Commuting in Denver County, Colorado: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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What does a typical morning commute look like in Denver County?
Map AI9/24/26, 5:07 PM
Commute Time Burden in Denver County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Denver 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 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 County 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 County 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 County
22.9 min
45.8 min
191 hrs/yr
$5,918
3,656
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.
On average, it takes
22.9
minutes to get to work in
Denver County.
That's 2% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 81% of counties in Colorado
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 County
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 County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Denver 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
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 County: 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 County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Denver County?
The bars show when commuters in Denver 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 Colorado for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMDenver County3.4%Colorado4.6%
3.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMDenver County3.1%Colorado3.6%
3.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMDenver County3.4%Colorado5.0%
3.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMDenver County8.1%Colorado8.5%
8.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMDenver County8.7%Colorado10.2%
8.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMDenver County15.8%Colorado15.3%
15.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMDenver County13.2%Colorado12.8%
13.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMDenver County13.0%Colorado11.8%
13.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMDenver County7.1%Colorado5.4%
7.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMDenver County7.7%Colorado6.9%
7.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMDenver County3.3%Colorado3.2%
3.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMDenver County1.6%Colorado1.5%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMDenver County6.5%Colorado6.0%
6.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMDenver County5.2%Colorado5.2%
5.2%
Denver CountyColoradoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Denver County 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 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 Denver 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 Denver County 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.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Denver County
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 County 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 County 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 County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Denver County's commute time compare?
Metric
Denver County
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 County 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 County, CO Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Denver County, CO is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 718,150 residents against a local median of 525,525. Denver County, CO sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 7% above the local median at 27.3% against 25.4%. Denver County, CO has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Denver County, Colorado.
Is commuting expensive in Denver County, 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.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Denver County, Colorado?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Denver County, 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.
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).