Commuting in San Mateo 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, 8:35 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in San Mateo County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:35 PM
Commute Time Burden in San Mateo County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in San Mateo County spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 193 hours, about 8.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 0.3 minutes.
San Mateo County holds about 1.9% of California's population but accounts for roughly 1.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in San Mateo County would save about 77 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,395 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 Mateo County
23.2 min
46.4 min
193 hrs/yr
$5,987
3,407
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
23.2
minutes to get to work in
San Mateo County.
That's 3% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 74% of counties in California
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 24.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in San Mateo County
Car:
65.4%
Worked at Home:
24.3%
Public Transportation:
5.0%
Walked:
2.3%
Other:
1.4%
Bicycle:
1.2%
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in San Mateo County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in San Mateo 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
81.9%
4.8%
8.2%
2.7%
0.8%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2010
81.6%
4.9%
8.4%
2.8%
0.9%
1.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
81.6%
5.0%
8.3%
2.7%
0.8%
1.2%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
81.6%
5.2%
8.1%
2.7%
0.8%
1.3%
0.1%
0.3%
2013
81.2%
5.2%
8.7%
2.6%
0.8%
1.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
81.1%
5.0%
8.9%
2.5%
0.9%
1.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
80.5%
5.0%
9.4%
2.5%
1.0%
1.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
79.9%
5.0%
10.1%
2.5%
0.9%
1.4%
0.1%
0.3%
2017
79.3%
4.8%
10.4%
2.7%
1.0%
1.4%
0.1%
0.3%
2018
78.5%
5.1%
10.6%
2.6%
1.1%
1.5%
0.2%
0.3%
2019
78.0%
5.3%
11.0%
2.6%
1.1%
1.5%
0.3%
0.3%
2020
74.9%
9.5%
10.1%
2.4%
1.2%
1.3%
0.3%
0.3%
2021
70.8%
14.9%
8.6%
2.5%
1.3%
1.3%
0.3%
0.3%
2022
68.0%
19.0%
7.3%
2.4%
1.4%
1.3%
0.3%
0.2%
2023
66.3%
22.0%
6.3%
2.3%
1.4%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
2024
65.4%
24.3%
5.0%
2.3%
1.4%
1.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 81.9% in 2009 to 65.4% in 2024, down 16.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 12 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in San Mateo County: its share of workers rose from 4.8% in 2009 to 24.3% in 2024, up 19.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 19.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 8.2% to 5.0% of workers (down 3.2 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in San Mateo County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in San Mateo County?
The bars show when commuters in San Mateo 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 AMSan Mateo County3.7%California6.7%
3.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMSan Mateo County1.9%California4.5%
1.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMSan Mateo County2.6%California4.5%
2.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMSan Mateo County6.2%California8.4%
6.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMSan Mateo County6.9%California7.5%
6.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMSan Mateo County12.3%California13.1%
12.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMSan Mateo County12.7%California10.2%
12.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMSan Mateo County16.8%California12.6%
16.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMSan Mateo County8.5%California5.8%
8.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMSan Mateo County11.9%California8.6%
11.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMSan Mateo County4.7%California3.9%
4.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMSan Mateo County1.7%California1.8%
1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMSan Mateo County6.1%California6.9%
6.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMSan Mateo County4.1%California5.5%
4.1%
San Mateo CountyCaliforniaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in San Mateo County is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 16.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.6% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 8.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in California: 48.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (28.4%) 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 San Mateo 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 Mateo 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 Mateo 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 Mateo County
California
United States
2009
7:58 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
8:00 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2011
8:01 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
8:02 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
8:03 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2014
8:02 AM
7:43 AM
7:39 AM
2015
8:01 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2016
8:01 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2017
8:01 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2018
8:01 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2019
8:02 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
8:03 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
8:04 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
8:05 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
8:06 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
8:07 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in San Mateo County were on the road by 8:07 AM, 9 minutes later than in 2009 (7:58 AM). The shift is sharper than across California, where the typical start moved 6 minutes later. Commuters in San Mateo County now leave 29 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 Mateo County has moved 4 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for San Mateo County in the whole series.
How does San Mateo County's commute time compare?
Metric
San Mateo County
California
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.2 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
24.3%
17.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
2.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
5.0%
2.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in San Mateo County is about the same as in California.
5.0% commute by public transit, higher than the 2.9% in California. 2.3% commute by walking, lower than the 2.4% in California.
San Mateo County, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
San Mateo County, CA is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 733,246 residents against a local median of 1,163,035. The measure that sets San Mateo County, CA apart most is one-way commute: 23.2 min, 18% below the local median of 28.3 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 10.0 min on one-way commute, so San Mateo County, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. San Mateo County, CA has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in San Mateo County, California.
What is the financial impact of commuting in San Mateo County, California?
Commuters here spend an estimated 193 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,987 at a typical national wage. That's 1% less than the typical California commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in San Mateo County, California?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in San Mateo 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 much money can remote workers save in San Mateo County, California?
About 24.3% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in San Mateo County would save about 77 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,395 at the same national wage assumption used above.
How do commute times compare across 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).