Carol Stream Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Carol Stream, Illinois: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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Commute Time Burden in Carol Stream: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Carol Stream spend about 48 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 199 hours, about 8.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% more time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 0.2 minutes.
Carol Stream holds about 0.3% of Illinois's population and accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Carol Stream would save about 79 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,464 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol Stream | 23.8 min | 47.7 min | 199 hrs/yr | $6,161 | 6,663 |
| Illinois | 23.6 min | 47.3 min | 197 hrs/yr | $6,104 | 1,547 |
| 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.
Carol Stream Commute Map
On average, it takes 23.8 minutes to get to work in Carol Stream. That's 6% longer 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 15.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Carol Stream
- Car: 80.9%
- Worked at Home: 15.3%
- Public Transportation: 1.9% unusually low
- Walked: 0.9% unusually low
- Other: 0.8%
- Bicycle: 0.2%
- Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Carol Stream, versus 0.1% in Illinois.
Public transit is unusually rare in Carol Stream: 3.0 times less than the Illinois average (1.9% vs 5.8%).
Walking is unusually rare in Carol Stream: 3.2 times less than the Illinois average (0.9% vs 2.8%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Carol Stream: 32.8 times less than the Illinois average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Few people walk or bike to work in Carol Stream: just 1.0%, 3.2 times below the Illinois average of 3.3%.
Commute Mode Trends in Carol Stream, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Carol Stream 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Public Transportation | Walked | Other | Bicycle | Taxi | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 92.6% | 3.4% | 2.7% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2010 | 92.2% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 92.0% | 3.4% | 2.9% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 91.7% | 3.6% | 2.9% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 91.5% | 4.0% | 2.7% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 91.1% | 3.8% | 3.0% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 91.2% | 3.8% | 3.2% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2016 | 90.4% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 90.7% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 91.2% | 4.0% | 3.2% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 90.0% | 4.8% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 88.7% | 6.1% | 4.0% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 85.4% | 9.7% | 3.3% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 83.7% | 11.9% | 3.1% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 81.6% | 13.9% | 2.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 80.9% | 15.3% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 92.6% in 2009 to 80.9% in 2024, down 11.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Carol Stream: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 15.3% in 2024, up 11.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.7% to 1.9% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Carol Stream
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Carol Stream?
The bars show when commuters in Carol Stream 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 Illinois for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
Carol Stream4.1%
Illinois5.6%
|
4.1% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Carol Stream3.0%
Illinois4.3%
|
3.0% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Carol Stream4.5%
Illinois4.9%
|
4.5% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Carol Stream7.9%
Illinois9.0%
|
7.9% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Carol Stream9.6%
Illinois9.4%
|
9.6% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Carol Stream14.6%
Illinois14.3%
|
14.6% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Carol Stream13.7%
Illinois11.6%
|
13.7% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Carol Stream11.1%
Illinois11.2%
|
11.1% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Carol Stream3.0%
Illinois5.2%
|
3.0% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Carol Stream7.8%
Illinois6.1%
|
7.8% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Carol Stream3.9%
Illinois2.9%
|
3.9% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Carol Stream1.4%
Illinois1.5%
|
1.4% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Carol Stream9.6%
Illinois7.7%
|
9.6% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Carol Stream5.8%
Illinois6.3%
|
5.8% |
Carol Stream Illinois Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Carol Stream is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.3% across Illinois. Early starts are less common than in Illinois: 11.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Illinois: 49.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (28.5%) 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 Carol Stream, 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 Carol Stream 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 Carol Stream next to Illinois 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Carol Stream | Illinois | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:39 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:40 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:40 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:42 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:41 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:38 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:37 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:34 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:34 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:34 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:31 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:32 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:34 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:32 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:37 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:44 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Carol Stream were on the road by 7:44 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:39 AM). The shift is sharper than across Illinois, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Carol Stream now leave 6 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 Carol Stream has moved 13 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Carol Stream in the whole series.
How does Carol Stream's commute time compare?
| Metric | Carol Stream | Illinois | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 23.8 min | 23.6 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 | 15.3% | 15.9% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 0.9% | 2.8% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 1.9% | 5.8% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Carol Stream is about the same as in Illinois.
1.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 5.8% in Illinois. 0.9% commute by walking, lower than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Carol Stream, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Cities
Carol Stream, IL is the 2nd largest of the 5 cities compared here, 37,373 residents against a local median of 27,432. Nothing separates Carol Stream, IL sharply from the cities 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, 9% above the local median at 15.3% against 14.0%. Carol Stream, IL has the 3rd highest work from home of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol Stream, IL | 37,373 | 23.8 min #3/5 | 15.3% #3/5 | 7:44 AM #4/5 |
| Bloomingdale, IL | 24,204 | 25.7 min | 16.7% | 7:39 AM |
| Glendale Heights, IL | 22,861 | 22.9 min | 11.4% | 7:27 AM |
| Hanover Park, IL | 30,659 | 25.2 min | 10.4% | 7:28 AM |
| Wheaton, IL | 46,899 | 20.9 min | 24.1% | 7:52 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Carol Stream, Illinois.
Is living in Carol Stream, Illinois good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 199 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,161 at a typical national wage. That's 1% more than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Carol Stream, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Carol Stream, Illinois. 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Carol Stream, Illinois?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 1.9% of commuters use it versus 5.8% in Illinois, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.