Commuting in Western 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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Is the commute in Western Connecticut Planning Region longer than the national average?
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Commute Time Burden in Western Connecticut Planning Region: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Western Connecticut Planning Region spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 192 hours, about 8.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 4% more time on the road than the Connecticut average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 0.9 minutes.
Western Connecticut Planning Region holds about 16.8% of Connecticut's population but accounts for roughly 17.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Western Connecticut Planning Region would save about 77 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,379 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)
Western Connecticut Planning Region
23.0 min
46.0 min
192 hrs/yr
$5,948
2,144
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
23.0
minutes to get to work in
Western Connecticut Planning Region.
That's 3% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 21.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Western Connecticut Planning Region
Car:
67.8%
Worked at Home:
21.7%
Public Transportation:
6.6%
Walked:
2.3%
Other:
1.0%
Taxi:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Western Connecticut Planning Region, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Western 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
80.1%
5.7%
9.7%
3.2%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2010
80.4%
5.9%
9.4%
3.1%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
80.7%
5.9%
9.2%
3.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2012
81.1%
5.9%
9.1%
2.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
80.8%
5.7%
9.5%
2.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
80.5%
6.2%
9.7%
2.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2015
80.0%
6.2%
10.2%
2.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2016
79.3%
6.3%
10.5%
2.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2017
78.9%
6.4%
10.9%
2.7%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2018
79.0%
6.6%
10.6%
2.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
79.0%
6.5%
10.7%
2.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
75.7%
11.1%
9.5%
2.5%
0.7%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
73.1%
14.9%
8.2%
2.5%
0.8%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
71.4%
16.9%
7.5%
2.6%
1.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
69.6%
19.3%
7.0%
2.4%
1.2%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
67.8%
21.7%
6.6%
2.3%
1.0%
0.4%
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 2012 at 81.1%. Overall it fell from 80.1% in 2009 to 67.8% in 2024, down 12.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Western Connecticut Planning Region: its share of workers rose from 5.7% in 2009 to 21.7% in 2024, up 16.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 15.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 9.7% to 6.6% of workers (down 3.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Western Connecticut Planning Region
🦉Night OwlThe latest start among Connecticut's 9 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:55 AM.
🚦Rush-Hour RegularsThe highest share of rush-hour departures among Connecticut's 9 counties: 53.5% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe 2nd-biggest shift to later mornings among Connecticut's 9 counties: the typical start is 4 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Western Connecticut Planning Region?
The bars show when commuters in Western 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.
Western Connecticut Planning RegionConnecticutSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Western Connecticut Planning Region is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.9% across Connecticut. Early starts are less common than in Connecticut: 7.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Connecticut: 53.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.0%) 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 Western 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 Western 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 Western 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
Western Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
United States
2009
7:52 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:51 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:52 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:52 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:51 AM
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:51 AM
7:46 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:52 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:52 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:50 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:50 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:49 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:49 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:50 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:53 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:54 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:55 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Western Connecticut Planning Region were on the road by 7:55 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:52 AM). Connecticut followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes later. Commuters in Western Connecticut Planning Region now leave 17 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 Western Connecticut Planning Region has moved 6 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Western Connecticut Planning Region in the whole series.
How does Western Connecticut Planning Region's commute time compare?
Metric
Western Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.0 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
21.7%
16.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.3%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
6.6%
3.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Western Connecticut Planning Region is 23.0 minutes, longer than the 22.1 minutes in Connecticut.
6.6% commute by public transit, higher than the 3.2% in Connecticut. The share of commuters using walking is about the same as Connecticut.
Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 563,812 residents against a local median of 439,566. The measure that sets Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT apart most is work from home: 21.7%, 45% above the local median of 15.0%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 23.0 min against a local median of 30.6 min, 25% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 25% below the local median it puts Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 6.5% on work from home, so Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut?
Commuters here spend an estimated 192 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,948 at a typical national wage. That's 4% more than the typical Connecticut commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut. 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 Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut?
About 21.7% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Western Connecticut Planning Region would save about 77 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,379 at the same national wage assumption used above.
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).