Commuting in Butte County, California: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:25 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Butte County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:25 PM
Commute Time Burden in Butte County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Butte County spend about 32 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 132 hours, about 5.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 33% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 7.7 minutes.
Butte County holds about 0.5% of California's population but accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Butte County would save about 53 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,635 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)
Butte County
15.8 min
31.7 min
132 hrs/yr
$4,089
955
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.
On average, it takes
15.8
minutes to get to work in
Butte County.
That's 29% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 89% of counties in California
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Butte County
Car:
81.3%
Worked at Home:
12.6%
Walked:
2.9%
Bicycle:
1.2%
Other:
1.1%
Public Transportation:
0.6%unusually low
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Butte County: 5.2 times less than the California average (0.6% vs 2.9%).
Commute Mode Trends in Butte County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Butte 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
Bicycle
Other
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
86.0%
5.4%
3.9%
2.7%
0.6%
1.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
86.3%
5.3%
3.7%
2.6%
0.6%
1.2%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
86.1%
5.1%
3.7%
3.0%
0.5%
1.2%
0.1%
0.4%
2012
85.5%
5.5%
4.0%
2.9%
0.5%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2013
85.3%
6.0%
3.9%
2.9%
0.4%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2014
85.4%
6.0%
3.6%
2.8%
0.6%
1.2%
0.1%
0.4%
2015
85.5%
5.8%
3.7%
2.8%
0.6%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2016
85.8%
5.9%
3.3%
2.6%
0.7%
1.2%
0.1%
0.4%
2017
86.1%
5.7%
3.2%
2.6%
0.7%
1.2%
0.1%
0.4%
2018
86.0%
5.8%
3.3%
2.5%
0.6%
1.2%
0.2%
0.4%
2019
86.7%
5.6%
3.0%
2.4%
0.5%
1.2%
0.2%
0.4%
2020
85.0%
7.5%
2.9%
2.1%
0.8%
1.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2021
84.0%
9.1%
3.2%
1.7%
0.9%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
2022
83.1%
10.7%
3.1%
1.3%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
82.3%
11.3%
2.9%
1.3%
1.1%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
2024
81.3%
12.6%
2.9%
1.2%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2019 at 86.7%. Overall it fell from 86.0% in 2009 to 81.3% in 2024, down 4.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Butte County: its share of workers rose from 5.4% in 2009 to 12.6% in 2024, up 7.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 2.7% to 1.2% of workers (down 1.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Butte County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Butte County?
The bars show when commuters in Butte 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 California for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMButte County5.0%California6.7%
5.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMButte County4.3%California4.5%
4.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMButte County4.6%California4.5%
4.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMButte County7.0%California8.4%
7.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMButte County8.4%California7.5%
8.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMButte County12.1%California13.1%
12.1%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMButte County13.0%California10.2%
13.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMButte County12.7%California12.6%
12.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMButte County5.1%California5.8%
5.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMButte County7.1%California8.6%
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMButte County3.6%California3.9%
3.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMButte County2.5%California1.8%
2.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMButte County7.6%California6.9%
7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMButte County6.8%California5.5%
6.8%
Butte CountyCaliforniaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Butte County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 13.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.2% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 13.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 46.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.7%) 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 Butte 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 Butte 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 Butte County 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
Butte County
California
United States
2009
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:45 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:46 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:47 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:49 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:49 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:49 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:47 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:45 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:43 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:45 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:44 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:46 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:47 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:50 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Butte County were on the road by 7:50 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:46 AM). Across California the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 6 minutes later. Commuters in Butte County now leave 12 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Butte County has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Butte County in the whole series.
How does Butte County's commute time compare?
Metric
Butte County
California
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
15.8 min
23.5 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.6%
17.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.9%
2.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.6%
2.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Butte County is 15.8 minutes, shorter than the 23.5 minutes in California.
0.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 2.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in California.
Butte County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Butte County, CA is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 207,907 residents against a local median of 65,167. Where Butte County, CA breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 61% above the local median of 7.8% at 12.6%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 15.8 min against a local median of 18.8 min, 16% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 16% below the local median it puts Butte County, CA at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 5.9% on work from home, so Butte County, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Butte County, CA has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Butte County, California.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Butte County, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 132 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,089 at a typical national wage. That's 33% less than the typical California commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Butte County, California?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Butte County, California. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Butte County, California?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.6% of commuters use it versus 2.9% in California, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in California?
Among counties in California, the shortest average commutes are in Inyo County (11.1 min), Mono County (12.0 min), Del Norte County (12.1 min). The longest are in Alpine County (31.3 min), San Benito County (31.2 min), Contra Costa County (31.0 min).