Foster City Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Foster City, California: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Foster City: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Foster City spend about 55 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 231 hours, about 9.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 18% more time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 4.2 minutes.
Foster City holds about 0.1% of California's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Foster City would save about 92 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,860 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster City | 27.7 min | 55.4 min | 231 hrs/yr | $7,151 | 4,602 |
| 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.
Foster City Commute Map
On average, it takes 27.7 minutes to get to work in Foster City. That's 24% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 34.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Foster City
- Car: 59.4% unusually low
- Worked at Home: 34.2%
- Public Transportation: 2.9%
- Walked: 1.7%
- Bicycle: 1.0%
- Other: 0.6%
- Taxi: 0.2%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Foster City: 3.6 times less than the California average (0.1% vs 0.2%).
Driving is 21% less common in Foster City than the California average (59.4% vs 75.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Foster City, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Foster City 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Public Transportation | Walked | Bicycle | Other | Taxi | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 86.3% | 6.6% | 3.6% | 2.1% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 87.3% | 6.6% | 3.3% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 87.6% | 6.6% | 2.8% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2012 | 87.2% | 7.3% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 87.0% | 6.5% | 3.7% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| 2014 | 86.1% | 6.0% | 4.6% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| 2015 | 83.4% | 6.1% | 6.0% | 1.9% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| 2016 | 81.5% | 5.9% | 7.5% | 2.6% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| 2017 | 81.1% | 5.3% | 8.2% | 2.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 1.0% |
| 2018 | 81.4% | 5.3% | 7.8% | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| 2019 | 80.2% | 5.8% | 7.4% | 2.3% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| 2020 | 75.9% | 12.6% | 6.6% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| 2021 | 68.8% | 20.6% | 5.6% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.4% |
| 2022 | 65.1% | 25.8% | 4.6% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| 2023 | 62.1% | 30.1% | 3.9% | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2024 | 59.4% | 34.2% | 2.9% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 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 2011 at 87.6%. Overall it fell from 86.3% in 2009 to 59.4% in 2024, down 26.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Foster City: its share of workers rose from 6.6% in 2009 to 34.2% in 2024, up 27.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 28.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.6% to 2.9% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Foster City
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Foster City?
The bars show when commuters in Foster City 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 AM
Foster City1.6%
California6.7%
|
1.6% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Foster City0.3%
California4.5%
|
0.3% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Foster City1.1%
California4.5%
|
1.1% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Foster City4.0%
California8.4%
|
4.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Foster City5.6%
California7.5%
|
5.6% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Foster City10.0%
California13.1%
|
10.0% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Foster City12.7%
California10.2%
|
12.7% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Foster City20.3%
California12.6%
|
20.3% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Foster City13.3%
California5.8%
|
13.3% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Foster City19.8%
California8.6%
|
19.8% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Foster City3.5%
California3.9%
|
3.5% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Foster City2.3%
California1.8%
|
2.3% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Foster City3.1%
California6.9%
|
3.1% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Foster City2.5%
California5.5%
|
2.5% |
Foster City California Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Foster City is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 20.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.6% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 3.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 48.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (31.2%) 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 Foster City, 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 Foster City 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 Foster City 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Foster City | California | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:07 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:08 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:11 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 8:14 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:16 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:14 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:15 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 8:15 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:15 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:15 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:17 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:19 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:20 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:22 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:23 AM | 7:44 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:22 AM | 7:45 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Foster City were on the road by 8:22 AM, 15 minutes later than in 2009 (8:07 AM). The shift is sharper than across California, where the typical start moved 6 minutes later. Commuters in Foster City now leave 44 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 Foster City has moved 5 minutes later.
How does Foster City's commute time compare?
| Metric | Foster City | California | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 27.7 min | 23.5 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM |
| Secondary Departure Window | 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 34.2% | 17.2% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 1.7% | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Foster City is 27.7 minutes, longer than the 23.5 minutes in California.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as California. 1.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.4% in California.
Foster City, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Cities
Foster City, CA is the 3rd largest of the 5 cities compared here, 32,669 residents against a local median of 54,957. Foster City, CA's one-way commute, at 27.7 min, runs 22% above the 22.7 min typical of the cities around it. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The cities themselves spread 3.3 min on one-way commute, so Foster City, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Foster City, CA has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster City, CA | 32,669 | 27.7 min #5/5 | 34.2% #2/5 | 8:22 AM #5/5 |
| Redwood City, CA | 82,255 | 22.3 min | 26.7% | 8:10 AM |
| San Mateo, CA | 101,951 | 23.2 min | 24.7% | 8:12 AM |
| Belmont, CA | 24,586 | 25.4 min | 33.5% | 8:14 AM |
| San Carlos, CA | 27,659 | 22.1 min | 34.9% | 8:12 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Foster City, California.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Foster City, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 231 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,151 at a typical national wage. That's 18% more than the typical California commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Foster City, California?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Foster City, California. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How much time do residents in Foster City, California save by working from home?
About 34.2% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Foster City would save about 92 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,860 at the same national wage assumption used above.