Commuting in York County, Maine: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:16 PM
Is the commute in York County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:16 PM
Commute Time Burden in York County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in York County spend about 48 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 199 hours, about 8.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 15% more time on the road than the Maine average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 3.1 minutes.
York County holds about 15.6% of Maine's population but accounts for roughly 17.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in York County would save about 80 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,468 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)
York County
23.9 min
47.8 min
199 hrs/yr
$6,171
1,658
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
23.9
minutes to get to work in
York County.
That's 7% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slowest county in Maine
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 16.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in York County
Car:
79.4%
Worked at Home:
16.8%
Walked:
2.2%
Other:
0.7%
Public Transportation:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in York County: 4.3 times less than the Maine average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in York County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in York 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
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
89.9%
5.3%
2.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
89.9%
5.2%
2.8%
0.6%
0.6%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2011
90.1%
5.5%
2.5%
0.4%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
89.7%
5.6%
2.5%
0.5%
0.8%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
89.4%
5.8%
2.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2014
89.4%
5.9%
2.4%
0.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2015
89.4%
6.1%
2.4%
0.6%
0.7%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2016
89.5%
5.8%
2.4%
0.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.2%
0.3%
2017
89.7%
5.7%
2.4%
0.7%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
2018
89.9%
5.6%
2.2%
0.6%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
0.3%
2019
89.9%
5.7%
2.3%
0.7%
0.9%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
88.4%
8.0%
2.0%
0.5%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
85.4%
10.7%
2.2%
0.5%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
83.5%
12.7%
2.2%
0.6%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
81.3%
14.8%
2.2%
0.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2024
79.4%
16.8%
2.2%
0.7%
0.5%
0.3%
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 2011 at 90.1%. Overall it fell from 89.9% in 2009 to 79.4% in 2024, down 10.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in York County: its share of workers rose from 5.3% in 2009 to 16.8% in 2024, up 11.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.9% to 2.2% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in York County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in York County?
The bars show when commuters in York 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 AMYork County6.5%Maine6.3%
6.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMYork County4.7%Maine4.1%
4.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMYork County5.3%Maine5.7%
5.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMYork County8.8%Maine9.3%
8.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMYork County11.9%Maine11.4%
11.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMYork County16.5%Maine15.8%
16.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMYork County12.1%Maine12.8%
12.1%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMYork County8.9%Maine9.9%
8.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMYork County5.1%Maine4.7%
5.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMYork County5.2%Maine5.3%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMYork County2.7%Maine2.4%
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMYork County0.9%Maine1.4%
0.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMYork County6.6%Maine6.3%
6.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMYork County4.6%Maine4.6%
4.6%
York CountyMaineSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in York County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.8% across Maine. Early starts are about as common as in Maine: 16.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.0% there. The morning rush looks much like Maine's: 49.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.9% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.1%) 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 York 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 York 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 York 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
York County
Maine
United States
2009
7:26 AM
7:26 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:25 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:25 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:25 AM
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:25 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:25 AM
7:27 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:26 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:26 AM
7:26 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:25 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:24 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:24 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:24 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:23 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:23 AM
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:23 AM
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in York County were on the road by 7:23 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:26 AM). Maine followed the same path, with the typical start moving 1 minute earlier. Commuters in York County now leave 15 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does York County's commute time compare?
Metric
York County
Maine
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.9 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
16.8%
15.9%
15.0%
Walked
2.2%
3.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in York County is 23.9 minutes, longer than the 20.8 minutes in Maine.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Maine. 2.2% commute by walking, lower than the 3.4% in Maine.
York County, ME Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
York County, ME is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 216,704 residents against a local median of 132,534. Nothing separates York 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 one-way commute, 12% above the local median at 23.9 min against 21.3 min. York County, ME has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in York County, Maine.
Is commuting expensive in York County, Maine?
Commuters here spend an estimated 199 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,171 at a typical national wage. That's 15% more than the typical Maine commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in York County, Maine?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in York County, Maine. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 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).