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Surprise Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 3:34 PM
Is the commute in Surprise longer than the national average?
Map AI 9/24/26, 3:34 PM

Commute Time Burden in Surprise: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Surprise spend about 55 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 228 hours, about 9.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 22% more time on the road than the Arizona average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 4.9 minutes.

Surprise holds about 2.1% of Arizona's population but accounts for roughly 2.5% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Surprise would save about 91 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,827 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)
Surprise 27.4 min 54.7 min 228 hrs/yr $7,067 4,334
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.

Surprise Commute Map

On average, it takes 27.4 minutes to get to work in Surprise. That's 22% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 19.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Surprise

  • Car: 78.2%
  • Worked at Home: 19.0%
  • Other: 1.4%
  • Walked: 0.8%
  • Motorcycle: 0.4%
  • Bicycle: 0.3%
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low

Public transit is unusually rare in Surprise: 11.9 times less than the Arizona average (0.1% vs 1.0%).

Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Surprise: 23.9 times less than the Arizona average (0.0% vs 0.2%).

Commute Mode Trends in Surprise, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Surprise 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 Other Walked Motorcycle Bicycle Public Transportation Taxi
2009 91.4% 5.3% 1.0% 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0%
2010 91.5% 5.2% 1.0% 1.1% 0.6% 0.2% 0.4% 0.0%
2011 91.6% 5.7% 0.9% 0.7% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3% 0.0%
2012 91.4% 5.5% 1.1% 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.3% 0.0%
2013 90.3% 6.7% 1.0% 0.7% 0.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.0%
2014 90.2% 6.9% 1.1% 0.6% 0.3% 0.5% 0.3% 0.0%
2015 90.5% 6.7% 1.1% 0.8% 0.3% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0%
2016 90.4% 6.6% 1.2% 0.7% 0.5% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0%
2017 90.0% 7.2% 0.8% 0.6% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.1%
2018 90.4% 6.5% 0.9% 0.7% 0.7% 0.5% 0.3% 0.1%
2019 89.5% 7.5% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1%
2020 88.1% 9.0% 0.7% 0.6% 0.7% 0.5% 0.2% 0.1%
2021 85.7% 11.5% 0.8% 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.2% 0.1%
2022 82.8% 14.5% 0.9% 0.8% 0.5% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%
2023 79.9% 17.3% 1.1% 0.9% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
2024 78.2% 19.0% 1.4% 0.8% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2011 at 91.6%. Overall it fell from 91.4% in 2009 to 78.2% in 2024, down 13.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Surprise: its share of workers rose from 5.3% in 2009 to 19.0% in 2024, up 13.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Commute Start Times in Surprise

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Surprise?

The bars show when commuters in Surprise 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
9.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
6.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
12.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
11.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
13.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7.1%
8:00-8:29 AM
9.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
3.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
3.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
5.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
8.3%

Surprise Arizona Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Surprise is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across Arizona. Early starts are about as common as in Arizona: 20.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 20.1% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Arizona: 40.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 42.6% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (22.1%) 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 Surprise, 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 Surprise 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 Surprise 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 Surprise Arizona United States
2009 7:05 AM 7:23 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:07 AM 7:25 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:11 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:13 AM 7:27 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:12 AM 7:27 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:12 AM 7:27 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:11 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:07 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:06 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:07 AM 7:26 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:10 AM 7:26 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:10 AM 7:26 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:13 AM 7:25 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:15 AM 7:26 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:12 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:13 AM 7:26 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Surprise were on the road by 7:13 AM, 8 minutes later than in 2009 (7:05 AM). The shift is sharper than across Arizona, where the typical start moved 3 minutes later. Commuters in Surprise now leave 25 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 Surprise has moved 3 minutes later.

How does Surprise's commute time compare?

Metric Surprise Arizona US Average
Avg. Commute Time 27.4 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 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 19.0% 18.4% 15.0%
Walked 0.8% 1.7% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 1.0% 3.2%

The average commute time in Surprise is 27.4 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in Arizona.

0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.0% in Arizona. 0.8% commute by walking, lower than the 1.7% in Arizona.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Surprise, AZ Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Surprise, AZ compares with the 2 cities closest to it.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Surprise, AZ 150,965 27.4 min #2/3 19.0% #2/3 7:13 AM #2/3
Sun City West, AZ 25,067 16.2 min 22.3% 7:42 AM
El Mirage, AZ 34,950 28.0 min 14.9% 7:06 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Surprise, Arizona.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Surprise, Arizona?

Commuters here spend an estimated 228 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,067 at a typical national wage. That's 22% more than the typical Arizona commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Surprise, Arizona?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Surprise, Arizona. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

How common is public transit use in Surprise, Arizona?

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