Commuting in Pima County, Arizona: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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Is the commute in Pima County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:12 PM
Commute Time Burden in Pima County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Pima County spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 185 hours, about 7.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% less time on the road than the Arizona average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 0.2 minutes.
Pima County holds about 14.4% of Arizona's population but accounts for roughly 14.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Pima County would save about 74 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,298 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)
Pima County
22.2 min
44.5 min
185 hrs/yr
$5,745
2,560
Arizona
22.4 min
44.9 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,798
1,948
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
22.2
minutes to get to work in
Pima County.
That's 1% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 3 slowest counties in Arizona
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 15.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Pima County
Car:
79.0%
Worked at Home:
15.4%
Walked:
1.8%
Public Transportation:
1.5%
Other:
0.9%
Bicycle:
0.9%
Motorcycle:
0.3%
Taxi:
0.2%
Commute Mode Trends in Pima County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Pima County 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
Worked at Home
Walked
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
87.2%
4.5%
2.7%
2.6%
1.2%
1.3%
0.5%
0.1%
2010
86.7%
4.8%
2.7%
2.5%
1.3%
1.4%
0.5%
0.1%
2011
87.0%
4.8%
2.5%
2.4%
1.4%
1.4%
0.5%
0.1%
2012
86.8%
4.8%
2.5%
2.4%
1.5%
1.5%
0.5%
0.1%
2013
86.4%
4.9%
2.5%
2.5%
1.6%
1.5%
0.5%
0.1%
2014
86.4%
4.7%
2.4%
2.6%
1.8%
1.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2015
86.4%
4.6%
2.5%
2.8%
1.8%
1.4%
0.5%
0.0%
2016
86.5%
4.7%
2.3%
2.8%
1.8%
1.3%
0.5%
0.0%
2017
86.6%
4.8%
2.3%
2.7%
1.8%
1.2%
0.6%
0.1%
2018
86.8%
5.0%
2.3%
2.5%
1.6%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2019
86.8%
5.4%
2.3%
2.3%
1.5%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2020
85.1%
7.8%
2.1%
2.0%
1.4%
1.1%
0.4%
0.2%
2021
83.1%
10.3%
2.1%
1.7%
1.2%
1.0%
0.4%
0.2%
2022
81.7%
12.1%
2.0%
1.6%
1.1%
1.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2023
80.3%
13.8%
1.8%
1.6%
1.0%
0.9%
0.3%
0.2%
2024
79.0%
15.4%
1.8%
1.5%
0.9%
0.9%
0.3%
0.2%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 87.2% in 2009 to 79.0% in 2024, down 8.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Pima County: its share of workers rose from 4.5% in 2009 to 15.4% in 2024, up 10.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.6% to 1.5% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Pima County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Pima County?
The bars show when commuters in Pima County 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 Arizona for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMPima County6.4%Arizona8.5%
6.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMPima County4.9%Arizona5.8%
4.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMPima County5.7%Arizona5.7%
5.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMPima County8.0%Arizona9.2%
8.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMPima County10.0%Arizona9.3%
10.0%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMPima County13.8%Arizona13.1%
13.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMPima County11.2%Arizona10.1%
11.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMPima County9.8%Arizona10.1%
9.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMPima County4.6%Arizona4.2%
4.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMPima County6.1%Arizona5.9%
6.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMPima County3.3%Arizona2.9%
3.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMPima County1.8%Arizona1.5%
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMPima County7.6%Arizona7.0%
7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMPima County6.8%Arizona6.5%
6.8%
Pima CountyArizonaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Pima County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across Arizona. Early starts are less common than in Arizona: 17.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 20.1% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Arizona: 44.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 42.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.6%) 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 Pima County, 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 Pima County 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 Pima County next to Arizona 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
Pima County
Arizona
United States
2009
7:30 AM
7:23 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:31 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:32 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:34 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:33 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:32 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:32 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:31 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:31 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:31 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:31 AM
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:32 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:33 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:33 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Pima County were on the road by 7:33 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:30 AM). Arizona followed the same path, with the typical start moving 3 minutes later. Commuters in Pima County now leave 5 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 Pima County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Pima County's commute time compare?
Metric
Pima County
Arizona
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.2 min
22.4 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
15.4%
18.4%
15.0%
Walked
1.8%
1.7%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.5%
1.0%
3.2%
The average commute time in Pima County is about the same as in Arizona.
1.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.0% in Arizona. 1.8% commute by walking, higher than the 1.7% in Arizona.
Pima County, AZ Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Pima County, AZ is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 1,060,282 residents against a local median of 125,520. The measure that sets Pima County, AZ apart most is work from home: 15.4%, 26% above the local median of 12.2%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 22.2 min against a local median of 17.9 min, 24% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 24% above the local median it puts Pima County, AZ at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 12.1% on work from home, so Pima County, AZ sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Pima County, AZ has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Pima County, Arizona.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Pima County, Arizona?
Commuters here spend an estimated 185 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,745 at a typical national wage. That's 1% less than the typical Arizona commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Pima County, Arizona?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Pima County, Arizona. 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 Arizona?
Among counties in Arizona, the shortest average commutes are in La Paz County (10.3 min), Gila County (13.4 min), Greenlee County (13.9 min). The longest are in Pinal County (31.0 min), Maricopa County (23.1 min), Pima County (22.2 min).