Commuting in Barnstable County, Massachusetts: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How long is the round-trip commute in Barnstable County?
Map AI9/24/26, 12:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Barnstable County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Barnstable County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 156 hours, about 6.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 27% less time on the road than the Massachusetts average of 25.6 minutes each way, a difference of 6.8 minutes.
Barnstable County holds about 3.3% of Massachusetts's population but accounts for roughly 2.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Barnstable County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,939 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)
Barnstable County
18.8 min
37.5 min
156 hrs/yr
$4,849
1,561
Massachusetts
25.6 min
51.1 min
213 hrs/yr
$6,603
2,164
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
18.8
minutes to get to work in
Barnstable County.
That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest counties in Massachusetts
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 16.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Barnstable County
Car:
79.1%
Worked at Home:
16.0%
Walked:
1.9%
Public Transportation:
1.2%unusually low
Other:
1.0%
Bicycle:
0.6%
Taxi:
0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Barnstable County: 5.5 times less than the Massachusetts average (1.2% vs 6.5%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Barnstable County: 3.4 times less than the Massachusetts average (0.1% vs 0.4%).
Commute Mode Trends in Barnstable County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Barnstable 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
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
88.9%
5.4%
2.9%
1.2%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
88.8%
5.6%
2.9%
1.2%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
89.1%
5.6%
2.7%
1.4%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
89.0%
5.7%
2.6%
1.3%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
89.0%
5.6%
2.6%
1.5%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
89.3%
5.2%
2.7%
1.5%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
89.0%
5.9%
2.4%
1.5%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
88.3%
6.3%
2.5%
1.4%
0.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
2017
88.3%
6.3%
2.5%
1.3%
0.8%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
87.7%
6.8%
2.6%
1.3%
0.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
87.4%
7.3%
2.3%
1.5%
0.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
85.5%
9.4%
2.3%
1.3%
0.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
83.5%
11.5%
2.2%
1.1%
1.1%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
81.8%
13.0%
2.1%
1.2%
1.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
80.7%
14.5%
1.7%
1.2%
1.0%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
79.1%
16.0%
1.9%
1.2%
1.0%
0.6%
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 2014 at 89.3%. Overall it fell from 88.9% in 2009 to 79.1% in 2024, down 9.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Barnstable County: its share of workers rose from 5.4% in 2009 to 16.0% in 2024, up 10.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 8.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.9% to 1.9% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Barnstable County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Barnstable County?
The bars show when commuters in Barnstable 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 Massachusetts for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Barnstable CountyMassachusettsSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Barnstable County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.7% across Massachusetts. Early starts are less common than in Massachusetts: 7.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 11.1% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Massachusetts: 51.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.9%) 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 Barnstable 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 Barnstable 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 Barnstable County next to Massachusetts 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
Barnstable County
Massachusetts
United States
2009
7:53 AM
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:54 AM
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:55 AM
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:54 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:53 AM
7:49 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:52 AM
7:48 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:52 AM
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:52 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:50 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:51 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:51 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:51 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:52 AM
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:52 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:53 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:53 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Barnstable County were on the road by 7:53 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Massachusetts, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Barnstable County now leave 15 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 Barnstable County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Barnstable County's commute time compare?
Metric
Barnstable County
Massachusetts
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.8 min
25.6 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 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
16.0%
18.6%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
4.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.2%
6.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Barnstable County is 18.8 minutes, shorter than the 25.6 minutes in Massachusetts.
1.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 6.5% in Massachusetts. 1.9% commute by walking, lower than the 4.1% in Massachusetts.
Barnstable County, MA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Barnstable County, MA is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 231,272 residents against a local median of 534,586. Where Barnstable County, MA breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 19% below the local median of 23.2 min at 18.8 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 17.6 min on one-way commute, so Barnstable County, MA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Barnstable County, MA has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
Is living in Barnstable County, Massachusetts good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 156 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,849 at a typical national wage. That's 27% less than the typical Massachusetts commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Barnstable County, Massachusetts?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 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.
Do people use public transit in Barnstable County, Massachusetts?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 1.2% of commuters use it versus 6.5% in Massachusetts, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Massachusetts?
Among counties in Massachusetts, the shortest average commutes are in Nantucket County (12.8 min), Dukes County (15.4 min), Berkshire County (16.8 min). The longest are in Norfolk County (31.0 min), Suffolk County (30.4 min), Middlesex County (28.4 min).