Hancock County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 11:51 AM

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

Map AI 9/24/26, 11:51 AM

Commute Time Burden in Hancock County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Hancock County spend about 43 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 180 hours, about 7.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 4% more time on the road than the Maine average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 0.8 minutes.

Hancock County holds about 4.1% of Maine's population but accounts for roughly 4.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Hancock County would save about 72 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,231 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)
Hancock County	21.6 min	43.2 min	180 hrs/yr	$5,576	738
Maine	20.8 min	41.6 min	173 hrs/yr	$5,372	1,015
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: Maine Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Maine

Aroostook County (13.5 min)
Piscataquis County (16.3 min)
Knox County (16.6 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Maine

York County (23.9 min)
Oxford County (23.4 min)
Somerset County (22.5 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Hancock County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 21.6 minutes to get to work in Hancock County. That's 4% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 13.7% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Hancock County

Commute Mode Trends in Hancock County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Hancock 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	Other	Public Transportation	Bicycle	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	86.3%	5.4%	5.9%	0.8%	0.7%	0.5%	0.0%	0.4%
2010	87.2%	5.0%	5.4%	0.9%	0.6%	0.5%	0.0%	0.5%
2011	85.5%	6.1%	5.6%	1.0%	0.6%	0.5%	0.1%	0.6%
2012	84.2%	6.8%	5.8%	0.9%	0.7%	0.9%	0.1%	0.7%
2013	83.9%	6.9%	6.0%	0.9%	0.7%	0.9%	0.1%	0.6%
2014	83.6%	7.3%	6.0%	0.9%	0.7%	1.0%	0.1%	0.5%
2015	82.9%	7.9%	6.2%	0.9%	0.8%	0.8%	0.1%	0.5%
2016	84.7%	7.6%	5.4%	1.0%	0.7%	0.5%	0.1%	0.1%
2017	86.2%	6.5%	5.2%	1.0%	0.7%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
2018	86.0%	7.0%	5.1%	0.9%	0.8%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
2019	85.8%	7.2%	5.1%	0.9%	0.7%	0.0%	0.1%	0.2%
2020	85.0%	9.1%	4.3%	0.8%	0.6%	0.0%	0.1%	0.1%
2021	84.2%	9.5%	4.4%	1.0%	0.7%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%
2022	82.7%	10.8%	4.4%	1.3%	0.6%	0.2%	0.0%	0.1%
2023	81.5%	12.2%	4.3%	1.1%	0.5%	0.3%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	80.1%	13.7%	4.3%	1.0%	0.5%	0.2%	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 2010 at 87.2%. Overall it fell from 86.3% in 2009 to 80.1% in 2024, down 6.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Hancock County: its share of workers rose from 5.4% in 2009 to 13.7% in 2024, up 8.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.9% to 4.3% of workers (down 1.6 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2011 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Hancock County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Hancock County?

The bars show when commuters in Hancock 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 Maine for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		9.1%
5:00-5:29 AM		4.7%
5:30-5:59 AM		5.0%
6:00-6:29 AM		11.9%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM		15.4%
7:30-7:59 AM		11.9%
8:00-8:29 AM		11.7%
8:30-8:59 AM		4.5%
9:00-9:59 AM		5.9%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.0%
11:00-11:59 AM		0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM		4.6%
4:00-11:59 PM		2.5%

Hancock County Maine Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Hancock County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.8% across Maine. Early starts are more common than in Maine: 18.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.0% there. The morning rush looks much like Maine's: 49.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.9% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (15.7%) 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 Hancock 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 Hancock 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 Hancock County next to Maine 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	Hancock County	Maine	United States
2009	7:15 AM	7:26 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:17 AM	7:26 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:19 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:22 AM	7:27 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:23 AM	7:27 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:23 AM	7:27 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:21 AM	7:26 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:20 AM	7:26 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:18 AM	7:25 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:16 AM	7:24 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:16 AM	7:24 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:17 AM	7:24 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:16 AM	7:24 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:16 AM	7:24 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:18 AM	7:25 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:18 AM	7:25 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Hancock County were on the road by 7:18 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:15 AM). That goes against the trend across Maine, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Hancock County now leave 20 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Hancock County has moved 2 minutes later.

How does Hancock County's commute time compare?

Metric	Hancock County	Maine	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	21.6 min	20.8 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window	06:00 AM – 06:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	13.7%	15.9%	15.0%
Walked	4.3%	3.4%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.5%	0.5%	3.2%

The average commute time in Hancock County is 21.6 minutes, longer than the 20.8 minutes in Maine.

The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Maine. 4.3% commute by walking, higher than the 3.4% in Maine.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Hancock County, ME Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Hancock County, ME is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 56,460 residents against a local median of 40,192. Where Hancock County, ME breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 19% above the local median of 18.1 min at 21.6 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 5.8 min on one-way commute, so Hancock County, ME sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Hancock County, ME has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Hancock County, ME	56,460	21.6 min #5/6	13.7% #3/6	7:18 AM #3/6
Waldo County, ME	40,192	22.4 min	15.6%	7:16 AM
Knox County, ME	41,003	16.6 min	16.6%	7:30 AM
Washington County, ME	31,330	16.9 min	9.7%	7:11 AM
Penobscot County, ME	154,700	18.1 min	11.3%	7:23 AM
Lincoln County, ME	36,099	21.2 min	13.2%	7:23 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Hancock County, Maine.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Hancock County, Maine?

Commuters here spend an estimated 180 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,576 at a typical national wage. That's 4% more than the typical Maine commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Hancock County, Maine?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Hancock County, Maine. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

How do commute times compare across counties in Maine?

Among counties in Maine, the shortest average commutes are in Aroostook County (13.5 min), Piscataquis County (16.3 min), Knox County (16.6 min). The longest are in York County (23.9 min), Oxford County (23.4 min), Somerset County (22.5 min).