Commuting in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut: 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 long is the round-trip commute in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region?
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Commute Time Burden in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 172 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% less time on the road than the Connecticut average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 1.5 minutes.
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region holds about 7.5% of Connecticut's population but accounts for roughly 7.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,130 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)
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
20.6 min
41.2 min
172 hrs/yr
$5,326
1,328
Connecticut
22.1 min
44.2 min
184 hrs/yr
$5,704
1,748
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
20.6
minutes to get to work in
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region.
That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Fastest county in Connecticut
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 11.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
Car:
82.4%
Worked at Home:
11.7%
Walked:
3.0%
Public Transportation:
1.4%
Other:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
90.1%
3.3%
3.5%
2.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2010
88.4%
3.8%
4.3%
2.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2011
88.4%
3.8%
4.4%
2.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2012
88.0%
4.1%
4.3%
2.4%
0.7%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2013
87.9%
4.3%
4.4%
2.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
2014
88.2%
4.1%
4.4%
2.0%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2015
88.4%
4.3%
4.5%
1.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2016
88.5%
4.5%
4.3%
1.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2017
89.0%
4.5%
3.9%
1.4%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2018
89.0%
4.7%
3.7%
1.4%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2019
89.0%
5.1%
3.3%
1.4%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2020
87.0%
7.0%
3.2%
1.5%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
0.3%
2021
85.1%
9.0%
3.2%
1.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2022
84.2%
9.8%
3.1%
1.4%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
83.7%
10.6%
2.9%
1.4%
1.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2024
82.4%
11.7%
3.0%
1.4%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 90.1% in 2009 to 82.4% in 2024, down 7.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region: its share of workers rose from 3.3% in 2009 to 11.7% in 2024, up 8.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.0% to 1.4% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2016 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 4.5% in 2015 and has since fallen back to 3.0%.
Commute Start Times in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among Connecticut's 9 counties: the typical start is 6 minutes earlier than in 2009.
🐦Early BirdThe 2nd-earliest start among Connecticut's 9 counties: half of commuters are on the road by 7:36 AM.
🌅Dawn PatrolThe 2nd-highest share of pre-6 AM departures among Connecticut's 9 counties: 14.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM.
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe 2nd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Connecticut's 9 counties: only 45.7% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region?
The bars show when commuters in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region 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 Connecticut for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Southeastern Connecticut Planning RegionConnecticutSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 12.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.9% across Connecticut. Early starts are more common than in Connecticut: 14.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Connecticut: 45.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.3%) 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 Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, 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 Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region 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 Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region next to Connecticut 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
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
United States
2009
7:42 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:41 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:41 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:42 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:43 AM
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:41 AM
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:41 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:40 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:38 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:36 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:35 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:33 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:35 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:35 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:36 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region were on the road by 7:36 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:42 AM). That goes against the trend across Connecticut, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region now leave 2 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region's commute time compare?
Metric
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.6 min
22.1 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
11.7%
16.2%
15.0%
Walked
3.0%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.4%
3.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region is 20.6 minutes, shorter than the 22.1 minutes in Connecticut.
1.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.2% in Connecticut. 3.0% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in Connecticut.
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 252,265 residents against a local median of 163,295. Where Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 23% below the local median of 15.3% at 11.7%.
The counties themselves spread 5.2% on work from home, so Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut.
Is living in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,326 at a typical national wage. That's 7% less than the typical Connecticut commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut. 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 Connecticut?
Among counties in Connecticut, the shortest average commutes are in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region (20.6 min), South Central Connecticut Planning Region (20.9 min), Capitol Planning Region (21.4 min). The longest are in Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region (26.0 min), Greater Bridgeport Planning Region (23.9 min), Naugatuck Valley Planning Region (23.5 min).