Commuting in Cook County, 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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What does a typical morning commute look like in Cook County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:02 PM
Commute Time Burden in Cook County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Cook County spend about 61 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 255 hours, about 10.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 29% more time on the road than the Illinois average of 23.6 minutes each way, a difference of 7.0 minutes.
Cook County holds about 40.8% of Illinois's population but accounts for roughly 52.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Cook County would save about 102 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,162 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)
Cook County
30.6 min
61.2 min
255 hrs/yr
$7,904
3,776
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.
On average, it takes
30.6
minutes to get to work in
Cook County.
That's 37% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 5 slowest counties in Illinois
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 18.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Cook County
Car:
62.6%
Worked at Home:
18.9%
Public Transportation:
11.8%
Walked:
4.0%
Other:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.9%
Taxi:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Cook County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Cook 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
72.6%
3.5%
17.9%
4.0%
0.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
2010
72.7%
3.7%
17.7%
4.0%
0.7%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
2011
72.2%
3.8%
17.8%
4.2%
0.7%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
2012
72.0%
4.0%
17.7%
4.3%
0.7%
0.9%
0.4%
0.1%
2013
71.7%
4.0%
17.8%
4.4%
0.7%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
2014
71.2%
4.2%
18.1%
4.4%
0.8%
1.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2015
70.7%
4.2%
18.4%
4.4%
0.8%
1.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2016
70.3%
4.4%
18.6%
4.4%
0.8%
1.1%
0.4%
0.1%
2017
69.8%
4.5%
18.9%
4.4%
0.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2018
69.4%
4.7%
19.0%
4.3%
0.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2019
69.1%
4.9%
19.1%
4.3%
0.9%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2020
67.7%
7.8%
17.8%
4.1%
0.9%
1.0%
0.6%
0.1%
2021
66.3%
11.3%
15.8%
4.0%
1.0%
1.0%
0.6%
0.0%
2022
65.1%
14.2%
14.3%
3.9%
1.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.1%
2023
64.0%
16.5%
13.0%
3.9%
1.1%
0.9%
0.6%
0.0%
2024
62.6%
18.9%
11.8%
4.0%
1.1%
0.9%
0.6%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 72.7%. Overall it fell from 72.6% in 2009 to 62.6% in 2024, down 10.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 14 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Cook County: its share of workers rose from 3.5% in 2009 to 18.9% in 2024, up 15.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 14.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 17.9% to 11.8% of workers (down 6.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Cook County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Cook County?
The bars show when commuters in Cook 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 Illinois for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMCook County5.4%Illinois5.6%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCook County4.0%Illinois4.3%
4.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCook County3.8%Illinois4.9%
3.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCook County8.7%Illinois9.0%
8.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCook County7.9%Illinois9.4%
7.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCook County14.3%Illinois14.3%
14.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCook County10.1%Illinois11.6%
10.1%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCook County13.1%Illinois11.2%
13.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCook County6.4%Illinois5.2%
6.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCook County7.5%Illinois6.1%
7.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCook County3.4%Illinois2.9%
3.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCook County1.6%Illinois1.5%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCook County7.8%Illinois7.7%
7.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCook County5.9%Illinois6.3%
5.9%
Cook CountyIllinoisSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Cook County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.3% across Illinois. Early starts are less common than in Illinois: 13.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush looks much like Illinois's: 45.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.3%) 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 Cook 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 Cook 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 Cook County 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.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Cook County
Illinois
United States
2009
7:42 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:44 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:44 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:45 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:45 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:44 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:46 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:48 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Cook County were on the road by 7:48 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:42 AM). The shift is sharper than across Illinois, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Cook County now leave 10 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 Cook County has moved 5 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Cook County in the whole series.
How does Cook County's commute time compare?
Metric
Cook County
Illinois
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
30.6 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
18.9%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
4.0%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
11.8%
5.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Cook County is 30.6 minutes, longer than the 23.6 minutes in Illinois.
11.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 5.8% in Illinois. 4.0% commute by walking, higher than the 2.8% in Illinois.
Cook County, IL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Cook County, IL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 5,180,889 residents against a local median of 701,595. Where Cook County, IL breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 29% above the local median of 23.7 min at 30.6 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 18.9% against a local median of 14.7%, 29% above it. The counties themselves spread 7.3 min on one-way commute, so Cook County, IL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Cook County, IL has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Cook County, Illinois.
Is commuting expensive in Cook County, Illinois?
Commuters here spend an estimated 255 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,904 at a typical national wage. That's 29% more than the typical Illinois commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Cook County, Illinois?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Cook County, Illinois. 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 do commute times compare across counties in Illinois?
Among counties in Illinois, the shortest average commutes are in Edgar County (12.0 min), Brown County (12.7 min), Morgan County (13.1 min). The longest are in Calhoun County (43.8 min), Pulaski County (31.2 min), Pope County (31.0 min).