North Potomac Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in North Potomac, Maryland: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in North Potomac: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in North Potomac spend about 60 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 251 hours, about 10.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% more time on the road than the Maryland average of 28.3 minutes each way, a difference of 1.8 minutes.
North Potomac holds about 0.4% of Maryland's population and accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in North Potomac would save about 100 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,110 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Potomac | 30.1 min | 60.2 min | 251 hrs/yr | $7,776 | 3,240 |
| Maryland | 28.3 min | 56.5 min | 236 hrs/yr | $7,301 | 2,353 |
| 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.
North Potomac Commute Map
On average, it takes 30.1 minutes to get to work in North Potomac. That's 34% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 39.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in North Potomac
- Car: 56.5% unusually low
- Worked at Home: 39.2%
- Public Transportation: 2.5%
- Other: 1.1%
- Walked: 0.5% unusually low
- Bicycle: 0.1%
- Taxi: 0.1% unusually low
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in North Potomac: 21937884132.0 times less than the Maryland average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Driving is 22% less common in North Potomac than the Maryland average (56.5% vs 72.4%).
Walking is unusually rare in North Potomac: 3.9 times less than the Maryland average (0.5% vs 2.0%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in North Potomac: 4.7 times less than the Maryland average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Few people walk or bike to work in North Potomac: just 0.6%, 3.6 times below the Maryland average of 2.3%.
Commute Mode Trends in North Potomac, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in North Potomac 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 | Other | Walked | Taxi | Bicycle | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 84.0% | 7.0% | 7.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2010 | 83.8% | 6.8% | 8.2% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2011 | 84.5% | 6.5% | 7.7% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2012 | 83.4% | 6.9% | 7.9% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 84.4% | 5.7% | 8.4% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 84.2% | 6.2% | 8.0% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 83.2% | 7.1% | 8.1% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 83.3% | 6.9% | 8.0% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 84.9% | 6.0% | 8.1% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 83.6% | 6.9% | 8.2% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 83.3% | 6.7% | 8.1% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 75.1% | 17.1% | 6.2% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 67.2% | 26.1% | 5.1% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 61.8% | 32.3% | 3.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 58.2% | 36.8% | 3.3% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 56.5% | 39.2% | 2.5% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 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 2017 at 84.9%. Overall it fell from 84.0% in 2009 to 56.5% in 2024, down 27.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in North Potomac: its share of workers rose from 7.0% in 2009 to 39.2% in 2024, up 32.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 32.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 7.5% to 2.5% of workers (down 5.0 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in North Potomac
What Time Do People Leave for Work in North Potomac?
The bars show when commuters in North Potomac 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 Maryland for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
North Potomac2.1%
Maryland5.5%
|
2.1% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
North Potomac1.6%
Maryland4.5%
|
1.6% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
North Potomac2.5%
Maryland4.8%
|
2.5% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
North Potomac5.1%
Maryland9.2%
|
5.1% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
North Potomac5.5%
Maryland8.6%
|
5.5% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
North Potomac11.1%
Maryland14.0%
|
11.1% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
North Potomac11.6%
Maryland10.8%
|
11.6% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
North Potomac19.2%
Maryland11.9%
|
19.2% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
North Potomac14.1%
Maryland6.2%
|
14.1% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
North Potomac13.2%
Maryland7.9%
|
13.2% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
North Potomac5.0%
Maryland3.3%
|
5.0% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
North Potomac1.8%
Maryland1.5%
|
1.8% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
North Potomac5.0%
Maryland6.3%
|
5.0% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
North Potomac2.1%
Maryland5.5%
|
2.1% |
North Potomac Maryland Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in North Potomac is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 19.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.9% across Maryland. Early starts are less common than in Maryland: 6.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Maryland: 47.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.1%) 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 North Potomac, 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 North Potomac 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 North Potomac next to Maryland 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 | North Potomac | Maryland | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:01 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:56 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:57 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:55 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:55 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:53 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:00 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:55 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:59 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:59 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:05 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:07 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:11 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:10 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:13 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:16 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in North Potomac were on the road by 8:16 AM, 16 minutes later than in 2009 (8:01 AM). The shift is sharper than across Maryland, where the typical start moved 4 minutes later. Commuters in North Potomac now leave 38 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 North Potomac has moved 11 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for North Potomac in the whole series.
How does North Potomac's commute time compare?
| Metric | North Potomac | Maryland | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 30.1 min | 28.3 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 | 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 39.2% | 19.3% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 0.5% | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 2.5% | 4.2% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in North Potomac is 30.1 minutes, longer than the 28.3 minutes in Maryland.
2.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 4.2% in Maryland. 0.5% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Maryland.
North Potomac, MD Commute Compared With Nearby Cities
How North Potomac, MD compares with the 2 cities closest to it.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Potomac, MD | 23,845 | 30.1 min #3/3 | 39.2% #1/3 | 8:16 AM #3/3 |
| Gaithersburg, MD | 71,117 | 26.7 min | 24.6% | 7:57 AM |
| Rockville, MD | 60,580 | 28.3 min | 33.1% | 8:01 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in North Potomac, Maryland.
What is the financial impact of commuting in North Potomac, Maryland?
Commuters here spend an estimated 251 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,776 at a typical national wage. That's 7% more than the typical Maryland commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in North Potomac, Maryland?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in North Potomac, Maryland. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How much money can remote workers save in North Potomac, Maryland?
About 39.2% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in North Potomac would save about 100 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,110 at the same national wage assumption used above.