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Sitka Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Sitka, Alaska: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 7:58 PM
Is the commute in Sitka longer than the national average?
Map AI 9/24/26, 7:58 PM

Commute Time Burden in Sitka: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Sitka spend about 17 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 71 hours, about 3.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 47% less time on the road than the Alaska average of 16.1 minutes each way, a difference of 7.5 minutes.

Sitka holds about 1.1% of Alaska's population but accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Sitka would save about 29 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $885 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)
Sitka 8.6 min 17.1 min 71 hrs/yr $2,213 741
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.

Sitka Commute Map

On average, it takes 8.6 minutes to get to work in Sitka. That's 62% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by walking. About 7.5% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Sitka

  • Car: 71.5%
  • Walked: 16.1%
  • Worked at Home: 7.5%
  • Bicycle: 2.7% unusually high
  • Other: 2.0%
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Sitka, versus 0.2% in Alaska.

Public transit is unusually rare in Sitka: 15.0 times less than the Alaska average (0.1% vs 1.0%).

Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Sitka: 4021.9 times less than the Alaska average (0.0% vs 0.5%).

Biking is unusually common in Sitka: 4.0 times more than the Alaska average (2.7% vs 0.7%).

Commute Mode Trends in Sitka, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Sitka 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 Worked at Home Bicycle Other Public Transportation Taxi Motorcycle
2009 75.0% 11.2% 4.9% 2.9% 4.8% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2010 75.4% 11.3% 3.6% 4.9% 4.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0%
2011 75.5% 12.6% 4.0% 4.5% 2.1% 1.3% 0.1% 0.0%
2012 72.2% 13.2% 4.8% 5.4% 2.8% 1.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2013 72.2% 14.9% 4.0% 4.6% 2.2% 2.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2014 72.1% 15.4% 3.8% 5.3% 2.4% 1.0% 0.1% 0.0%
2015 70.4% 15.1% 5.1% 5.2% 2.5% 1.8% 0.1% 0.0%
2016 71.2% 16.8% 4.1% 3.9% 2.5% 1.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2017 73.3% 15.6% 4.2% 2.9% 2.6% 1.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2018 72.3% 15.9% 4.1% 3.4% 2.8% 1.0% 0.5% 0.0%
2019 72.5% 15.5% 4.5% 2.8% 3.0% 1.2% 0.4% 0.0%
2020 74.4% 14.4% 3.7% 3.1% 3.3% 0.7% 0.4% 0.0%
2021 74.7% 14.1% 4.4% 3.1% 2.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.0%
2022 71.5% 15.5% 6.8% 3.4% 2.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.0%
2023 71.8% 14.9% 7.9% 2.6% 2.5% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 71.5% 16.1% 7.5% 2.7% 2.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2011 at 75.5% and lowest in 2015 at 70.4%. Overall it fell from 75.0% in 2009 to 71.5% in 2024, down 3.5 percentage points.

Walking gained the most ground in Sitka: its share of workers rose from 11.2% in 2009 to 16.1% in 2024, up 4.9 percentage points.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.2% to 0.1% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).

Biking peaked at 5.4% in 2012 and has since fallen back to 2.7%.

Commute Start Times in Sitka

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Sitka?

The bars show when commuters in Sitka 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
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
2.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
4.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
5.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
9.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
16.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
20.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
10.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
8.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
2.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
2.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
3.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
3.7%

Sitka Alaska Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Sitka is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 20.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 17.1% across Alaska. Early starts are less common than in Alaska: 12.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Alaska: 56.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.3% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.2%) 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 Sitka, 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 Sitka 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 Sitka 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 Sitka Alaska United States
2009 7:46 AM 7:47 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:45 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:41 AM 7:46 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:43 AM 7:47 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:41 AM 7:46 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:41 AM 7:45 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:48 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:46 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:46 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:47 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:49 AM 7:45 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:45 AM 7:45 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:48 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:47 AM 7:44 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:46 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:38 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Sitka were on the road by 7:38 AM, 8 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:46 AM). The shift is sharper than across Alaska, where the typical start moved 4 minutes earlier. Commuters in Sitka now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Sitka has moved 10 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Sitka in the whole series.

How does Sitka's commute time compare?

Metric Sitka Alaska US Average
Avg. Commute Time 8.6 min 16.1 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 7.5% 9.7% 15.0%
Walked 16.1% 7.2% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 1.0% 3.2%

The average commute time in Sitka is 8.6 minutes, shorter than the 16.1 minutes in Alaska.

0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.0% in Alaska. 16.1% commute by walking, higher than the 7.2% in Alaska.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Sitka, Alaska.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Sitka, Alaska?

Commuters here spend an estimated 71 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,213 at a typical national wage. That's 47% less than the typical Alaska commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Sitka, Alaska?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Sitka, Alaska. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Sitka, Alaska?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.1% of commuters use it versus 1.0% in Alaska, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.