Denver Commute Time Map & Patterns
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Commute Time Burden in Denver: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Denver spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 191 hours, about 8.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 4% more time on the road than the Colorado average of 22.0 minutes each way, a difference of 0.9 minutes.
Denver holds about 12.3% of Colorado's population but accounts for roughly 12.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Denver would save about 76 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,367 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 22.9 min | 45.8 min | 191 hrs/yr | $5,918 | 3,987 |
| Colorado | 22.0 min | 44.1 min | 184 hrs/yr | $5,694 | 1,277 |
| 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.
Denver Commute Map
On average, it takes 22.9 minutes to get to work in Denver. That's 2% longer 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 27.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Denver
- Car: 62.5%
- Worked at Home: 27.3%
- Public Transportation: 3.8%
- Walked: 3.6%
- Bicycle: 1.5%
- Other: 0.9%
- Taxi: 0.3%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Denver, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Denver 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 | 79.7% | 5.1% | 7.9% | 4.3% | 1.6% | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2010 | 79.4% | 5.4% | 7.8% | 4.2% | 1.9% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2011 | 79.3% | 5.6% | 7.5% | 4.3% | 2.1% | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2012 | 78.9% | 5.8% | 7.5% | 4.4% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2013 | 78.9% | 6.2% | 7.1% | 4.4% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2014 | 78.9% | 6.2% | 6.9% | 4.5% | 2.4% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 78.8% | 6.5% | 6.8% | 4.5% | 2.3% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2016 | 78.4% | 6.9% | 6.8% | 4.5% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2017 | 78.0% | 7.6% | 6.8% | 4.4% | 2.2% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2018 | 77.5% | 8.0% | 6.5% | 4.5% | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2019 | 76.8% | 8.5% | 6.5% | 4.7% | 2.2% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 2020 | 73.3% | 12.4% | 6.2% | 4.7% | 2.1% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2021 | 69.5% | 17.2% | 5.5% | 4.4% | 2.0% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 66.7% | 20.9% | 4.9% | 4.2% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2023 | 64.2% | 24.4% | 4.5% | 3.9% | 1.6% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2024 | 62.5% | 27.3% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 79.7% in 2009 to 62.5% in 2024, down 17.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 10 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Denver: its share of workers rose from 5.1% in 2009 to 27.3% in 2024, up 22.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 18.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 7.9% to 3.8% of workers (down 4.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2016 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Denver
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Denver?
The bars show when commuters in Denver 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 Colorado for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
Denver3.4%
Colorado4.6%
|
3.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Denver3.1%
Colorado3.6%
|
3.1% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Denver3.4%
Colorado5.0%
|
3.4% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Denver8.1%
Colorado8.5%
|
8.1% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Denver8.7%
Colorado10.2%
|
8.7% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Denver15.8%
Colorado15.3%
|
15.8% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Denver13.2%
Colorado12.8%
|
13.2% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Denver13.0%
Colorado11.8%
|
13.0% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Denver7.1%
Colorado5.4%
|
7.1% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Denver7.7%
Colorado6.9%
|
7.7% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Denver3.3%
Colorado3.2%
|
3.3% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Denver1.6%
Colorado1.5%
|
1.6% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Denver6.5%
Colorado6.0%
|
6.5% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Denver5.2%
Colorado5.2%
|
5.2% |
Denver Colorado Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Denver is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Colorado. Early starts are less common than in Colorado: 9.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush looks much like Colorado's: 50.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.3%) 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 Denver, 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 Denver 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 Denver next to Colorado 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 | Denver | Colorado | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:48 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:49 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:49 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:48 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:46 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:43 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:42 AM | 7:34 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:42 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:43 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:44 AM | 7:34 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:47 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:46 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:47 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:48 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:47 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Denver were on the road by 7:47 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Colorado, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Denver now leave 9 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 Denver has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Denver's commute time compare?
| Metric | Denver | Colorado | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 22.9 min | 22.0 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 | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 27.3% | 21.0% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 3.8% | 1.6% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Denver is 22.9 minutes, longer than the 22.0 minutes in Colorado.
3.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.6% in Colorado. 3.6% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Colorado.
Denver, CO Commute Compared With Nearby Cities
How Denver, CO compares with the 2 cities closest to it.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver, CO | 718,150 | 22.9 min #1/3 | 27.3% #1/3 | 7:47 AM #2/3 |
| Four Square Mile, CO | 22,650 | 23.4 min | 21.8% | 7:50 AM |
| Commerce City, CO | 65,816 | 30.0 min | 15.9% | 7:11 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Denver, Colorado.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Denver, Colorado?
Commuters here spend an estimated 191 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,918 at a typical national wage. That's 4% more than the typical Colorado commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Denver, Colorado?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Denver, 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.