Commuting in Bergen County, New Jersey: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:28 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Bergen County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:28 PM
Commute Time Burden in Bergen County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Bergen County spend about 54 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 225 hours, about 9.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 3% more time on the road than the New Jersey average of 26.2 minutes each way, a difference of 0.8 minutes.
Bergen County holds about 10.3% of New Jersey's population but accounts for roughly 10.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Bergen County would save about 90 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,790 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)
Bergen County
27.0 min
54.0 min
225 hrs/yr
$6,976
3,352
New Jersey
26.2 min
52.4 min
218 hrs/yr
$6,764
2,109
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
27.0
minutes to get to work in
Bergen County.
That's 20% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 75% of counties in New Jersey
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 18.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Bergen County
Car:
66.3%
Worked at Home:
18.5%
Public Transportation:
10.4%
Walked:
2.5%
Other:
1.5%
Taxi:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Bergen County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Bergen 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
78.8%
3.9%
12.8%
3.1%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
78.3%
4.1%
13.1%
3.1%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
78.1%
4.0%
13.4%
3.0%
1.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2012
77.8%
4.2%
13.5%
3.0%
1.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
77.4%
4.6%
13.5%
3.0%
1.1%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
77.0%
4.7%
13.7%
3.0%
1.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
76.9%
4.6%
14.2%
2.9%
1.1%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2016
76.7%
4.7%
14.4%
2.8%
1.1%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2017
76.2%
4.7%
14.9%
2.8%
1.0%
0.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2018
76.0%
4.7%
15.2%
2.7%
1.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2019
75.6%
4.8%
15.7%
2.6%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
73.2%
8.1%
14.6%
2.6%
1.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
70.6%
11.9%
13.1%
2.6%
1.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
2022
69.4%
14.5%
11.7%
2.6%
1.3%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
67.8%
16.3%
11.2%
2.5%
1.4%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
66.3%
18.5%
10.4%
2.5%
1.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 78.8% in 2009 to 66.3% in 2024, down 12.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 15 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Bergen County: its share of workers rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 18.5% in 2024, up 14.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 12.8% to 10.4% of workers (down 2.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Bergen County
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe 3rd-biggest shift to earlier mornings among New Jersey's 21 counties: the typical start is 4 minutes earlier than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Bergen County?
The bars show when commuters in Bergen 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 Jersey for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMBergen County2.8%New Jersey3.9%
2.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMBergen County2.3%New Jersey3.1%
2.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMBergen County3.2%New Jersey3.9%
3.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMBergen County7.1%New Jersey8.0%
7.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMBergen County8.3%New Jersey8.9%
8.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMBergen County14.5%New Jersey14.2%
14.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMBergen County13.4%New Jersey11.8%
13.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMBergen County15.4%New Jersey14.0%
15.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMBergen County8.7%New Jersey7.6%
8.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMBergen County10.0%New Jersey8.1%
10.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMBergen County3.3%New Jersey3.2%
3.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMBergen County1.6%New Jersey1.5%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMBergen County5.0%New Jersey6.3%
5.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMBergen County4.3%New Jersey5.4%
4.3%
Bergen CountyNew JerseySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Bergen County is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 15.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.0% across New Jersey. Early starts are less common than in New Jersey: 8.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in New Jersey: 51.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.2%) 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 Bergen 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 Bergen 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 Bergen County next to New Jersey 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
Bergen County
New Jersey
United States
2009
8:00 AM
7:48 AM
7:37 AM
2010
8:02 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2011
8:03 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2012
8:04 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2013
8:06 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2014
8:06 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2015
8:06 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2016
8:06 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2017
8:05 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2018
8:05 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2019
8:04 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2020
8:02 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2021
8:01 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2022
8:01 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:58 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:56 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Bergen County were on the road by 7:56 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (8:00 AM). That goes against the trend across New Jersey, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Bergen County 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 Bergen County has moved 8 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Bergen County in the whole series.
How does Bergen County's commute time compare?
Metric
Bergen County
New Jersey
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
27.0 min
26.2 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
18.5%
16.8%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
10.4%
8.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Bergen County is 27.0 minutes, longer than the 26.2 minutes in New Jersey.
10.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 8.1% in New Jersey. 2.5% commute by walking, lower than the 2.6% in New Jersey.
Bergen County, NJ Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Bergen County, NJ is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 960,507 residents against a local median of 717,070. Where Bergen County, NJ breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 15% above the local median of 16.1% at 18.5%.
The counties themselves spread 14.0% on work from home, so Bergen County, NJ sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Bergen County, NJ has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Is commuting expensive in Bergen County, New Jersey?
Commuters here spend an estimated 225 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,976 at a typical national wage. That's 3% more than the typical New Jersey commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Bergen County, New Jersey?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Bergen County, New Jersey. 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.
How do commute times compare across counties in New Jersey?
Among counties in New Jersey, the shortest average commutes are in Cape May County (18.1 min), Cumberland County (21.2 min), Atlantic County (21.6 min). The longest are in Hudson County (32.7 min), Sussex County (32.6 min), Hunterdon County (31.0 min).