Commuting in Cape May County, New Jersey: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in Cape May County spend on the road daily?
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Commute Time Burden in Cape May County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Cape May County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 150 hours, about 6.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 31% less time on the road than the New Jersey average of 26.2 minutes each way, a difference of 8.1 minutes.
Cape May County holds about 1.0% of New Jersey's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Cape May County would save about 60 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,865 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)
Cape May County
18.1 min
36.1 min
150 hrs/yr
$4,664
1,457
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
18.1
minutes to get to work in
Cape May County.
That's 19% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Fastest county in New Jersey
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Cape May County
Car:
81.0%
Worked at Home:
12.1%
Walked:
3.0%
Other:
2.0%
Bicycle:
0.9%unusually high
Public Transportation:
0.9%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Cape May County: 5.0 times less than the New Jersey average (0.0% vs 0.0%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Cape May County: 9.2 times less than the New Jersey average (0.9% vs 8.1%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Cape May County: 9.5 times less than the New Jersey average (0.1% vs 0.6%).
Biking is unusually common in Cape May County: 3.1 times more than the New Jersey average (0.9% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Cape May County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Cape May 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
87.2%
2.8%
5.8%
0.7%
1.6%
1.4%
0.3%
0.1%
2010
86.8%
3.0%
5.8%
0.5%
1.5%
2.0%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
87.0%
3.6%
5.3%
0.4%
1.2%
2.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
86.2%
3.7%
5.7%
0.3%
1.4%
2.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
84.9%
3.9%
6.2%
0.4%
1.7%
2.5%
0.1%
0.2%
2014
85.1%
4.1%
5.4%
0.9%
1.6%
2.7%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
85.4%
4.2%
5.4%
0.9%
1.9%
2.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
85.0%
4.3%
5.3%
1.1%
2.0%
2.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2017
85.5%
4.5%
5.1%
0.8%
2.1%
1.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
86.7%
4.1%
5.0%
0.7%
1.7%
1.7%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
87.3%
4.2%
4.7%
0.7%
1.7%
1.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2020
87.0%
4.7%
4.1%
1.2%
1.4%
1.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
86.2%
5.9%
3.5%
1.6%
1.4%
1.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
84.9%
7.4%
3.7%
1.8%
0.8%
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
82.0%
9.9%
3.9%
2.3%
0.7%
1.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
81.0%
12.1%
3.0%
2.0%
0.9%
0.9%
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 2019 at 87.3%. Overall it fell from 87.2% in 2009 to 81.0% in 2024, down 6.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Cape May County: its share of workers rose from 2.8% in 2009 to 12.1% in 2024, up 9.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.8% to 3.0% of workers (down 2.8 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Biking peaked at 2.7% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 0.9%.
Commute Start Times in Cape May County
🚦Rush-Hour RegularsThe 2nd-highest share of rush-hour departures among New Jersey's 21 counties: 52.8% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Cape May County?
The bars show when commuters in Cape May 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 AMCape May County3.7%New Jersey3.9%
3.7%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCape May County1.7%New Jersey3.1%
1.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCape May County2.7%New Jersey3.9%
2.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCape May County7.0%New Jersey8.0%
7.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCape May County9.6%New Jersey8.9%
9.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCape May County14.0%New Jersey14.2%
14.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCape May County15.4%New Jersey11.8%
15.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCape May County13.9%New Jersey14.0%
13.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCape May County8.0%New Jersey7.6%
8.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCape May County7.7%New Jersey8.1%
7.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCape May County2.7%New Jersey3.2%
2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCape May County2.0%New Jersey1.5%
2.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCape May County7.3%New Jersey6.3%
7.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCape May County4.5%New Jersey5.4%
4.5%
Cape May CountyNew JerseySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Cape May County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.8% across New Jersey. Early starts are less common than in New Jersey: 8.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in New Jersey: 52.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.1%) 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 Cape May 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 Cape May 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 Cape May 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
Cape May County
New Jersey
United States
2009
7:52 AM
7:48 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:53 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:54 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:54 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:55 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:56 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:56 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:55 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:56 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:56 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:57 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:59 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:58 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:56 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:56 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:52 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Cape May County were on the road by 7:52 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across New Jersey, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Cape May County now leave 14 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 Cape May County has moved 5 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Cape May County in the whole series.
How does Cape May County's commute time compare?
Metric
Cape May County
New Jersey
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.1 min
26.2 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 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
12.1%
16.8%
15.0%
Walked
3.0%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.9%
8.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Cape May County is 18.1 minutes, shorter than the 26.2 minutes in New Jersey.
0.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 8.1% in New Jersey. 3.0% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in New Jersey.
Cape May County, NJ Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Cape May County, NJ is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 94,930 residents against a local median of 252,121. Cape May County, NJ's work from home, at 12.1%, runs 33% above the 9.1% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 18.1 min against a local median of 21.6 min, 17% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 17% below the local median it puts Cape May County, NJ at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 9.6% on work from home, so Cape May County, NJ sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Cape May County, NJ has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Cape May County, New Jersey.
Is living in Cape May County, New Jersey good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 150 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,664 at a typical national wage. That's 31% less than the typical New Jersey commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Cape May County, New Jersey?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Cape May 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.
Do people use public transit in Cape May County, New Jersey?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.9% of commuters use it versus 8.1% in New Jersey, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).