Suffolk County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Suffolk County, Massachusetts: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 7:54 PM

Is the commute in Suffolk County longer than the national average?

Map AI 9/24/26, 7:54 PM

Commute Time Burden in Suffolk County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Suffolk 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 253 hours, about 10.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 19% more time on the road than the Massachusetts average of 25.6 minutes each way, a difference of 4.9 minutes.

Suffolk County holds about 11.1% of Massachusetts's population but accounts for roughly 13.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Suffolk County would save about 101 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,143 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)
Suffolk County	30.4 min	60.8 min	253 hrs/yr	$7,858	3,893
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.

Commute Time Map: Massachusetts Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Massachusetts

Nantucket County (12.8 min)
Dukes County (15.4 min)
Berkshire County (16.8 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Massachusetts

Norfolk County (31.0 min)
Suffolk County (30.4 min)
Middlesex County (28.4 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Suffolk County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 30.4 minutes to get to work in Suffolk County. That's 36% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Among the 3 slowest counties in Massachusetts

The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by public transit. About 19.9% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Suffolk County

Driving is 39% less common in Suffolk County than the Massachusetts average (41.6% vs 68.2%).

Public transit is unusually common in Suffolk County: 3.4 times more than the Massachusetts average (22.4% vs 6.5%).

Commute Mode Trends in Suffolk County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Suffolk 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	Public Transportation	Worked at Home	Walked	Bicycle	Other	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	50.6%	31.4%	2.9%	12.7%	1.2%	0.8%	0.3%	0.1%
2010	49.4%	31.7%	3.1%	13.5%	1.3%	0.7%	0.3%	0.1%
2011	49.2%	31.8%	3.2%	13.5%	1.3%	0.6%	0.3%	0.0%
2012	48.9%	31.8%	3.3%	13.5%	1.5%	0.7%	0.3%	0.0%
2013	48.6%	31.8%	3.4%	13.6%	1.6%	0.6%	0.3%	0.0%
2014	48.6%	32.1%	3.4%	13.2%	1.7%	0.6%	0.3%	0.1%
2015	47.8%	32.6%	3.4%	13.5%	1.7%	0.7%	0.3%	0.1%
2016	47.7%	32.7%	3.2%	13.3%	1.8%	0.8%	0.4%	0.1%
2017	47.6%	32.8%	3.1%	13.2%	1.8%	0.9%	0.5%	0.1%
2018	47.5%	32.6%	3.1%	13.2%	1.9%	0.9%	0.6%	0.1%
2019	47.0%	32.5%	3.2%	13.5%	2.0%	1.0%	0.6%	0.1%
2020	46.2%	30.0%	6.9%	13.1%	2.0%	1.2%	0.6%	0.1%
2021	44.9%	27.2%	11.5%	12.7%	1.8%	1.2%	0.5%	0.1%
2022	43.8%	25.1%	15.0%	12.4%	1.8%	1.3%	0.5%	0.1%
2023	42.8%	23.7%	17.5%	12.2%	1.9%	1.3%	0.5%	0.0%
2024	41.6%	22.4%	19.9%	11.9%	1.9%	1.4%	0.8%	0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 50.6% in 2009 to 41.6% in 2024, down 9.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 10 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Suffolk County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 19.9% in 2024, up 17.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 16.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 31.4% to 22.4% of workers (down 9.0 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Suffolk County

Night OwlThe latest start among Massachusetts's 14 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 8:03 AM.
Sleeping InThe highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Massachusetts's 14 counties: 28.2% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Suffolk County?

The bars show when commuters in Suffolk 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.

12:00-4:59 AM		3.3%
5:00-5:29 AM		2.3%
5:30-5:59 AM		3.1%
6:00-6:29 AM		7.9%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.7%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.6%
7:30-7:59 AM		10.4%
8:00-8:29 AM		15.6%
8:30-8:59 AM		7.9%
9:00-9:59 AM		9.5%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.8%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.9%
12:00-3:59 PM		7.7%
4:00-11:59 PM		5.3%

Suffolk County Massachusetts Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Suffolk County is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 15.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.5% across Massachusetts. Early starts are less common than in Massachusetts: 8.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 11.1% there. The morning rush looks much like Massachusetts's: 47.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (28.2%) 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 Suffolk 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 Suffolk 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 Suffolk 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	Suffolk County	Massachusetts	United States
2009	8:03 AM	7:47 AM	7:37 AM
2010	8:04 AM	7:48 AM	7:38 AM
2011	8:05 AM	7:48 AM	7:38 AM
2012	8:05 AM	7:49 AM	7:38 AM
2013	8:04 AM	7:49 AM	7:39 AM
2014	8:04 AM	7:48 AM	7:39 AM
2015	8:02 AM	7:48 AM	7:38 AM
2016	8:01 AM	7:47 AM	7:38 AM
2017	8:01 AM	7:47 AM	7:38 AM
2018	8:01 AM	7:46 AM	7:37 AM
2019	8:01 AM	7:45 AM	7:37 AM
2020	8:01 AM	7:46 AM	7:37 AM
2021	8:02 AM	7:45 AM	7:37 AM
2022	8:02 AM	7:46 AM	7:37 AM
2023	8:03 AM	7:47 AM	7:38 AM
2024	8:03 AM	7:47 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Suffolk County were on the road by 8:03 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Massachusetts, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Suffolk County now leave 25 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 Suffolk County has moved 2 minutes later.

How does Suffolk County's commute time compare?

Metric	Suffolk County	Massachusetts	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	30.4 min	25.6 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	19.9%	18.6%	15.0%
Walked	11.9%	4.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	22.4%	6.5%	3.2%

The average commute time in Suffolk County is 30.4 minutes, longer than the 25.6 minutes in Massachusetts.

22.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 6.5% in Massachusetts. 11.9% commute by walking, higher than the 4.1% in Massachusetts.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Suffolk County, MA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Suffolk County, MA is typical in size for this group, 779,263 residents against a local median of 729,949, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Suffolk County, MA breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 22% above the local median of 16.4% at 19.9%.

The counties themselves spread 13.5% on work from home, so Suffolk County, MA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Suffolk County, MA has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Suffolk County, MA	779,263	30.4 min #5/6	19.9% #3/6	8:03 AM #6/6
Norfolk County, MA	729,949	31.0 min	22.8%	7:51 AM
Essex County, MA	810,585	23.3 min	16.4%	7:41 AM
Middlesex County, MA	1,636,094	28.4 min	24.7%	7:57 AM
Plymouth County, MA	534,586	28.0 min	16.2%	7:31 AM
Bristol County, MA	582,104	23.2 min	11.1%	7:35 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Suffolk County, Massachusetts?

Commuters here spend an estimated 253 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,858 at a typical national wage. That's 19% more than the typical Massachusetts commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Suffolk County, Massachusetts?

Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

How common is public transit use in Suffolk County, Massachusetts?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 22.4% of commuters use it versus 6.5% in Massachusetts, making it a realistic option for many workers.

Which counties in Massachusetts have the fastest and slowest commutes?

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).