Torrance Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Torrance, 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, 11:52 AM

How many minutes is the average drive to work in Torrance?

Map AI 9/24/26, 11:52 AM

Commute Time Burden in Torrance: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Torrance spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 190 hours, about 7.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 3% less time on the road than the California average of 23.5 minutes each way, a difference of 0.6 minutes.

Torrance holds about 0.4% of California's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Torrance would save about 76 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,360 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)
Torrance	22.8 min	45.7 min	190 hrs/yr	$5,900	4,453
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.

Torrance Commute Map

On average, it takes 22.8 minutes to get to work in Torrance. That's 2% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 20.9% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Torrance

Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Torrance: 5.2 times less than the California average (0.0% vs 0.2%).

Public transit is unusually rare in Torrance: 3.1 times less than the California average (0.9% vs 2.9%).

Commute Mode Trends in Torrance, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Torrance 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	Public Transportation	Walked	Bicycle	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	90.0%	4.2%	1.3%	1.9%	1.3%	0.6%	0.1%	0.6%
2010	89.8%	4.6%	1.5%	1.9%	1.2%	0.5%	0.1%	0.4%
2011	90.0%	4.3%	1.4%	2.2%	1.2%	0.5%	0.0%	0.3%
2012	89.9%	4.2%	1.5%	2.2%	1.4%	0.4%	0.0%	0.2%
2013	89.4%	4.5%	1.3%	2.4%	1.8%	0.4%	0.0%	0.1%
2014	89.9%	4.6%	1.1%	2.0%	1.7%	0.5%	0.0%	0.2%
2015	89.7%	4.7%	1.1%	2.0%	1.7%	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%
2016	89.7%	4.9%	1.1%	2.0%	1.6%	0.5%	0.1%	0.1%
2017	88.9%	5.1%	1.3%	2.1%	1.7%	0.6%	0.3%	0.2%
2018	88.7%	5.3%	1.6%	1.7%	1.6%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%
2019	88.4%	5.6%	1.5%	1.7%	1.6%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
2020	85.2%	9.1%	1.7%	1.7%	1.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.2%
2021	81.0%	13.5%	1.6%	1.4%	1.3%	0.5%	0.5%	0.1%
2022	79.3%	15.9%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%	0.4%	0.5%	0.1%
2023	77.4%	18.5%	1.2%	1.1%	0.9%	0.4%	0.3%	0.0%
2024	75.2%	20.9%	1.3%	0.9%	0.9%	0.5%	0.3%	0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 90.0% in 2009 to 75.2% in 2024, down 14.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 8 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Torrance: its share of workers rose from 4.2% in 2009 to 20.9% in 2024, up 16.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 15.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.9% to 0.9% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).

Commute Start Times in Torrance

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Torrance?

The bars show when commuters in Torrance 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		4.0%
5:00-5:29 AM		3.4%
5:30-5:59 AM		3.2%
6:00-6:29 AM		7.4%
6:30-6:59 AM		6.7%
7:00-7:29 AM		12.0%
7:30-7:59 AM		11.0%
8:00-8:29 AM		14.1%
8:30-8:59 AM		8.8%
9:00-9:59 AM		11.4%
10:00-10:59 AM		5.6%
11:00-11:59 AM		2.1%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.3%
4:00-11:59 PM		4.1%

Torrance California Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Torrance is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 14.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.6% across California. Early starts are less common than in California: 10.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.8% there. The morning rush looks much like California's: 43.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.5%) 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 Torrance, 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 Torrance 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 Torrance 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	Torrance	California	United States
2009	7:53 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:52 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:54 AM	7:41 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:55 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:56 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:57 AM	7:43 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:59 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:59 AM	7:43 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:59 AM	7:42 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:59 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:59 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2020	8:00 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:58 AM	7:42 AM	7:37 AM
2022	8:00 AM	7:43 AM	7:37 AM
2023	8:02 AM	7:44 AM	7:38 AM
2024	8:05 AM	7:45 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Torrance were on the road by 8:05 AM, 12 minutes later than in 2009 (7:53 AM). The shift is sharper than across California, where the typical start moved 6 minutes later. Commuters in Torrance now leave 27 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 Torrance has moved 6 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Torrance in the whole series.

How does Torrance's commute time compare?

Metric	Torrance	California	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	22.8 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	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	20.9%	17.2%	15.0%
Walked	0.9%	2.4%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.9%	2.9%	3.2%

The average commute time in Torrance is about the same as in California.

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

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Torrance, CA Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

Torrance, CA is the largest of the 4 cities compared here, 139,758 residents against a local median of 30,784. Torrance, CA's work from home, at 20.9%, runs 89% above the 11.1% typical of the cities around it.

The cities themselves spread 22.1% on work from home, so Torrance, CA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Torrance, CA has the 2nd highest work from home of the 4 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Torrance, CA	139,758	22.8 min #4/4	20.9% #2/4	8:05 AM #4/4
Redondo Beach, CA	69,266	21.8 min	29.3%	7:59 AM
Lomita, CA	20,223	22.0 min	11.1%	7:48 AM
Lawndale, CA	30,784	21.6 min	7.2%	7:55 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Torrance, California.

Is living in Torrance, California good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 190 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,900 at a typical national wage. That's 3% less than the typical California commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Torrance, California?

Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Torrance, California. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Do people use public transit in Torrance, 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.