%
1.8%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
37.0%
38.0%
4.6%
14.4%
3.3%
2.8%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
35.6%
41.8%
4.5%
13.2%
2.9%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
38.3%
49.8%
3.3%
2.3%
2.2%
4.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
38.0%
52.1%
3.3%
1.7%
2.1%
2.7%
0.0%
0.1%
2019
36.3%
53.1%
4.0%
2.1%
2.3%
2.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
34.2%
53.2%
5.3%
4.1%
2.0%
1.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
40.2%
46.2%
5.6%
4.0%
2.2%
1.5%
0.0%
0.3%
2022
40.1%
48.1%
4.6%
4.4%
2.0%
0.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2023
39.0%
38.9%
13.7%
4.9%
2.6%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
2024
46.2%
33.5%
10.5%
5.6%
2.5%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
Driving's share bottomed out in 2020 at 34.2%. Overall it fell from 56.2% in 2009 to 46.2% in 2024, down 10.0 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in North Slope Borough: its share of workers rose from 2.5% in 2009 to 5.6% in 2024, up 3.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit overtook biking to become the 6th most common choice in the 2011 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 53.2% in 2020 and has since fallen back to 33.5%.
Driving is the most common way to get to work in 2024, as it was in 2009, though it did not lead in every release in between.
Commute Start Times in North Slope Borough
🌅Dawn PatrolThe 2nd-highest share of pre-6 AM departures among Alaska's 30 counties: 30.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM.
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe 2nd-biggest shift to earlier mornings among Alaska's 30 counties: the typical start is 52 minutes earlier than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in North Slope Borough?
The bars show when commuters in North Slope Borough leave home for work, as a share of everyone who commutes (people who work from home are not counted), from the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. The thin violet marks show Alaska for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMNorth Slope Borough8.9%Alaska4.8%
8.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMNorth Slope Borough10.7%Alaska3.6%
10.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMNorth Slope Borough11.2%Alaska5.6%
11.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMNorth Slope Borough8.1%Alaska7.2%
8.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMNorth Slope Borough3.9%Alaska8.6%
3.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMNorth Slope Borough6.5%Alaska12.9%
6.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMNorth Slope Borough15.8%Alaska17.1%
15.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMNorth Slope Borough17.2%Alaska10.7%
17.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMNorth Slope Borough7.1%Alaska6.3%
7.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMNorth Slope Borough2.0%Alaska7.1%
2.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMNorth Slope Borough2.4%Alaska3.4%
2.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMNorth Slope Borough0.2%Alaska1.7%
0.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMNorth Slope Borough3.5%Alaska5.6%
3.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMNorth Slope Borough2.4%Alaska5.3%
2.4%
North Slope BoroughAlaskaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in North Slope Borough is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 17.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.7% across Alaska. Early starts are more common than in Alaska: 30.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Alaska: 43.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.3% there. About 1 in 9 commuters (10.6%) leave at 9 AM or later, which usually points to shift work, flexible hours or part-time jobs.
When people leave matters as much as how far they go. Rush-hour traffic shrinks how much ground a 20-minute trip covers, so a trade area drawn as a simple circle often takes in neighborhoods that customers or staff would never drive from and misses others that are an easy trip. A drive-time zone, also called an isochrone, outlines every place within a set number of minutes of an address, which makes it the more honest way to size a store's catchment, a hiring area or the commute from a new home.
See it for yourself on the interactive map: click any spot in North Slope Borough, pick a 5, 10, 15 or 30-minute drive and see the local demographics of the people who live within that exact drive time.
Is North Slope Borough Waking Up Earlier? Typical Departure Time, 2009-2024
Each line follows the typical (median) departure time: the moment by which half of commuters have already left home. Higher on the chart means a later start. Setting North Slope Borough next to Alaska and the U.S. shows whether local mornings are drifting earlier or later than everyone else's. The figures span 16 ACS 5-year releases, so changes build up gradually rather than jumping from one year to the next.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
North Slope Borough
Alaska
United States
2009
8:23 AM
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
2010
8:30 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
8:11 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2012
8:14 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:58 AM
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:33 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:15 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2016
6:58 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
6:30 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2018
6:26 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
6:26 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2020
6:54 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:04 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2022
6:23 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
6:37 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:31 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in North Slope Borough were on the road by 7:31 AM, 52 minutes earlier than in 2009 (8:23 AM). The shift is sharper than across Alaska, where the typical start moved 4 minutes earlier. Commuters in North Slope Borough now leave 7 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in North Slope Borough has moved 65 minutes later.
How does North Slope Borough's commute time compare?
Metric
North Slope Borough
Alaska
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
7.4 min
16.1 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
5.6%
9.7%
15.0%
Walked
33.5%
7.2%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.2%
1.0%
3.2%
The average commute time in North Slope Borough is 7.4 minutes, shorter than the 16.1 minutes in Alaska.
1.2% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.0% in Alaska. 33.5% commute by walking, higher than the 7.2% in Alaska.
North Slope Borough, AK Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
North Slope Borough, AK is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 10,714 residents against a local median of 7,441. North Slope Borough, AK's one-way commute, at 7.4 min, runs 51% below the 15.3 min typical of the counties around it. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 5.6% against a local median of 6.6%, 15% below it. The counties themselves spread 19.7 min on one-way commute, so North Slope Borough, AK sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. North Slope Borough, AK has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in North Slope Borough, Alaska.
How much does the average commute cost workers in North Slope Borough, Alaska?
Commuters here spend an estimated 62 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $1,924 at a typical national wage. That's 54% less than the typical Alaska commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in North Slope Borough, Alaska?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in North Slope Borough, Alaska. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Alaska?
Among counties in Alaska, the shortest average commutes are in Skagway Municipality (4.7 min), Northwest Arctic Borough (5.5 min), Nome Census Area (5.8 min). The longest are in Matanuska-Susitna Borough (25.3 min), Fairbanks North Star Borough (17.2 min), Anchorage Municipality (17.1 min).