Commuting in Essex 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 Essex County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:26 PM
Commute Time Burden in Essex County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Essex County spend about 61 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 252 hours, about 10.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 16% more time on the road than the New Jersey average of 26.2 minutes each way, a difference of 4.1 minutes.
Essex County holds about 9.2% of New Jersey's population but accounts for roughly 10.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Essex County would save about 101 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,130 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)
Essex County
30.3 min
60.6 min
252 hrs/yr
$7,825
3,191
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
30.3
minutes to get to work in
Essex County.
That's 35% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 5 slowest counties in New Jersey
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 16.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Essex County
Car:
60.5%
Worked at Home:
16.1%
Public Transportation:
15.8%
Other:
3.4%
Walked:
3.0%
Taxi:
0.9%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Essex County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Essex 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
Other
Walked
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
71.0%
2.9%
19.9%
1.5%
4.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2010
71.2%
2.9%
19.7%
1.4%
4.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2011
71.1%
2.8%
19.7%
1.6%
4.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2012
70.3%
3.0%
20.3%
1.5%
4.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
71.1%
3.0%
20.1%
1.1%
4.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2014
70.6%
3.2%
20.3%
1.1%
4.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2015
70.3%
3.1%
20.6%
1.0%
4.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
70.2%
3.5%
20.8%
0.8%
4.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
69.7%
3.6%
21.1%
0.8%
4.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
68.8%
3.9%
21.4%
1.1%
4.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
68.0%
4.1%
21.7%
1.7%
3.9%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2020
66.2%
7.1%
20.1%
2.3%
3.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
63.9%
10.4%
18.3%
3.1%
3.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
62.7%
12.6%
17.0%
3.6%
3.1%
0.8%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
61.8%
14.2%
16.2%
3.7%
3.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
60.5%
16.1%
15.8%
3.4%
3.0%
0.9%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 71.2%. Overall it fell from 71.0% in 2009 to 60.5% in 2024, down 10.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 11 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Essex County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 16.1% in 2024, up 13.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 19.9% to 15.8% of workers (down 4.1 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 Essex County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Essex County?
The bars show when commuters in Essex 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 AMEssex County4.4%New Jersey3.9%
4.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMEssex County3.5%New Jersey3.1%
3.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMEssex County3.1%New Jersey3.9%
3.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMEssex County7.8%New Jersey8.0%
7.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMEssex County7.2%New Jersey8.9%
7.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMEssex County16.4%New Jersey14.2%
16.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMEssex County10.5%New Jersey11.8%
10.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMEssex County15.0%New Jersey14.0%
15.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMEssex County6.3%New Jersey7.6%
6.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMEssex County7.4%New Jersey8.1%
7.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMEssex County3.5%New Jersey3.2%
3.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMEssex County1.6%New Jersey1.5%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMEssex County6.8%New Jersey6.3%
6.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMEssex County6.6%New Jersey5.4%
6.6%
Essex CountyNew JerseySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Essex County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.2% across New Jersey. Early starts are about as common as in New Jersey: 11.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush looks much like New Jersey's: 49.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.9%) 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 Essex 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 Essex 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 Essex 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
Essex County
New Jersey
United States
2009
7:48 AM
7:48 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:49 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:49 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:51 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:51 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:50 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:51 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:48 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:47 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:47 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:47 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:51 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:52 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Essex County were on the road by 7:52 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:48 AM). The shift is sharper than across New Jersey, where the typical start moved 2 minutes later. Commuters in Essex 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 Essex County has moved 5 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Essex County in the whole series.
How does Essex County's commute time compare?
Metric
Essex County
New Jersey
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
30.3 min
26.2 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
16.1%
16.8%
15.0%
Walked
3.0%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
15.8%
8.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Essex County is 30.3 minutes, longer than the 26.2 minutes in New Jersey.
15.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 8.1% in New Jersey. 3.0% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in New Jersey.
Essex County, NJ Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Essex County, NJ is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 861,155 residents against a local median of 578,268. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Essex County, NJ an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 13% above the local median at 16.1% against 14.3%. Essex County, NJ has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Essex County, New Jersey.
Is living in Essex County, New Jersey good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 252 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,825 at a typical national wage. That's 16% more than the typical New Jersey commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Essex County, New Jersey?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Essex County, New Jersey. 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.
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).