Commuting in Douglas 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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How much time do drivers in Douglas County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:31 PM
Commute Time Burden in Douglas County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Douglas County spend about 47 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 197 hours, about 8.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% more time on the road than the Colorado average of 22.0 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.
Douglas County holds about 6.5% of Colorado's population but accounts for roughly 6.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Douglas County would save about 79 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,439 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)
Douglas County
23.6 min
47.2 min
197 hrs/yr
$6,098
2,816
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
23.6
minutes to get to work in
Douglas County.
That's 5% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 86% of counties in Colorado
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 30.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Douglas County
Car:
66.8%
Worked at Home:
30.5%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
0.7%
Public Transportation:
0.6%
Bicycle:
0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Biking is unusually rare in Douglas County: 7.3 times less than the Colorado average (0.1% vs 0.9%).
Commute Mode Trends in Douglas County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Douglas 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
Walked
Other
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
85.5%
9.8%
1.2%
1.0%
1.9%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2010
85.7%
9.7%
1.1%
0.9%
2.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
86.1%
9.8%
1.0%
0.7%
1.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2012
86.1%
9.8%
0.9%
0.7%
2.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
86.5%
9.7%
0.8%
0.7%
1.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
86.1%
9.8%
0.9%
0.8%
1.9%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
85.9%
10.1%
0.9%
0.8%
1.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
84.9%
10.8%
0.9%
1.0%
2.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
84.6%
11.0%
1.0%
1.0%
1.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
84.0%
11.7%
1.2%
0.9%
1.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2019
83.6%
12.4%
1.2%
0.8%
1.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
80.0%
16.0%
1.3%
0.7%
1.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
75.7%
20.8%
1.3%
0.7%
1.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
72.6%
24.2%
1.3%
0.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
69.7%
27.4%
1.2%
0.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
66.8%
30.5%
1.2%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 86.5%. Overall it fell from 85.5% in 2009 to 66.8% in 2024, down 18.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 11 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Douglas County: its share of workers rose from 9.8% in 2009 to 30.5% in 2024, up 20.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 18.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.9% to 0.6% of workers (down 1.3 percentage points).
Walking overtook public transit to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Douglas County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Douglas County?
The bars show when commuters in Douglas 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 AMDouglas County4.0%Colorado4.6%
4.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMDouglas County2.9%Colorado3.6%
2.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMDouglas County3.7%Colorado5.0%
3.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMDouglas County8.4%Colorado8.5%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMDouglas County10.8%Colorado10.2%
10.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMDouglas County17.3%Colorado15.3%
17.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMDouglas County12.5%Colorado12.8%
12.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMDouglas County12.9%Colorado11.8%
12.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMDouglas County5.4%Colorado5.4%
5.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMDouglas County7.1%Colorado6.9%
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMDouglas County3.0%Colorado3.2%
3.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMDouglas County1.6%Colorado1.5%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMDouglas County5.3%Colorado6.0%
5.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMDouglas County5.0%Colorado5.2%
5.0%
Douglas CountyColoradoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Douglas County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Colorado. Early starts are less common than in Colorado: 10.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Colorado: 53.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (22.1%) 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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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
Douglas County
Colorado
United States
2009
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:31 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:30 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:30 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:31 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:30 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:32 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Douglas County were on the road by 7:37 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:32 AM). Across Colorado, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Douglas County 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 Douglas County has moved 5 minutes later.
How does Douglas County's commute time compare?
Metric
Douglas County
Colorado
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.6 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
30.5%
21.0%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.6%
1.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Douglas County is 23.6 minutes, longer than the 22.0 minutes in Colorado.
0.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.6% in Colorado. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.5% in Colorado.
Douglas County, CO Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Douglas County, CO is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 377,140 residents against a local median of 579,346. Where Douglas County, CO breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 20% above the local median of 25.4% at 30.5%.
The counties themselves spread 13.1% on work from home, so Douglas County, CO sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Douglas County, CO has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Douglas County, Colorado.
Is living in Douglas County, Colorado good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 197 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,098 at a typical national wage. That's 7% more than the typical Colorado commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Douglas County, Colorado?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Douglas County, Colorado. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How much money can remote workers save in Douglas County, Colorado?
About 30.5% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Douglas County would save about 79 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,439 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).