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Pitkin County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Pitkin County, Colorado: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 7:58 PM
Is the commute in Pitkin County longer than the national average?
Map AI 9/24/26, 7:58 PM

Commute Time Burden in Pitkin County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Pitkin County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 146 hours, about 6.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 21% less time on the road than the Colorado average of 22.0 minutes each way, a difference of 4.6 minutes.

Pitkin County holds about 0.3% of Colorado's population but accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Pitkin County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,804 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)
Pitkin County 17.5 min 34.9 min 146 hrs/yr $4,511 270
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.

Commute Time Map: Colorado Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Colorado
  1. Hinsdale County (6.6 min)
  2. Prowers County (7.6 min)
  3. Cheyenne County (7.7 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Colorado
  1. Park County (42.5 min)
  2. Elbert County (41.5 min)
  3. Teller County (31.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Pitkin County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 17.5 minutes to get to work in Pitkin County. That's 22% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 16.6% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Pitkin County

  • Car: 51.8% unusually low
  • Worked at Home: 16.6%
  • Public Transportation: 12.4% unusually high
  • Walked: 10.8% unusually high
  • Bicycle: 6.6% unusually high
  • Other: 1.2%
  • Motorcycle: 0.2%
  • Taxi: 0.2%

Driving is 29% less common in Pitkin County than the Colorado average (51.8% vs 72.7%).

Walking is unusually common in Pitkin County: 4.3 times more than the Colorado average (10.8% vs 2.5%).

Public transit is unusually common in Pitkin County: 7.6 times more than the Colorado average (12.4% vs 1.6%).

Biking is unusually common in Pitkin County: 7.3 times more than the Colorado average (6.6% vs 0.9%).

Pitkin County stands out for active commuting: 17.5% of workers walk or bike to work, 5.1 times the Colorado average of 3.4%.

Commute Mode Trends in Pitkin County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Pitkin 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 62.8% 13.2% 8.7% 10.9% 2.4% 1.9% 0.0% 0.2%
2010 60.4% 11.0% 10.9% 13.0% 2.8% 1.9% 0.0% 0.0%
2011 61.1% 11.2% 10.6% 12.2% 3.1% 1.7% 0.0% 0.1%
2012 60.5% 10.9% 10.7% 12.6% 3.7% 1.5% 0.0% 0.1%
2013 59.0% 9.3% 12.7% 13.2% 4.1% 1.4% 0.0% 0.3%
2014 56.4% 11.7% 14.3% 12.4% 4.6% 0.3% 0.0% 0.2%
2015 60.7% 10.4% 11.9% 10.4% 5.7% 0.6% 0.0% 0.3%
2016 56.8% 12.3% 12.0% 12.4% 5.6% 0.7% 0.0% 0.1%
2017 55.6% 12.7% 14.3% 11.2% 4.8% 1.3% 0.0% 0.1%
2018 55.3% 14.0% 15.1% 10.2% 3.9% 1.4% 0.0% 0.1%
2019 54.0% 11.5% 19.0% 9.8% 4.0% 1.4% 0.0% 0.2%
2020 56.5% 13.2% 15.5% 8.9% 4.4% 1.4% 0.0% 0.2%
2021 52.7% 14.2% 19.0% 8.4% 3.9% 1.6% 0.0% 0.1%
2022 54.1% 14.4% 14.7% 9.2% 5.0% 2.0% 0.5% 0.2%
2023 54.0% 14.9% 12.2% 9.9% 6.8% 1.8% 0.3% 0.2%
2024 51.8% 16.6% 12.4% 10.8% 6.6% 1.2% 0.2% 0.2%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 62.8% in 2009 to 51.8% in 2024, down 11.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.

Biking gained the most ground in Pitkin County: its share of workers rose from 2.4% in 2009 to 6.6% in 2024, up 4.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit overtook walking to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2017 release and has stayed ahead since.

Public transit peaked at 19.0% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 12.4%.

Commute Start Times in Pitkin County

  • Night OwlThe 2nd-latest start among Colorado's 64 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 8:29 AM.
  • Sleeping InThe 2nd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Colorado's 64 counties: 39.8% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe 2nd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Colorado's 64 counties: only 40.8% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
  • Hitting SnoozeThe 2nd-biggest shift to later mornings among Colorado's 64 counties: the typical start is 27 minutes later than in 2009.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Pitkin County?

The bars show when commuters in Pitkin 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
1.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
0.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
2.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
11.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
15.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
9.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
17.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
9.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
11.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
1.6%

Pitkin County Colorado Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Pitkin County is 9:00-9:59 AM, when 17.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 6.9% across Colorado. Early starts are less common than in Colorado: 3.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Colorado: 40.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.1% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (39.8%) 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 Pitkin 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 Pitkin 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 Pitkin 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 Pitkin County Colorado United States
2009 8:02 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2010 8:06 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2011 8:07 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2012 8:11 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2013 8:16 AM 7:37 AM 7:39 AM
2014 8:17 AM 7:36 AM 7:39 AM
2015 8:20 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM
2016 8:15 AM 7:34 AM 7:38 AM
2017 8:12 AM 7:33 AM 7:38 AM
2018 8:07 AM 7:33 AM 7:37 AM
2019 8:09 AM 7:34 AM 7:37 AM
2020 8:13 AM 7:35 AM 7:37 AM
2021 8:20 AM 7:35 AM 7:37 AM
2022 8:24 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2023 8:26 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2024 8:29 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Pitkin County were on the road by 8:29 AM, 27 minutes later than in 2009 (8:02 AM). Across Colorado, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Pitkin County now leave 51 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 Pitkin County has moved 21 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Pitkin County in the whole series.

How does Pitkin County's commute time compare?

Metric Pitkin County Colorado US Average
Avg. Commute Time 17.5 min 22.0 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 09:00 AM – 09:59 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 16.6% 21.0% 15.0%
Walked 10.8% 2.5% 2.4%
Public Transit 12.4% 1.6% 3.2%

The average commute time in Pitkin County is 17.5 minutes, shorter than the 22.0 minutes in Colorado.

12.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.6% in Colorado. 10.8% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Colorado.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Pitkin County, CO Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Pitkin County, CO is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 16,985 residents against a local median of 20,178. Nothing separates Pitkin County, CO sharply from the counties around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.

The largest of those small differences is work from home, 10% below the local median at 16.6% against 18.5%. Pitkin County, CO has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Pitkin County, CO 16,985 17.5 min #4/6 16.6% #4/6 8:29 AM #6/6
Eagle County, CO 55,135 20.2 min 12.6% 7:43 AM
Gunnison County, CO 17,241 13.0 min 18.5% 8:01 AM
Lake County, CO 7,380 20.7 min 8.5% 7:30 AM
Chaffee County, CO 20,178 11.5 min 24.5% 7:44 AM
Summit County, CO 31,017 17.4 min 23.7% 7:50 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Pitkin County, Colorado.

Is living in Pitkin County, Colorado good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 146 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,511 at a typical national wage. That's 21% less than the typical Colorado commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Pitkin County, Colorado?

Traffic peaks between 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM in Pitkin 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.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Pitkin County, Colorado?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 12.4% of commuters use it versus 1.6% in Colorado, making it a realistic option for many workers.

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).