Commuting in Strafford County, New Hampshire: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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Is the commute in Strafford County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:38 PM
Commute Time Burden in Strafford County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Strafford County spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 184 hours, about 7.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% less time on the road than the New Hampshire average of 22.5 minutes each way, a difference of 0.5 minutes.
Strafford County holds about 9.5% of New Hampshire's population but accounts for roughly 9.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Strafford County would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,277 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)
Strafford County
22.0 min
44.1 min
184 hrs/yr
$5,693
1,545
New Hampshire
22.5 min
45.0 min
188 hrs/yr
$5,813
1,232
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
22.0
minutes to get to work in
Strafford County.
That's 2% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 5 slowest counties in New Hampshire
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 16.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Strafford County
Car:
77.6%
Worked at Home:
16.2%
Walked:
3.5%
Public Transportation:
1.4%
Other:
0.9%
Taxi:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Strafford County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Strafford 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
89.1%
3.9%
4.5%
1.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
88.9%
4.3%
4.4%
1.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
87.5%
4.4%
5.5%
1.8%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
87.3%
4.7%
5.4%
1.7%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
87.3%
4.6%
5.1%
1.8%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2014
87.2%
4.4%
5.2%
1.9%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2015
86.8%
4.3%
5.4%
2.1%
1.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.3%
2016
86.9%
4.3%
5.0%
2.4%
1.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
2017
87.3%
3.9%
4.8%
2.4%
1.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2018
87.7%
4.2%
4.6%
2.1%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2019
87.5%
4.8%
4.3%
1.8%
1.0%
0.1%
0.3%
0.3%
2020
86.0%
6.8%
4.0%
2.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2021
83.1%
10.2%
3.5%
1.7%
1.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2022
81.5%
12.8%
3.1%
1.4%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2023
78.4%
15.4%
3.3%
1.5%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2024
77.6%
16.2%
3.5%
1.4%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 89.1% in 2009 to 77.6% in 2024, down 11.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Strafford County: its share of workers rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 16.2% in 2024, up 12.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.5% to 3.5% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2019 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Strafford County
😴Sleeping InThe highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among New Hampshire's 10 counties: 25.4% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe lowest share of rush-hour departures among New Hampshire's 10 counties: only 46.6% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
🦉Night OwlThe 2nd-latest start among New Hampshire's 10 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:36 AM.
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe 2nd-biggest shift to later mornings among New Hampshire's 10 counties: the typical start is 2 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Strafford County?
The bars show when commuters in Strafford 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 New Hampshire for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Strafford CountyNew HampshireSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Strafford County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across New Hampshire. Early starts are more common than in New Hampshire: 15.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in New Hampshire: 46.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.4%) 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 Strafford 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 Strafford 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 Strafford County next to New Hampshire 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
Strafford County
New Hampshire
United States
2009
7:34 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:38 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:38 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:37 AM
7:33 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:35 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:35 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:36 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:36 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:37 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:36 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:36 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Strafford County were on the road by 7:36 AM, 2 minutes later than in 2009 (7:34 AM). That goes against the trend across New Hampshire, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Strafford County now leave 2 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Strafford County's commute time compare?
Metric
Strafford County
New Hampshire
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.0 min
22.5 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
16.2%
16.8%
15.0%
Walked
3.5%
2.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.4%
0.5%
3.2%
The average commute time in Strafford County is 22.0 minutes, shorter than the 22.5 minutes in New Hampshire.
1.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.5% in New Hampshire. 3.5% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in New Hampshire.
Strafford County, NH Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Strafford County, NH is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 132,534 residents against a local median of 155,964. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Strafford County, NH an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 4% below the local median at 22.0 min against 23.0 min. Strafford County, NH has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Strafford County, New Hampshire.
Is living in Strafford County, New Hampshire good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 184 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,693 at a typical national wage. That's 2% less than the typical New Hampshire commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Strafford County, New Hampshire?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Strafford County, New Hampshire. 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.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in New Hampshire?
Among counties in New Hampshire, the shortest average commutes are in Coos County (17.5 min), Grafton County (17.5 min), Cheshire County (18.6 min). The longest are in Rockingham County (25.8 min), Sullivan County (23.5 min), Merrimack County (23.0 min).