Commuting in Colorado: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 11:43 AM
How much time do drivers in Colorado spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 11:43 AM
Commute Time Burden in Colorado: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Colorado spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 184 hours, about 7.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% less time on the road than the US average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 0.4 minutes.
Colorado holds about 1.7% of US's population and accounts for roughly 1.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Colorado would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,278 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)
Colorado
22.0 min
44.1 min
184 hrs/yr
$5,694
1,277
US
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
22.0
minutes to get to work in
Colorado.
That's 2% 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 21.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Colorado
Car:
72.7%
Worked at Home:
21.0%
Walked:
2.5%
Public Transportation:
1.6%
Bicycle:
0.9%
Other:
0.9%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Colorado, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Colorado 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
Bicycle
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
85.1%
6.2%
3.1%
3.2%
1.2%
0.8%
0.0%
0.4%
2010
85.0%
6.3%
3.0%
3.3%
1.2%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2011
84.9%
6.4%
3.1%
3.3%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2012
84.7%
6.5%
3.1%
3.3%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
84.7%
6.6%
3.1%
3.2%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2014
84.8%
6.5%
3.0%
3.2%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
84.8%
6.7%
3.0%
3.2%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
84.5%
7.0%
3.0%
3.1%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.2%
2017
84.3%
7.4%
2.9%
3.2%
1.2%
0.8%
0.0%
0.2%
2018
84.1%
7.7%
2.8%
3.1%
1.2%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2019
83.7%
8.3%
2.8%
3.0%
1.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2020
81.4%
10.8%
2.8%
2.8%
1.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
78.8%
14.0%
2.6%
2.5%
1.0%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
76.6%
16.5%
2.6%
2.1%
1.0%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
2023
74.6%
18.8%
2.5%
1.9%
0.9%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
2024
72.7%
21.0%
2.5%
1.6%
0.9%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 85.1% in 2009 to 72.7% in 2024, down 12.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 9 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Colorado: its share of workers rose from 6.2% in 2009 to 21.0% in 2024, up 14.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.2% to 1.6% of workers (down 1.6 percentage points).
Walking overtook public transit to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Colorado
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Colorado?
The bars show when commuters in Colorado 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 the U.S. for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMColorado4.6%The U.S.5.5%
4.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMColorado3.6%The U.S.4.0%
3.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMColorado5.0%The U.S.4.9%
5.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMColorado8.5%The U.S.8.7%
8.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMColorado10.2%The U.S.9.4%
10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMColorado15.3%The U.S.14.4%
15.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMColorado12.8%The U.S.11.9%
12.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMColorado11.8%The U.S.11.5%
11.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMColorado5.4%The U.S.5.5%
5.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMColorado6.9%The U.S.6.8%
6.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMColorado3.2%The U.S.3.1%
3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMColorado1.5%The U.S.1.5%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMColorado6.0%The U.S.6.8%
6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMColorado5.2%The U.S.6.1%
5.2%
ColoradoThe U.S.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Colorado is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.4% across the U.S.. Early starts are less common than in the U.S.: 13.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in the U.S.: 50.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.8%) 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 Colorado, 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 Colorado 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 Colorado next to 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
Colorado
United States
2009
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Colorado were on the road by 7:37 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Commuters in Colorado now leave 1 minute earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Colorado has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Colorado's commute time compare?
Metric
Colorado
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.0 min
22.4 min
Work From Home
21.0%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Colorado is about the same as in US.
1.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.2% in US. 2.5% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in US.
Colorado is the largest of the 6 states compared here, 5,842,429 residents against a local median of 2,118,085. Colorado's work from home, at 21.0%, runs 79% above the 11.8% typical of the states around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 22.0 min against a local median of 17.2 min, 28% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 28% above the local median it puts Colorado at the weaker end of the local range. The states themselves spread 8.2% on work from home, so Colorado sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Colorado has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Commuters here spend an estimated 184 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,694 at a typical national wage. That's 2% less than the typical US commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Colorado?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Colorado. 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 Colorado a good location for remote and hybrid workers?
About 21.0% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Colorado would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,278 at the same national wage assumption used above.
How do commute times compare across counties in Colorado?
Among counties in Colorado, the shortest average commutes are in Hinsdale County (6.6 min), Prowers County (7.6 min), Cheyenne County (7.7 min). The longest are in Park County (42.5 min), Elbert County (41.5 min), Teller County (31.3 min).