Commuting in Worcester County, Maryland: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 4:00 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Worcester County?
Map AI9/24/26, 4:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Worcester County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Worcester 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 158 hours, about 6.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 33% less time on the road than the Maryland average of 28.3 minutes each way, a difference of 9.3 minutes.
Worcester County holds about 0.9% of Maryland's population but accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Worcester County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,959 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)
Worcester County
19.0 min
37.9 min
158 hrs/yr
$4,898
944
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.
On average, it takes
19.0
minutes to get to work in
Worcester County.
That's 15% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest counties in Maryland
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Worcester County
Car:
83.2%
Worked at Home:
12.3%
Walked:
2.1%
Bicycle:
1.0%unusually high
Public Transportation:
0.5%unusually low
Other:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
0.3%unusually high
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Worcester County: 4.2 times more than the Maryland average (0.3% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Worcester County: 8.0 times less than the Maryland average (0.5% vs 4.2%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Worcester County: 11.7 times less than the Maryland average (0.0% vs 0.5%).
Biking is unusually common in Worcester County: 3.9 times more than the Maryland average (1.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Worcester County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Worcester 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
91.8%
3.7%
2.0%
0.1%
1.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
90.9%
3.6%
2.1%
0.2%
1.8%
1.0%
0.3%
0.0%
2011
91.0%
4.1%
1.9%
0.4%
1.5%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
89.7%
4.8%
2.0%
0.5%
1.6%
1.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
89.2%
5.3%
2.3%
0.7%
1.7%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
88.1%
5.8%
2.5%
0.5%
1.8%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
87.3%
6.2%
3.0%
0.5%
1.4%
0.9%
0.3%
0.6%
2016
87.0%
5.7%
2.9%
0.4%
2.3%
1.0%
0.2%
0.6%
2017
87.8%
5.5%
2.6%
0.5%
2.2%
0.7%
0.1%
0.5%
2018
88.2%
5.5%
2.4%
0.3%
2.3%
0.7%
0.1%
0.5%
2019
88.1%
5.5%
2.2%
0.5%
2.5%
0.6%
0.1%
0.6%
2020
88.1%
5.5%
2.2%
0.6%
2.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
2021
87.9%
6.9%
2.4%
0.6%
1.3%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%
2022
85.0%
9.7%
2.7%
0.5%
1.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
2023
83.6%
11.5%
2.4%
1.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
2024
83.2%
12.3%
2.1%
1.0%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 91.8% in 2009 to 83.2% in 2024, down 8.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Worcester County: its share of workers rose from 3.7% in 2009 to 12.3% in 2024, up 8.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.5% to 0.5% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Biking overtook public transit to become the 4th most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Worcester County
🦉Night OwlThe 3rd-latest start among Maryland's 24 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:56 AM.
😴Sleeping InThe 3rd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Maryland's 24 counties: 28.6% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Worcester County?
The bars show when commuters in Worcester 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 Maryland for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMWorcester County2.6%Maryland5.5%
2.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWorcester County2.6%Maryland4.5%
2.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWorcester County3.5%Maryland4.8%
3.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWorcester County5.7%Maryland9.2%
5.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWorcester County8.3%Maryland8.6%
8.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWorcester County14.4%Maryland14.0%
14.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWorcester County14.7%Maryland10.8%
14.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWorcester County10.7%Maryland11.9%
10.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWorcester County8.8%Maryland6.2%
8.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWorcester County9.4%Maryland7.9%
9.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWorcester County3.8%Maryland3.3%
3.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWorcester County1.9%Maryland1.5%
1.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWorcester County7.4%Maryland6.3%
7.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWorcester County6.2%Maryland5.5%
6.2%
Worcester CountyMarylandSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Worcester County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.8% across Maryland. Early starts are less common than in Maryland: 8.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Maryland: 48.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (28.6%) 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 Worcester 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 Worcester 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 Worcester County 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.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Worcester County
Maryland
United States
2009
7:48 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:54 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:56 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:57 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:56 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:53 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:53 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:50 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:49 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:50 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:50 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:50 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:53 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:57 AM
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:58 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Worcester County were on the road by 7:56 AM, 8 minutes later than in 2009 (7:48 AM). The shift is sharper than across Maryland, where the typical start moved 4 minutes later. Commuters in Worcester County now leave 18 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 Worcester County has moved 7 minutes later.
How does Worcester County's commute time compare?
Metric
Worcester County
Maryland
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
19.0 min
28.3 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
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.3%
19.3%
15.0%
Walked
2.1%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
4.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Worcester County is 19.0 minutes, shorter than the 28.3 minutes in Maryland.
0.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 4.2% in Maryland. 2.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.0% in Maryland.
Worcester County, MD Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Worcester County, MD is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 53,701 residents against a local median of 33,335. The measure that sets Worcester County, MD apart most is work from home: 12.3%, 52% above the local median of 8.1%.
The counties themselves spread 6.1% on work from home, so Worcester County, MD sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Worcester County, MD has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Worcester County, Maryland.
Is living in Worcester County, Maryland good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 158 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,898 at a typical national wage. That's 33% less than the typical Maryland commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Worcester County, Maryland?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Worcester County, Maryland. 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Worcester County, Maryland?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.5% of commuters use it versus 4.2% in Maryland, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Maryland?
Among counties in Maryland, the shortest average commutes are in Talbot County (17.8 min), Allegany County (17.8 min), Wicomico County (18.1 min). The longest are in Charles County (40.0 min), Calvert County (33.6 min), Prince George's County (32.5 min).