Commuting in Larimer County, Colorado: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:20 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Larimer County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:20 PM
Commute Time Burden in Larimer County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Larimer County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 158 hours, about 6.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 14% less time on the road than the Colorado average of 22.0 minutes each way, a difference of 3.1 minutes.
Larimer County holds about 6.3% of Colorado's population but accounts for roughly 5.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Larimer County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,961 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)
Larimer County
19.0 min
38.0 min
158 hrs/yr
$4,904
1,586
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
19.0
minutes to get to work in
Larimer County.
That's 15% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 70% 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 21.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Larimer County
Car:
72.0%
Worked at Home:
21.4%
Walked:
2.7%
Bicycle:
2.3%
Public Transportation:
0.7%
Other:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Larimer County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Larimer 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
84.8%
6.6%
2.6%
3.8%
0.8%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
2010
85.2%
6.5%
2.4%
3.8%
0.8%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
2011
84.8%
6.8%
2.7%
3.6%
0.8%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
2012
84.2%
7.0%
2.7%
4.0%
1.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
2013
84.2%
7.1%
2.7%
3.9%
0.9%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
2014
84.4%
7.0%
2.6%
3.8%
1.0%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
2015
83.6%
7.2%
2.8%
4.0%
1.2%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
2016
83.6%
7.4%
2.7%
3.9%
1.3%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
2017
83.8%
7.5%
2.5%
3.7%
1.3%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
2018
83.6%
8.0%
2.6%
3.3%
1.5%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
2019
82.9%
8.6%
2.7%
3.1%
1.6%
0.8%
0.3%
0.0%
2020
80.4%
11.7%
2.8%
2.7%
1.4%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
77.1%
15.4%
2.8%
2.4%
1.2%
0.9%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
75.1%
17.4%
3.0%
2.5%
1.0%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
74.0%
18.9%
2.8%
2.4%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
72.0%
21.4%
2.7%
2.3%
0.7%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 85.2%. Overall it fell from 84.8% in 2009 to 72.0% in 2024, down 12.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Larimer County: its share of workers rose from 6.6% in 2009 to 21.4% in 2024, up 14.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 3.8% to 2.3% of workers (down 1.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Larimer County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Larimer County?
The bars show when commuters in Larimer 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 AMLarimer County3.9%Colorado4.6%
3.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLarimer County3.2%Colorado3.6%
3.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLarimer County4.0%Colorado5.0%
4.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLarimer County6.6%Colorado8.5%
6.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLarimer County9.5%Colorado10.2%
9.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLarimer County14.1%Colorado15.3%
14.1%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLarimer County13.8%Colorado12.8%
13.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLarimer County13.7%Colorado11.8%
13.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLarimer County6.3%Colorado5.4%
6.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLarimer County7.4%Colorado6.9%
7.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLarimer County3.1%Colorado3.2%
3.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLarimer County1.8%Colorado1.5%
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLarimer County6.6%Colorado6.0%
6.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLarimer County6.1%Colorado5.2%
6.1%
Larimer CountyColoradoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Larimer County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Colorado. Early starts are less common than in Colorado: 11.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush looks much like Colorado's: 51.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.0%) 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 Larimer 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 Larimer 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 Larimer 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
Larimer County
Colorado
United States
2009
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:45 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:43 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:42 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:42 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:44 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
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Larimer County were on the road by 7:49 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:44 AM). Across Colorado, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Larimer County now leave 11 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 Larimer County has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Larimer County in the whole series.
How does Larimer County's commute time compare?
Metric
Larimer County
Colorado
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
19.0 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
21.4%
21.0%
15.0%
Walked
2.7%
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
1.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Larimer County is 19.0 minutes, shorter than the 22.0 minutes in Colorado.
0.7% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.6% in Colorado. 2.7% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Colorado.
Larimer County, CO Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Larimer County, CO is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 367,243 residents against a local median of 15,895. The measure that sets Larimer County, CO apart most is work from home: 21.4%, 28% below the local median of 29.7%.
The counties themselves spread 15.5% on work from home, so Larimer County, CO sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Larimer County, CO has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Larimer County, Colorado.
Is commuting expensive in Larimer County, Colorado?
Commuters here spend an estimated 158 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,904 at a typical national wage. That's 14% less than the typical Colorado commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Larimer County, Colorado?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Larimer 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).