San Francisco Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in San Francisco, 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 San Francisco: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in San Francisco spend about 57 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 239 hours, about 10.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 22% more time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 5.2 minutes.
San Francisco holds about 2.1% of California's population but accounts for roughly 2.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in San Francisco would save about 96 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,967 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 Francisco | 28.7 min | 57.4 min | 239 hrs/yr | $7,417 | 4,557 |
| 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.
San Francisco Commute Map
On average, it takes 28.7 minutes to get to work in San Francisco. That's 28% 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 31.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in San Francisco
- Car: 34.6% unusually low
- Worked at Home: 31.0%
- Public Transportation: 18.7% unusually high
- Walked: 9.4% unusually high
- Bicycle: 3.3% unusually high
- Other: 1.9%
- Taxi: 0.7% unusually high
- Motorcycle: 0.4%
Driving is 54% less common in San Francisco than the California average (34.6% vs 75.2%).
Walking is unusually common in San Francisco: 4.0 times more than the California average (9.4% vs 2.4%).
Public transit is unusually common in San Francisco: 6.6 times more than the California average (18.7% vs 2.9%).
Taking a taxi is unusually common in San Francisco: 3.4 times more than the California average (0.7% vs 0.2%).
Biking is unusually common in San Francisco: 4.8 times more than the California average (3.3% vs 0.7%).
San Francisco stands out for active commuting: 12.7% of workers walk or bike to work, 4.1 times the California average of 3.1%.
Commute Mode Trends in San Francisco, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in San Francisco 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 | 46.9% | 6.7% | 32.3% | 9.5% | 2.6% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 2010 | 45.9% | 6.6% | 32.6% | 9.8% | 3.0% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 2011 | 45.4% | 6.8% | 32.7% | 9.9% | 3.1% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 2012 | 45.3% | 7.0% | 32.4% | 9.9% | 3.4% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| 2013 | 44.5% | 7.0% | 32.6% | 10.1% | 3.5% | 1.1% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 2014 | 43.6% | 7.0% | 33.0% | 10.3% | 3.8% | 1.1% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 2015 | 43.0% | 6.9% | 33.2% | 10.4% | 4.0% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.9% |
| 2016 | 42.1% | 6.6% | 33.7% | 10.6% | 4.1% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| 2017 | 41.1% | 6.7% | 34.1% | 11.1% | 3.9% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| 2018 | 40.1% | 6.6% | 34.3% | 11.5% | 4.0% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.9% |
| 2019 | 38.9% | 6.6% | 34.8% | 11.8% | 4.0% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 0.9% |
| 2020 | 37.2% | 11.8% | 31.6% | 11.7% | 3.7% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 0.9% |
| 2021 | 35.9% | 18.0% | 27.8% | 11.0% | 3.4% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 0.8% |
| 2022 | 35.1% | 23.4% | 23.9% | 10.5% | 3.4% | 1.9% | 1.1% | 0.7% |
| 2023 | 34.6% | 27.5% | 21.4% | 10.0% | 3.3% | 1.9% | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| 2024 | 34.6% | 31.0% | 18.7% | 9.4% | 3.3% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.4% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 46.9% in 2009 to 34.6% in 2024, down 12.3 percentage points.
Working from home gained the most ground in San Francisco: its share of workers rose from 6.7% in 2009 to 31.0% in 2024, up 24.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 24.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 32.3% to 18.7% of workers (down 13.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 11.8% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 9.4%.
Commute Start Times in San Francisco
What Time Do People Leave for Work in San Francisco?
The bars show when commuters in San Francisco 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
San Francisco2.3%
California6.7%
|
2.3% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
San Francisco1.5%
California4.5%
|
1.5% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
San Francisco1.8%
California4.5%
|
1.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
San Francisco5.0%
California8.4%
|
5.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
San Francisco6.0%
California7.5%
|
6.0% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
San Francisco12.4%
California13.1%
|
12.4% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
San Francisco11.8%
California10.2%
|
11.8% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
San Francisco18.1%
California12.6%
|
18.1% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
San Francisco11.0%
California5.8%
|
11.0% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
San Francisco14.1%
California8.6%
|
14.1% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
San Francisco4.7%
California3.9%
|
4.7% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
San Francisco1.9%
California1.8%
|
1.9% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
San Francisco5.8%
California6.9%
|
5.8% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
San Francisco3.7%
California5.5%
|
3.7% |
San Francisco California Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in San Francisco is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 18.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.6% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 5.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 48.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (30.1%) 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 Francisco, 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 Francisco 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 Francisco 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 | San Francisco | California | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:11 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:12 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:12 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 8:12 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:12 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:13 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:13 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 8:13 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:13 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:13 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:13 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:13 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:14 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:14 AM | 7:43 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:16 AM | 7:44 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:15 AM | 7:45 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in San Francisco were on the road by 8:15 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (8:11 AM). Across California the shift was bigger still, with the typical start moving 6 minutes later. Commuters in San Francisco now leave 37 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 San Francisco has moved 2 minutes later.
How does San Francisco's commute time compare?
| Metric | San Francisco | California | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 28.7 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 | 31.0% | 17.2% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 9.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 18.7% | 2.9% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in San Francisco is 28.7 minutes, longer than the 23.5 minutes in California.
18.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 2.9% in California. 9.4% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in California.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in San Francisco, California.
What is the financial impact of commuting in San Francisco, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 239 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,417 at a typical national wage. That's 22% more than the typical California commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in San Francisco, California?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in San Francisco, 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 common is public transit use in San Francisco, California?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 18.7% of commuters use it versus 2.9% in California, making it a realistic option for many workers.
How much money can remote workers save in San Francisco, California?
About 31.0% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in San Francisco would save about 96 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,967 at the same national wage assumption used above.