Commuting in Monterey 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, 6:30 PM
Is the commute in Monterey County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 6:30 PM
Commute Time Burden in Monterey County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Monterey County spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 182 hours, about 7.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.
Monterey County holds about 1.1% of California's population but accounts for roughly 1.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Monterey County would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,262 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)
Monterey County
21.9 min
43.8 min
182 hrs/yr
$5,655
1,669
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
21.9
minutes to get to work in
Monterey County.
That's 2% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 9.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Monterey County
Car:
80.2%
Worked at Home:
9.8%
Other:
5.1%
Walked:
2.9%
Public Transportation:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Monterey County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Monterey 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
Other
Walked
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
85.6%
4.5%
2.1%
4.1%
2.5%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2010
84.8%
5.1%
2.6%
3.9%
2.4%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
2011
84.2%
5.2%
3.7%
3.5%
2.2%
0.9%
0.4%
0.0%
2012
84.1%
5.0%
4.5%
3.2%
2.1%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2013
83.3%
5.3%
4.8%
3.5%
2.1%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
82.6%
5.0%
5.8%
3.6%
2.0%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
82.2%
4.5%
6.8%
3.2%
2.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
2016
82.2%
4.5%
7.1%
3.2%
2.0%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
81.8%
4.6%
7.8%
3.1%
1.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
81.5%
4.4%
8.4%
3.1%
1.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
2019
82.0%
4.7%
8.1%
2.9%
1.6%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
82.4%
6.0%
7.1%
2.5%
1.3%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
81.1%
7.2%
7.7%
2.4%
1.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
79.4%
8.7%
7.0%
2.9%
1.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
80.1%
9.1%
5.8%
2.9%
1.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
80.2%
9.8%
5.1%
2.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share bottomed out in 2022 at 79.4%. Overall it fell from 85.6% in 2009 to 80.2% in 2024, down 5.4 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Monterey County: its share of workers rose from 4.5% in 2009 to 9.8% in 2024, up 5.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.5% to 1.1% of workers (down 1.4 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Monterey County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Monterey County?
The bars show when commuters in Monterey 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 AMMonterey County7.1%California6.7%
7.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMonterey County5.5%California4.5%
5.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMonterey County4.1%California4.5%
4.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMonterey County10.9%California8.4%
10.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMonterey County7.9%California7.5%
7.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMonterey County17.7%California13.1%
17.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMonterey County10.3%California10.2%
10.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMonterey County11.3%California12.6%
11.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMonterey County3.8%California5.8%
3.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMonterey County6.7%California8.6%
6.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMonterey County3.4%California3.9%
3.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMonterey County1.5%California1.8%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMonterey County5.8%California6.9%
5.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMonterey County4.2%California5.5%
4.2%
Monterey CountyCaliforniaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Monterey County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across California. Early starts are about as common as in California: 16.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 47.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.5%) 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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
Monterey County
California
United States
2009
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:31 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:30 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:32 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:32 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:29 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:28 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:27 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:27 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:26 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:26 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:24 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:24 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:25 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:25 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Monterey County were on the road by 7:25 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:31 AM). That goes against the trend across California, where the typical commuter now leaves 6 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Monterey County now leave 13 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Monterey County's commute time compare?
Metric
Monterey County
California
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.9 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
9.8%
17.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.9%
2.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
2.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Monterey County is 21.9 minutes, shorter than the 23.5 minutes in California.
1.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 2.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in California.
Monterey County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Monterey County, CA is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 437,328 residents against a local median of 281,514. Where Monterey County, CA breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 35% below the local median of 15.2% at 9.8%.
The counties themselves spread 17.3% on work from home, so Monterey County, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Monterey County, CA has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Monterey County, California.
Is commuting expensive in Monterey County, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 182 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,655 at a typical national wage. That's 7% less than the typical California commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Monterey County, California?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Monterey 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.
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).