Commuting in Massachusetts: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 11:43 AM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Massachusetts?
Map AI9/24/26, 11:43 AM
Commute Time Burden in Massachusetts: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Massachusetts spend about 51 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 213 hours, about 8.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 14% more time on the road than the US average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 3.1 minutes.
Massachusetts holds about 2.1% of US's population but accounts for roughly 2.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Massachusetts would save about 85 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,641 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)
Massachusetts
25.6 min
51.1 min
213 hrs/yr
$6,603
2,164
US
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
25.6
minutes to get to work in
Massachusetts.
That's 14% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 5 slowest states in US
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 18.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Massachusetts
Car:
68.2%
Worked at Home:
18.6%
Public Transportation:
6.5%
Walked:
4.1%
Other:
1.3%
Bicycle:
0.8%
Taxi:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Massachusetts, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Massachusetts 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
81.0%
3.9%
9.1%
4.5%
0.6%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
80.8%
4.0%
9.1%
4.6%
0.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
80.5%
4.2%
9.1%
4.6%
0.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
80.3%
4.2%
9.1%
4.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
80.1%
4.3%
9.3%
4.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2014
79.8%
4.4%
9.4%
4.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2015
79.2%
4.5%
9.8%
4.8%
0.7%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2016
78.7%
4.7%
9.9%
4.8%
0.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2017
78.2%
4.9%
10.2%
4.8%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2018
77.8%
5.0%
10.2%
4.9%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
77.4%
5.2%
10.4%
4.9%
1.0%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
2020
75.3%
8.3%
9.5%
4.8%
1.0%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
73.1%
11.9%
8.3%
4.5%
1.0%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
71.3%
14.6%
7.5%
4.3%
1.1%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
2023
69.6%
16.7%
7.0%
4.2%
1.2%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
2024
68.2%
18.6%
6.5%
4.1%
1.3%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 81.0% in 2009 to 68.2% in 2024, down 12.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 15 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Massachusetts: its share of workers rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 18.6% in 2024, up 14.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 9.1% to 6.5% of workers (down 2.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Massachusetts
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Massachusetts?
The bars show when commuters in Massachusetts 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 the U.S. for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMMassachusetts3.7%The U.S.5.5%
3.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMassachusetts3.3%The U.S.4.0%
3.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMassachusetts4.1%The U.S.4.9%
4.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMassachusetts8.4%The U.S.8.7%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMassachusetts9.5%The U.S.9.4%
9.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMassachusetts14.3%The U.S.14.4%
14.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMassachusetts11.7%The U.S.11.9%
11.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMassachusetts13.5%The U.S.11.5%
13.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMassachusetts7.1%The U.S.5.5%
7.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMassachusetts7.7%The U.S.6.8%
7.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMassachusetts3.2%The U.S.3.1%
3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMassachusetts1.5%The U.S.1.5%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMassachusetts7.1%The U.S.6.8%
7.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMassachusetts4.9%The U.S.6.1%
4.9%
MassachusettsThe U.S.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Massachusetts is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.4% across the U.S.. Early starts are less common than in the U.S.: 11.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush looks much like the U.S.'s: 49.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.5%) 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 Massachusetts, 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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts next to 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
Massachusetts
United States
2009
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:49 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:48 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:45 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Massachusetts were on the road by 7:47 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Commuters in Massachusetts now leave 9 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 Massachusetts has moved 2 minutes later.
How does Massachusetts's commute time compare?
Metric
Massachusetts
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
25.6 min
22.4 min
Work From Home
18.6%
15.0%
Walked
4.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
6.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Massachusetts is 25.6 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in US.
6.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 3.2% in US. 4.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.4% in US.
Massachusetts is the 2nd largest of the 6 states compared here, 7,031,620 residents against a local median of 1,394,471. Where Massachusetts breaks from the states next to it is one-way commute, sitting 16% above the local median of 22.1 min at 25.6 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The states themselves spread 5.7 min on one-way commute, so Massachusetts sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Massachusetts has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Massachusetts.
Is living in Massachusetts good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 213 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,603 at a typical national wage. That's 14% more than the typical US commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Massachusetts?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in 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.
How do commute times compare across 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).