St. Louis Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 4:08 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in St. Louis?

Map AI 9/24/26, 4:08 PM

Commute Time Burden in St. Louis: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in St. Louis spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 173 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% less time on the road than the Missouri average of 21.0 minutes each way, a difference of 0.2 minutes.

St. Louis holds about 4.7% of Missouri's population but accounts for roughly 4.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in St. Louis would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,144 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)
St. Louis	20.7 min	41.5 min	173 hrs/yr	$5,360	2,420
Missouri	21.0 min	41.9 min	175 hrs/yr	$5,415	923
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.

St. Louis Commute Map

On average, it takes 20.7 minutes to get to work in St. Louis. That's 7% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 17.0% work from home.

How People Get to Work in St. Louis

Public transit is unusually common in St. Louis: 6.8 times more than the Missouri average (5.7% vs 0.8%).

Biking is unusually common in St. Louis: 5.0 times more than the Missouri average (1.0% vs 0.2%).

Commute Mode Trends in St. Louis, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in St. Louis 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	Public Transportation	Walked	Other	Bicycle	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	82.4%	2.5%	10.1%	3.3%	0.8%	0.6%	0.1%	0.1%
2010	81.0%	2.6%	10.6%	4.0%	0.8%	0.7%	0.1%	0.1%
2011	81.0%	3.0%	10.0%	4.2%	0.8%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%
2012	81.1%	3.0%	9.8%	4.2%	0.9%	0.8%	0.1%	0.2%
2013	80.9%	3.0%	9.8%	4.3%	0.9%	0.8%	0.2%	0.2%
2014	80.4%	3.3%	9.7%	4.5%	0.8%	1.0%	0.2%	0.2%
2015	80.9%	3.4%	9.4%	4.4%	0.7%	0.8%	0.2%	0.2%
2016	80.3%	3.6%	9.8%	4.3%	0.8%	0.9%	0.2%	0.1%
2017	80.1%	4.2%	9.4%	4.4%	0.7%	0.8%	0.2%	0.1%
2018	79.9%	4.2%	9.3%	4.8%	0.7%	0.8%	0.2%	0.1%
2019	80.5%	4.2%	8.8%	4.7%	0.7%	0.8%	0.2%	0.1%
2020	78.5%	7.6%	7.3%	4.6%	0.7%	0.9%	0.3%	0.1%
2021	76.5%	10.5%	6.5%	4.4%	0.8%	0.9%	0.2%	0.1%
2022	74.8%	12.5%	6.2%	4.2%	1.0%	0.9%	0.3%	0.1%
2023	73.4%	15.0%	5.2%	4.0%	1.2%	0.9%	0.3%	0.1%
2024	70.8%	17.0%	5.7%	3.8%	1.1%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 82.4% in 2009 to 70.8% in 2024, down 11.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in St. Louis: its share of workers rose from 2.5% in 2009 to 17.0% in 2024, up 14.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 10.1% to 5.7% of workers (down 4.4 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.

Walking peaked at 4.8% in 2018 and has since fallen back to 3.8%.

Commute Start Times in St. Louis

What Time Do People Leave for Work in St. Louis?

The bars show when commuters in St. Louis 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 Missouri for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		3.4%
5:00-5:29 AM		2.7%
5:30-5:59 AM		3.8%
6:00-6:29 AM		7.2%
6:30-6:59 AM		8.2%
7:00-7:29 AM		14.3%
7:30-7:59 AM		12.2%
8:00-8:29 AM		14.5%
8:30-8:59 AM		6.5%
9:00-9:59 AM		7.9%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.6%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM		8.1%
4:00-11:59 PM		5.9%

St. Louis Missouri Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in St. Louis is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 14.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.1% across Missouri. Early starts are less common than in Missouri: 9.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.5% there. The morning rush looks much like Missouri's: 49.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.2%) 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 St. Louis, 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis next to Missouri 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	St. Louis	Missouri	United States
2009	7:46 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:48 AM	7:33 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:51 AM	7:33 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:51 AM	7:33 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:53 AM	7:33 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:54 AM	7:33 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:52 AM	7:32 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:50 AM	7:32 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:49 AM	7:32 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:49 AM	7:31 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:49 AM	7:31 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:52 AM	7:32 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:52 AM	7:32 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:53 AM	7:32 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:55 AM	7:32 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:56 AM	7:32 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in St. Louis were on the road by 7:56 AM, 10 minutes later than in 2009 (7:46 AM). Across Missouri, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in St. Louis 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 St. Louis has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for St. Louis in the whole series.

How does St. Louis's commute time compare?

Metric	St. Louis	Missouri	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	20.7 min	21.0 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	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	17.0%	13.0%	15.0%
Walked	3.8%	1.8%	2.4%
Public Transit	5.7%	0.8%	3.2%

The average commute time in St. Louis is about the same as in Missouri.

5.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.8% in Missouri. 3.8% commute by walking, higher than the 1.8% in Missouri.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in St. Louis, Missouri.

Is living in St. Louis, Missouri good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 173 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,360 at a typical national wage. That's 1% less than the typical Missouri commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in St. Louis, Missouri?

Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in St. Louis, Missouri. 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.

Do people use public transit in St. Louis, Missouri?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 5.7% of commuters use it versus 0.8% in Missouri, making it a realistic option for many workers.

Is St. Louis, Missouri a good location for remote and hybrid workers?

About 17.0% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in St. Louis would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,144 at the same national wage assumption used above.