Imperial County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 8:31 PM

How long is the round-trip commute in Imperial County?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:31 PM

Commute Time Burden in Imperial County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Imperial County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 149 hours, about 6.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 24% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 5.6 minutes.

Imperial County holds about 0.5% of California's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Imperial County would save about 60 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,850 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)
Imperial County	17.9 min	35.8 min	149 hrs/yr	$4,624	1,078
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.

Commute Time Map: California Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in California

Inyo County (11.1 min)
Mono County (12.0 min)
Del Norte County (12.1 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in California

Alpine County (31.3 min)
San Benito County (31.2 min)
Contra Costa County (31.0 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Imperial County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 17.9 minutes to get to work in Imperial County. That's 20% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 74% of counties in California

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 7.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Imperial County

Public transit is unusually rare in Imperial County: 8.9 times less than the California average (0.3% vs 2.9%).

Commute Mode Trends in Imperial County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Imperial 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	Other	Public Transportation	Taxi	Bicycle	Motorcycle
2009	90.1%	4.1%	3.1%	0.8%	1.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%
2010	90.5%	4.3%	2.7%	0.8%	1.0%	0.2%	0.3%	0.1%
2011	90.4%	4.2%	2.7%	0.8%	1.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
2012	89.7%	4.3%	2.8%	1.0%	1.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%
2013	89.6%	4.6%	2.2%	1.4%	1.3%	0.3%	0.5%	0.1%
2014	90.6%	4.0%	1.9%	1.4%	1.1%	0.3%	0.5%	0.1%
2015	90.5%	4.0%	2.1%	1.6%	1.1%	0.3%	0.5%	0.0%
2016	90.4%	4.0%	2.2%	1.5%	0.9%	0.3%	0.6%	0.1%
2017	90.3%	4.4%	1.9%	1.8%	0.8%	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%
2018	90.1%	5.0%	2.0%	1.4%	0.8%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%
2019	89.8%	4.6%	2.5%	1.4%	0.9%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
2020	88.5%	5.9%	2.8%	1.2%	0.7%	0.3%	0.4%	0.1%
2021	88.1%	6.1%	2.9%	1.5%	0.8%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%
2022	88.3%	5.9%	3.0%	1.4%	0.7%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
2023	88.1%	6.5%	2.8%	1.4%	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
2024	87.8%	7.2%	2.6%	1.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2014 at 90.6%. Overall it fell from 90.1% in 2009 to 87.8% in 2024, down 2.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Imperial County: its share of workers rose from 4.1% in 2009 to 7.2% in 2024, up 3.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.4% to 0.3% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).

Commute Start Times in Imperial County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Imperial County?

The bars show when commuters in Imperial 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		10.9%
5:00-5:29 AM		6.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		6.9%
6:00-6:29 AM		7.8%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.0%
7:00-7:29 AM		14.1%
7:30-7:59 AM		12.4%
8:00-8:29 AM		8.2%
8:30-8:59 AM		3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM		4.9%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.6%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM		8.3%
4:00-11:59 PM		4.8%

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

The busiest time to head out in Imperial County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across California. Early starts are more common than in California: 24.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush looks much like California's: 41.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.4%) 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 Imperial 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 Imperial 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 Imperial 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	Imperial County	California	United States
2009	7:28 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:31 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:29 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:28 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:30 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:32 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:31 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:32 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:34 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:30 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:30 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:30 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:25 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:26 AM	7:43 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:27 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:23 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Imperial County were on the road by 7:23 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:28 AM). That goes against the trend across California, where the typical commuter now leaves 6 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Imperial County now leave 15 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 Imperial County has moved 7 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Imperial County in the whole series.

How does Imperial County's commute time compare?

Metric	Imperial County	California	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	17.9 min	23.5 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	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	7.2%	17.2%	15.0%
Walked	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.3%	2.9%	3.2%

The average commute time in Imperial County is 17.9 minutes, shorter than the 23.5 minutes in California.

0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 2.6% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in California.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Imperial County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Imperial County, CA is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 180,111 residents against a local median of 2,193,778. The measure that sets Imperial County, CA apart most is work from home: 7.2%, 35% below the local median of 11.0%.

One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 17.9 min against a local median of 22.6 min, 21% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 21% below the local median it puts Imperial County, CA at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 11.0% on work from home, so Imperial County, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Imperial County, CA has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Imperial County, CA	180,111	17.9 min #2/6	7.2% #6/6	7:23 AM #4/6
Riverside County, CA	2,477,722	28.1 min	12.3%	7:20 AM
San Diego County, CA	3,282,387	22.6 min	18.7%	7:40 AM
Yuma County, AZ	211,723	18.2 min	7.7%	7:14 AM
La Paz County, AZ	16,663	10.3 min	11.0%	7:26 AM
San Bernardino County, CA	2,193,778	25.6 min	11.0%	7:22 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Imperial County, California.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Imperial County, California?

Commuters here spend an estimated 149 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,624 at a typical national wage. That's 24% less than the typical California commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Imperial County, California?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Imperial County, California. 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.

How common is public transit use in Imperial County, California?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.3% of commuters use it versus 2.9% in California, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

Which counties in California have the fastest and slowest commutes?

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).