Barstow Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 10/21/26, 7:49 PM

Is the commute in Barstow longer than the national average?

Map AI 10/21/26, 7:49 PM

Commute Time Burden in Barstow: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Barstow spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 143 hours, about 6.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 27% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 6.3 minutes.

Barstow holds about 0.1% of California's population but accounts for roughly 0.0% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Barstow would save about 57 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,772 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)
Barstow	17.1 min	34.3 min	143 hrs/yr	$4,430	1,872
California	23.5 min	47.0 min	196 hrs/yr	$6,065	2,449
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.

Barstow Commute Map

On average, it takes 17.1 minutes to get to work in Barstow. That's 23% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 5.7% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Barstow

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Barstow, versus 0.2% in California.

Public transit is unusually rare in Barstow: 5.5 times less than the California average (0.5% vs 2.9%).

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Barstow, versus 0.2% in California.

Working from home is unusually rare in Barstow: 3.0 times less than the California average (5.7% vs 17.2%).

Commute Mode Trends in Barstow, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Barstow 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	Other	Public Transportation	Bicycle	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	90.1%	1.4%	5.0%	0.0%	2.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%
2010	89.0%	1.5%	5.0%	0.0%	3.8%	0.4%	0.0%	0.3%
2011	87.2%	1.4%	6.9%	0.0%	3.9%	0.4%	0.0%	0.2%
2012	87.9%	1.8%	6.8%	0.1%	3.2%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2013	88.8%	1.7%	5.7%	0.4%	3.0%	0.3%	0.0%	0.1%
2014	89.2%	2.8%	5.0%	0.5%	2.2%	0.3%	0.0%	0.1%
2015	89.0%	2.9%	3.7%	2.2%	1.4%	0.6%	0.0%	0.2%
2016	88.9%	2.7%	3.6%	2.5%	1.4%	0.7%	0.0%	0.3%
2017	89.0%	1.8%	4.1%	2.5%	1.3%	0.7%	0.2%	0.3%
2018	89.6%	2.8%	4.0%	1.9%	1.0%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%
2019	89.2%	2.8%	3.4%	2.2%	1.5%	0.5%	0.2%	0.3%
2020	91.2%	3.8%	2.5%	0.6%	1.3%	0.1%	0.5%	0.1%
2021	91.9%	3.7%	2.4%	0.7%	0.7%	0.3%	0.4%	0.0%
2022	90.7%	3.5%	3.6%	1.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.0%	0.1%
2023	89.2%	3.2%	5.3%	1.2%	0.8%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	85.4%	5.7%	5.1%	3.0%	0.5%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2021 at 91.9%. Overall it fell from 90.1% in 2009 to 85.4% in 2024, down 4.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Barstow: its share of workers rose from 1.4% in 2009 to 5.7% in 2024, up 4.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.6% to 0.5% of workers (down 2.1 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2024 release and has stayed ahead since.

Walking peaked at 6.9% in 2011 and has since fallen back to 5.1%.

Commute Start Times in Barstow

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Barstow?

The bars show when commuters in Barstow 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 California for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		12.0%
5:00-5:29 AM		5.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		9.7%
6:00-6:29 AM		9.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM		10.4%
7:30-7:59 AM		5.0%
8:00-8:29 AM		5.4%
8:30-8:59 AM		5.2%
9:00-9:59 AM		4.9%
10:00-10:59 AM		1.9%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM		10.1%
4:00-11:59 PM		8.8%

Barstow California Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Barstow is 12:00-4:59 AM, when 12.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 6.7% across California. Early starts are more common than in California: 27.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in California: 31.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.6%) 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 Barstow, 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 Barstow 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 Barstow next to California 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	Barstow	California	United States
2009	7:03 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:09 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:25 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:21 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:24 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:20 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:20 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:17 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:25 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:20 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:15 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:14 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:01 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2022	6:59 AM	7:43 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:09 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:07 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Barstow were on the road by 7:07 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:03 AM). California followed the same path, with the typical start moving 6 minutes later. Commuters in Barstow now leave 31 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 Barstow has moved 8 minutes earlier.

How does Barstow's commute time compare?

Metric	Barstow	California	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	17.1 min	23.5 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	12:00 AM – 04:59 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	5.7%	17.2%	15.0%
Walked	5.1%	2.4%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.5%	2.9%	3.2%

The average commute time in Barstow is 17.1 minutes, shorter than the 23.5 minutes in California.

0.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 5.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in California.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Barstow, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Barstow, CA compares with the 1 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Barstow, CA	25,500	17.1 min #1/2	5.7% #2/2	7:07 AM #1/2
Apple Valley, CA	71,935	25.6 min	9.8%	7:21 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Barstow, California.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Barstow, California?

Commuters here spend an estimated 143 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,430 at a typical national wage. That's 27% less than the typical California commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Barstow, California?

Traffic peaks between 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM in Barstow, California. 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.

Do people use public transit in Barstow, California?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.5% of commuters use it versus 2.9% in California, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.