University City Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in University City, Missouri: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in University City: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in University City spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 157 hours, about 6.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 10% less time on the road than the Missouri average of 21.0 minutes each way, a difference of 2.1 minutes.
University City holds about 0.6% of Missouri's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in University City would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,944 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University City | 18.8 min | 37.6 min | 157 hrs/yr | $4,860 | 1,872 |
| 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.
University City Commute Map
On average, it takes 18.8 minutes to get to work in University City. That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 18.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in University City
- Car: 69.1%
- Worked at Home: 18.7%
- Walked: 4.6%
- Public Transportation: 4.2% unusually high
- Other: 2.5%
- Bicycle: 0.7% unusually high
- Taxi: 0.1%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in University City: 138915013455.7 times less than the Missouri average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is unusually common in University City: 5.0 times more than the Missouri average (4.2% vs 0.8%).
Biking is unusually common in University City: 3.7 times more than the Missouri average (0.7% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in University City, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in University City 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Public Transportation | Other | Bicycle | Taxi | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 81.8% | 6.2% | 5.6% | 4.2% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 81.4% | 5.9% | 5.1% | 5.9% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 81.7% | 5.7% | 4.6% | 6.3% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 82.4% | 5.3% | 4.4% | 6.4% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 81.7% | 5.2% | 3.7% | 7.6% | 0.1% | 1.5% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 84.0% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 7.1% | 0.3% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 81.6% | 5.4% | 3.6% | 7.2% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2016 | 80.7% | 5.6% | 4.0% | 8.0% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 2017 | 80.3% | 5.7% | 4.2% | 7.7% | 0.3% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 2018 | 81.1% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 7.0% | 0.1% | 1.5% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| 2019 | 80.2% | 5.6% | 4.6% | 7.8% | 0.5% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 2020 | 80.4% | 7.1% | 4.0% | 7.0% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 2021 | 76.3% | 11.9% | 3.6% | 6.1% | 1.6% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 73.3% | 15.0% | 4.1% | 5.0% | 2.2% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2023 | 71.8% | 17.0% | 3.9% | 4.5% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 69.1% | 18.7% | 4.6% | 4.2% | 2.5% | 0.7% | 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 2014 at 84.0%. Overall it fell from 81.8% in 2009 to 69.1% in 2024, down 12.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in University City: its share of workers rose from 6.2% in 2009 to 18.7% in 2024, up 12.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.6% to 4.6% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Public transit peaked at 8.0% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 4.2%.
Commute Start Times in University City
What Time Do People Leave for Work in University City?
The bars show when commuters in University City 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 |
12:00-4:59 AM
University City2.4%
Missouri5.2%
|
2.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
University City2.1%
Missouri3.9%
|
2.1% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
University City1.2%
Missouri5.3%
|
1.2% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
University City6.7%
Missouri9.0%
|
6.7% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
University City7.0%
Missouri10.4%
|
7.0% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
University City12.0%
Missouri15.0%
|
12.0% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
University City12.5%
Missouri13.6%
|
12.5% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
University City14.8%
Missouri10.1%
|
14.8% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
University City10.6%
Missouri4.5%
|
10.6% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
University City15.1%
Missouri5.2%
|
15.1% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
University City3.5%
Missouri2.6%
|
3.5% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
University City0.7%
Missouri1.2%
|
0.7% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
University City7.0%
Missouri7.0%
|
7.0% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
University City4.5%
Missouri6.9%
|
4.5% |
University City Missouri Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in University City is 9:00-9:59 AM, when 15.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 5.2% across Missouri. Early starts are less common than in Missouri: 5.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.5% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Missouri: 46.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.1% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (30.8%) 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 University City, 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 University City 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 University City 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | University City | Missouri | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:06 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:02 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:02 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:59 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:04 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:11 AM | 7:33 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:10 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 8:07 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:10 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:08 AM | 7:31 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:05 AM | 7:31 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:04 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:08 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:09 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:08 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:13 AM | 7:32 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in University City were on the road by 8:13 AM, 6 minutes later than in 2009 (8:06 AM). Across Missouri, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in University City now leave 35 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 University City has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for University City in the whole series.
How does University City's commute time compare?
| Metric | University City | Missouri | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 18.8 min | 21.0 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM |
| Secondary Departure Window | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 18.7% | 13.0% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 4.6% | 1.8% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 4.2% | 0.8% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in University City is 18.8 minutes, shorter than the 21.0 minutes in Missouri.
4.2% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.8% in Missouri. 4.6% commute by walking, higher than the 1.8% in Missouri.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in University City, Missouri.
Is living in University City, Missouri good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 157 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,860 at a typical national wage. That's 10% less than the typical Missouri commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in University City, Missouri?
Traffic peaks between 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM in University City, Missouri. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Do people use public transit in University City, Missouri?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 4.2% of commuters use it versus 0.8% in Missouri, making it a realistic option for many workers.
How much time do residents in University City, Missouri save by working from home?
About 18.7% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in University City would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,944 at the same national wage assumption used above.