Commuting in Kent County, Delaware: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:35 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Kent County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:35 PM
Commute Time Burden in Kent County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Kent County spend about 43 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 180 hours, about 7.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% less time on the road than the Delaware average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 0.5 minutes.
Kent County holds about 18.4% of Delaware's population but accounts for roughly 18.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Kent County would save about 72 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,233 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)
Kent County
21.6 min
43.2 min
180 hrs/yr
$5,582
969
Delaware
22.1 min
44.2 min
184 hrs/yr
$5,703
1,341
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
21.6
minutes to get to work in
Kent County.
That's 4% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Fastest county in Delaware
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 8.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Kent County
Car:
86.9%
Worked at Home:
8.7%
Walked:
1.9%
Public Transportation:
1.0%
Other:
0.7%
Taxi:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Kent County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Kent 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
92.8%
2.5%
1.9%
1.3%
0.8%
0.0%
0.5%
0.2%
2010
92.3%
2.5%
2.1%
1.2%
1.1%
0.0%
0.5%
0.1%
2011
92.5%
2.7%
1.9%
1.2%
1.0%
0.0%
0.5%
0.1%
2012
92.5%
2.8%
2.1%
1.2%
0.9%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2013
92.0%
3.5%
2.1%
1.3%
0.7%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
92.2%
3.5%
1.9%
1.2%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
92.6%
3.6%
1.7%
1.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
92.2%
3.8%
1.8%
1.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2017
91.8%
4.2%
1.8%
1.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2018
92.1%
3.9%
1.9%
1.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2019
91.6%
4.1%
2.1%
1.1%
0.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2020
90.7%
5.0%
2.1%
0.8%
0.7%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
89.8%
5.8%
2.3%
0.8%
0.7%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
88.9%
6.4%
2.5%
0.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
2023
87.6%
7.6%
2.2%
1.1%
0.7%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2024
86.9%
8.7%
1.9%
1.0%
0.7%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 92.8% in 2009 to 86.9% in 2024, down 5.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Kent County: its share of workers rose from 2.5% in 2009 to 8.7% in 2024, up 6.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Kent County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Kent County?
The bars show when commuters in Kent 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 Delaware for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMKent County5.5%Delaware4.9%
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMKent County3.7%Delaware3.2%
3.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMKent County5.3%Delaware4.5%
5.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMKent County9.3%Delaware8.4%
9.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMKent County12.0%Delaware10.2%
12.0%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMKent County15.9%Delaware16.2%
15.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMKent County12.3%Delaware12.0%
12.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMKent County9.7%Delaware11.7%
9.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMKent County3.4%Delaware5.5%
3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMKent County5.2%Delaware6.2%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMKent County1.8%Delaware2.6%
1.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMKent County1.4%Delaware1.4%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMKent County6.3%Delaware6.9%
6.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMKent County8.1%Delaware6.4%
8.1%
Kent CountyDelawareSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Kent County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.2% across Delaware. Early starts are more common than in Delaware: 14.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush looks much like Delaware's: 49.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.9%) 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 Kent 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 Kent 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 Kent County next to Delaware 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
Kent County
Delaware
United States
2009
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:29 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:29 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:31 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:29 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:28 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:25 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Kent County were on the road by 7:27 AM, 1 minute earlier than in 2009 (7:28 AM). Across Delaware, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Kent County now leave 11 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Kent County's commute time compare?
Metric
Kent County
Delaware
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.6 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.7%
15.1%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.0%
1.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Kent County is about the same as in Delaware.
1.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.8% in Delaware. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Delaware.
Kent County, DE Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Kent County, DE is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 187,603 residents against a local median of 153,308. Kent County, DE sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 8% below the local median at 8.7% against 9.5%. Kent County, DE has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Kent County, Delaware.
Is commuting expensive in Kent County, Delaware?
Commuters here spend an estimated 180 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,582 at a typical national wage. That's 2% less than the typical Delaware commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Kent County, Delaware?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Kent County, Delaware. 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.
Which counties in Delaware have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Delaware, the shortest average commutes are in Kent County (21.6 min), New Castle County (21.9 min), Sussex County (22.8 min). The longest are in Sussex County (22.8 min), New Castle County (21.9 min), Kent County (21.6 min).