Commuting in Kauai County, Hawaii: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You10/22/26, 12:35 AM
How long is the round-trip commute in Kauai County?
Map AI10/22/26, 12:35 AM
Commute Time Burden in Kauai County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Kauai 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 178 hours, about 7.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 6% less time on the road than the Hawaii average of 22.8 minutes each way, a difference of 1.4 minutes.
Kauai County holds about 5.1% of Hawaii's population but accounts for roughly 4.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Kauai County would save about 71 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,209 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)
Kauai County
21.4 min
42.8 min
178 hrs/yr
$5,523
1,778
Hawaii
22.8 min
45.5 min
190 hrs/yr
$5,883
2,478
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
21.4
minutes to get to work in
Kauai County.
That's 5% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 8.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Kauai County
Car:
86.4%
Worked at Home:
8.6%
Walked:
2.5%
Public Transportation:
1.4%
Other:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.2%unusually low
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Kauai County, versus 0.2% in Hawaii.
Biking is unusually rare in Kauai County: 4.3 times less than the Hawaii average (0.2% vs 0.9%).
Commute Mode Trends in Kauai County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Kauai 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
91.1%
4.9%
1.3%
0.4%
1.2%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2010
90.9%
4.8%
1.6%
0.4%
1.1%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
2011
90.0%
4.7%
2.4%
0.5%
0.9%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
2012
89.2%
5.1%
2.7%
0.7%
0.9%
0.5%
0.8%
0.0%
2013
88.6%
5.3%
3.4%
0.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.8%
0.0%
2014
87.8%
6.0%
3.5%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.7%
0.0%
2015
88.3%
6.1%
3.2%
1.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.7%
0.0%
2016
88.5%
6.7%
2.6%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.6%
0.0%
2017
88.9%
6.1%
2.9%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.5%
0.0%
2018
88.2%
7.3%
2.2%
0.9%
0.7%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2019
88.7%
7.5%
1.9%
0.6%
0.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2020
87.7%
8.2%
2.2%
0.9%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2021
86.9%
8.4%
2.5%
0.9%
0.6%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2022
86.5%
8.6%
2.7%
1.1%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2023
87.4%
7.9%
2.6%
1.0%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
86.4%
8.6%
2.5%
1.4%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 91.1% in 2009 to 86.4% in 2024, down 4.7 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Kauai County: its share of workers rose from 4.9% in 2009 to 8.6% in 2024, up 3.7 percentage points.
Public transit overtook riding a motorcycle to become the 4th most common choice in the 2012 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 3.5% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 2.5%.
Commute Start Times in Kauai County
🚦Rush-Hour RegularsThe highest share of rush-hour departures among Hawaii's 5 counties: 48.6% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Kauai County?
The bars show when commuters in Kauai 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 Hawaii for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMKauai County4.8%Hawaii6.7%
4.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMKauai County5.4%Hawaii5.6%
5.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMKauai County5.3%Hawaii6.7%
5.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMKauai County9.3%Hawaii11.1%
9.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMKauai County10.7%Hawaii11.0%
10.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMKauai County18.1%Hawaii14.5%
18.1%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMKauai County11.4%Hawaii9.4%
11.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMKauai County8.3%Hawaii9.3%
8.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMKauai County3.7%Hawaii3.8%
3.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMKauai County7.1%Hawaii6.2%
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMKauai County2.7%Hawaii2.8%
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMKauai County0.7%Hawaii1.5%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMKauai County7.2%Hawaii6.9%
7.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMKauai County5.2%Hawaii4.4%
5.2%
Kauai CountyHawaiiSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Kauai County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 18.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.5% across Hawaii. Early starts are less common than in Hawaii: 15.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 19.0% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Hawaii: 48.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 44.2% 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 Kauai 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 Kauai 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 Kauai County next to Hawaii 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
Kauai County
Hawaii
United States
2009
7:25 AM
7:11 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:27 AM
7:12 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:31 AM
7:13 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:29 AM
7:13 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:29 AM
7:14 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:14 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:27 AM
7:14 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:25 AM
7:14 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:26 AM
7:14 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:27 AM
7:14 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:25 AM
7:15 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:22 AM
7:15 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:22 AM
7:16 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:24 AM
7:17 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:19 AM
7:18 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:24 AM
7:18 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Kauai County were on the road by 7:24 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Hawaii, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 7 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Kauai County now leave 14 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Kauai County's commute time compare?
Metric
Kauai County
Hawaii
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.4 min
22.8 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
06:00 AM – 06:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.6%
9.6%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
4.2%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.4%
3.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Kauai County is 21.4 minutes, shorter than the 22.8 minutes in Hawaii.
1.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.8% in Hawaii. 2.5% commute by walking, lower than the 4.2% in Hawaii.
Kauai County, HI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Kauai County, HI is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 73,731 residents against a local median of 164,522. The measure that sets Kauai County, HI apart most is work from home: 8.6%, 16% below the local median of 10.2%.
The counties themselves spread 6.0% on work from home, so Kauai County, HI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Kauai County, HI has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Kauai County, Hawaii.
Is living in Kauai County, Hawaii good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 178 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,523 at a typical national wage. That's 6% less than the typical Hawaii commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Kauai County, Hawaii?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Kauai County, Hawaii. 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 Hawaii?
Among counties in Hawaii, the shortest average commutes are in Kalawao County (4.4 min), Maui County (18.9 min), Kauai County (21.4 min). The longest are in Honolulu County (23.5 min), Hawaii County (21.4 min), Kauai County (21.4 min).