Commuting in Placer County, California: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How long is the round-trip commute in Placer County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Placer County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Placer County spend about 45 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 186 hours, about 7.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 5% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 1.2 minutes.
Placer 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 Placer County would save about 74 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,303 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)
Placer County
22.3 min
44.6 min
186 hrs/yr
$5,757
3,329
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
22.3
minutes to get to work in
Placer County.
That's 1% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 22.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Placer County
Car:
73.8%
Worked at Home:
22.7%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
1.1%
Public Transportation:
0.5%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.3%
Taxi:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Placer County: 5.2 times less than the California average (0.5% vs 2.9%).
Commute Mode Trends in Placer County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Placer 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
88.0%
7.6%
1.5%
0.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2010
87.9%
7.7%
1.6%
0.8%
1.1%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
2011
87.8%
7.5%
1.6%
0.8%
1.2%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2012
87.3%
8.0%
1.6%
0.8%
1.2%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2013
87.4%
7.8%
1.6%
0.7%
1.3%
0.4%
0.7%
0.0%
2014
87.7%
7.7%
1.6%
0.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.7%
0.0%
2015
87.6%
7.8%
1.6%
0.7%
1.3%
0.3%
0.7%
0.0%
2016
87.5%
8.0%
1.5%
0.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.6%
0.0%
2017
87.3%
8.3%
1.5%
0.8%
1.3%
0.3%
0.5%
0.0%
2018
86.9%
9.1%
1.4%
0.7%
1.2%
0.3%
0.4%
0.1%
2019
86.3%
9.9%
1.3%
0.7%
1.1%
0.2%
0.4%
0.1%
2020
83.6%
13.0%
1.1%
0.7%
1.0%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
80.6%
16.2%
1.1%
0.7%
0.9%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
78.0%
18.7%
1.2%
0.8%
0.7%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2023
76.3%
20.2%
1.3%
0.9%
0.6%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2024
73.8%
22.7%
1.2%
1.1%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 88.0% in 2009 to 73.8% in 2024, down 14.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 10 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Placer County: its share of workers rose from 7.6% in 2009 to 22.7% in 2024, up 15.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.1% to 0.5% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Placer County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Placer County?
The bars show when commuters in Placer 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 AMPlacer County5.0%California6.7%
5.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMPlacer County4.3%California4.5%
4.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMPlacer County4.5%California4.5%
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMPlacer County8.9%California8.4%
8.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMPlacer County9.5%California7.5%
9.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMPlacer County14.6%California13.1%
14.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMPlacer County11.9%California10.2%
11.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMPlacer County11.6%California12.6%
11.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMPlacer County5.5%California5.8%
5.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMPlacer County7.4%California8.6%
7.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMPlacer County3.5%California3.9%
3.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMPlacer County1.7%California1.8%
1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMPlacer County6.5%California6.9%
6.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMPlacer County5.1%California5.5%
5.1%
Placer CountyCaliforniaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Placer County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 13.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 47.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.3%) 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 Placer 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 Placer 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 Placer 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
Placer County
California
United States
2009
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:36 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:37 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:39 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:39 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:40 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:41 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:40 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:40 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:39 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:35 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:36 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:36 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Placer County were on the road by 7:38 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:35 AM). Across California the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 6 minutes later. Commuters in Placer County now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Placer County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Placer County's commute time compare?
Metric
Placer County
California
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.3 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
22.7%
17.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
2.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
2.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Placer County is 22.3 minutes, shorter than the 23.5 minutes in California.
0.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.4% in California.
Placer County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Placer County, CA is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 418,934 residents against a local median of 84,507. The measure that sets Placer County, CA apart most is work from home: 22.7%, 35% above the local median of 16.8%.
The counties themselves spread 16.2% on work from home, so Placer County, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Placer County, CA has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Placer County, California.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Placer County, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 186 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,757 at a typical national wage. That's 5% less than the typical California commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Placer County, California?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Placer 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Placer County, 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.
How much money can remote workers save in Placer County, California?
About 22.7% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Placer County would save about 74 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,303 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).