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San Bernardino County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in San Bernardino 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, 8:09 PM
Is the commute in San Bernardino County longer than the national average?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:09 PM

Commute Time Burden in San Bernardino County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in San Bernardino County spend about 51 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 213 hours, about 8.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% more time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 2.1 minutes.

San Bernardino County holds about 5.6% of California's population but accounts for roughly 6.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in San Bernardino County would save about 85 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,647 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)
San Bernardino County 25.6 min 51.2 min 213 hrs/yr $6,617 2,347
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
  1. Inyo County (11.1 min)
  2. Mono County (12.0 min)
  3. Del Norte County (12.1 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in California
  1. Alpine County (31.3 min)
  2. San Benito County (31.2 min)
  3. Contra Costa County (31.0 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

San Bernardino County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 25.6 minutes to get to work in San Bernardino County. That's 14% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Slower than 82% of counties in California

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 11.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in San Bernardino County

  • Car: 85.3%
  • Worked at Home: 11.0%
  • Walked: 1.4%
  • Other: 0.9%
  • Public Transportation: 0.9% unusually low
  • Bicycle: 0.2% unusually low
  • Motorcycle: 0.2%
  • Taxi: 0.1%

Public transit is unusually rare in San Bernardino County: 3.2 times less than the California average (0.9% vs 2.9%).

Biking is unusually rare in San Bernardino County: 3.9 times less than the California average (0.2% vs 0.7%).

Commute Mode Trends in San Bernardino County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in San Bernardino 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 Public Transportation Other Motorcycle Bicycle Taxi
2009 91.1% 3.7% 2.0% 1.7% 0.8% 0.4% 0.3% 0.0%
2010 91.0% 3.8% 2.0% 1.8% 0.8% 0.3% 0.3% 0.0%
2011 90.8% 3.9% 2.0% 1.9% 0.7% 0.4% 0.3% 0.0%
2012 91.0% 3.8% 2.0% 1.9% 0.6% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%
2013 91.0% 3.9% 1.9% 1.8% 0.7% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%
2014 91.1% 4.1% 1.8% 1.7% 0.6% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%
2015 91.2% 4.2% 1.8% 1.6% 0.6% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%
2016 90.9% 4.6% 1.7% 1.6% 0.6% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%
2017 90.9% 4.7% 1.7% 1.5% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.0%
2018 90.9% 4.8% 1.6% 1.5% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.0%
2019 90.6% 5.2% 1.5% 1.4% 0.7% 0.2% 0.3% 0.0%
2020 89.6% 6.2% 1.6% 1.3% 0.8% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0%
2021 88.1% 7.8% 1.5% 1.1% 0.9% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%
2022 87.0% 9.0% 1.5% 1.0% 1.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0%
2023 86.2% 10.0% 1.4% 0.9% 1.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%
2024 85.3% 11.0% 1.4% 0.9% 0.9% 0.2% 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 2015 at 91.2%. Overall it fell from 91.1% in 2009 to 85.3% in 2024, down 5.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in San Bernardino County: its share of workers rose from 3.7% in 2009 to 11.0% in 2024, up 7.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.7% to 0.9% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).

Commute Start Times in San Bernardino County

  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe 2nd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among California's 58 counties: only 36.6% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in San Bernardino County?

The bars show when commuters in San Bernardino 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
11.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
6.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
9.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
7.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
11.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
9.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
3.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
5.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
3.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
8.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
7.4%

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

The busiest time to head out in San Bernardino County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 11.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.1% across California. Early starts are more common than in California: 24.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in California: 36.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.0%) 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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino County California United States
2009 7:19 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:19 AM 7:41 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:20 AM 7:41 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:21 AM 7:42 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:22 AM 7:43 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:22 AM 7:43 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:22 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:23 AM 7:43 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:22 AM 7:42 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:21 AM 7:42 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:22 AM 7:42 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:21 AM 7:42 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:20 AM 7:42 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:21 AM 7:43 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:21 AM 7:44 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:22 AM 7:45 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in San Bernardino County were on the road by 7:22 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:19 AM). Across California the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 6 minutes later. Commuters in San Bernardino County now leave 16 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).

How does San Bernardino County's commute time compare?

Metric San Bernardino County California US Average
Avg. Commute Time 25.6 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 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 11.0% 17.2% 15.0%
Walked 1.4% 2.4% 2.4%
Public Transit 0.9% 2.9% 3.2%

The average commute time in San Bernardino County is 25.6 minutes, longer than the 23.5 minutes in California.

0.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.9% in California. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 2.4% in California.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

San Bernardino County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

San Bernardino County, CA is typical in size for this group, 2,193,778 residents against a local median of 2,477,722, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. San Bernardino County, CA sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.

The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 11% above the local median at 25.6 min against 23.1 min. San Bernardino County, CA has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
San Bernardino County, CA 2,193,778 25.6 min #5/6 11.0% #5/6 7:22 AM #2/6
Riverside County, CA 2,477,722 28.1 min 12.3% 7:20 AM
Clark County, NV 2,328,677 23.1 min 12.2% 7:45 AM
San Diego County, CA 3,282,387 22.6 min 18.7% 7:40 AM
Imperial County, CA 180,111 17.9 min 7.2% 7:23 AM
Orange County, CA 3,164,225 23.1 min 18.5% 7:54 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in San Bernardino County, California.

What is the financial impact of commuting in San Bernardino County, California?

Commuters here spend an estimated 213 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,617 at a typical national wage. That's 9% more than the typical California commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in San Bernardino County, California?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in San Bernardino County, California. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 12:00 AM – 04:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Do people use public transit in San Bernardino County, California?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.9% of commuters use it versus 2.9% in California, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

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).