Commuting in Kennebec County, Maine: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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What does a typical morning commute look like in Kennebec County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:18 PM
Commute Time Burden in Kennebec County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Kennebec County spend about 42 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 176 hours, about 7.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% more time on the road than the Maine average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 0.3 minutes.
Kennebec County holds about 9.1% of Maine's population but accounts for roughly 9.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Kennebec County would save about 70 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,181 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)
Kennebec County
21.1 min
42.2 min
176 hrs/yr
$5,452
1,195
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.
On average, it takes
21.1
minutes to get to work in
Kennebec County.
That's 6% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 15.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Kennebec County
Car:
80.5%
Worked at Home:
15.3%
Walked:
2.4%
Other:
1.1%
Taxi:
0.3%
Public Transportation:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Kennebec County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Kennebec 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
Taxi
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
90.4%
4.3%
3.6%
1.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
90.4%
4.5%
3.2%
1.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
90.4%
4.3%
3.3%
1.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
90.2%
4.4%
3.3%
1.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
90.3%
4.6%
3.5%
1.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
90.1%
4.5%
3.6%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2015
89.8%
4.2%
4.0%
1.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
89.7%
4.6%
4.2%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
89.5%
4.8%
4.4%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
89.7%
4.8%
4.1%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
90.1%
5.1%
3.8%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
88.5%
7.0%
3.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
86.3%
9.5%
3.2%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
84.0%
12.0%
2.9%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
82.1%
13.8%
2.6%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
80.5%
15.3%
2.4%
1.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 90.4% in 2009 to 80.5% in 2024, down 9.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Kennebec County: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 15.3% in 2024, up 11.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.6% to 2.4% of workers (down 1.2 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Kennebec County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Kennebec County?
The bars show when commuters in Kennebec 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
12:00-4:59 AMKennebec County5.9%Maine6.3%
5.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMKennebec County3.6%Maine4.1%
3.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMKennebec County6.6%Maine5.7%
6.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMKennebec County10.5%Maine9.3%
10.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMKennebec County14.5%Maine11.4%
14.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMKennebec County15.0%Maine15.8%
15.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMKennebec County14.0%Maine12.8%
14.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMKennebec County8.8%Maine9.9%
8.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMKennebec County2.9%Maine4.7%
2.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMKennebec County3.5%Maine5.3%
3.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMKennebec County2.5%Maine2.4%
2.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMKennebec County1.0%Maine1.4%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMKennebec County6.8%Maine6.3%
6.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMKennebec County4.4%Maine4.6%
4.4%
Kennebec CountyMaineSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Kennebec County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.8% across Maine. Early starts are about as common as in Maine: 16.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.0% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Maine: 52.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.9% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (18.2%) 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 Kennebec 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 Kennebec 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 Kennebec 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
Kennebec County
Maine
United States
2009
7:21 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:19 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:20 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:20 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:17 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:17 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:18 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:16 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:17 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:17 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:17 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:20 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:19 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:18 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:20 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:18 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Kennebec County were on the road by 7:18 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:21 AM). Maine followed the same path, with the typical start moving 1 minute earlier. Commuters in Kennebec County now leave 20 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Kennebec County's commute time compare?
Metric
Kennebec County
Maine
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.1 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
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
15.3%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
2.4%
3.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Kennebec County is about the same as in Maine.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in Maine. 2.4% commute by walking, lower than the 3.4% in Maine.
Kennebec County, ME Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Kennebec County, ME is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 126,799 residents against a local median of 40,192. Nothing separates Kennebec County, ME sharply from the counties around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 2% below the local median at 15.3% against 15.6%. Kennebec County, ME has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Kennebec County, Maine.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Kennebec County, Maine?
Commuters here spend an estimated 176 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,452 at a typical national wage. That's 1% more than the typical Maine commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Kennebec County, Maine?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Kennebec County, Maine. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).