Commuting in Monmouth 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, 7:32 PM
Is the commute in Monmouth County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:32 PM
Commute Time Burden in Monmouth County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Monmouth County spend about 51 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 214 hours, about 8.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% less time on the road than the New Jersey average of 26.2 minutes each way, a difference of 0.5 minutes.
Monmouth County holds about 6.9% of New Jersey's population but accounts for roughly 6.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Monmouth County would save about 86 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,653 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)
Monmouth County
25.7 min
51.4 min
214 hrs/yr
$6,634
2,307
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
25.7
minutes to get to work in
Monmouth County.
That's 15% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 18.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Monmouth County
Car:
72.1%
Worked at Home:
18.9%
Public Transportation:
5.2%
Walked:
1.7%
Other:
1.1%
Taxi:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Monmouth County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Monmouth 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
83.7%
4.0%
8.2%
2.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.6%
0.0%
2010
83.3%
4.0%
8.4%
2.5%
0.6%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2011
83.4%
4.3%
8.4%
2.4%
0.5%
0.4%
0.6%
0.0%
2012
83.2%
4.5%
8.3%
2.3%
0.5%
0.5%
0.7%
0.0%
2013
83.1%
4.7%
8.3%
2.2%
0.6%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2014
83.5%
4.8%
8.0%
2.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.6%
0.0%
2015
83.1%
5.0%
8.0%
2.1%
0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
2016
83.1%
5.1%
7.9%
2.0%
0.6%
0.7%
0.6%
0.0%
2017
82.9%
5.2%
7.9%
2.0%
0.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.1%
2018
82.5%
5.6%
8.2%
1.7%
0.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.1%
2019
82.3%
5.7%
8.5%
1.6%
0.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
2020
80.8%
8.3%
7.5%
1.4%
0.8%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
2021
77.9%
12.0%
6.7%
1.4%
0.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
2022
75.7%
14.7%
6.1%
1.4%
1.0%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
2023
74.0%
16.8%
5.5%
1.5%
1.1%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
2024
72.1%
18.9%
5.2%
1.7%
1.1%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 83.7% in 2009 to 72.1% in 2024, down 11.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 8 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Monmouth County: its share of workers rose from 4.0% in 2009 to 18.9% in 2024, up 14.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 8.2% to 5.2% of workers (down 3.0 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Monmouth County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Monmouth County?
The bars show when commuters in Monmouth 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 AMMonmouth County3.6%New Jersey3.9%
3.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMonmouth County2.8%New Jersey3.1%
2.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMonmouth County3.9%New Jersey3.9%
3.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMonmouth County8.0%New Jersey8.0%
8.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMonmouth County9.5%New Jersey8.9%
9.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMonmouth County13.8%New Jersey14.2%
13.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMonmouth County11.9%New Jersey11.8%
11.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMonmouth County13.5%New Jersey14.0%
13.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMonmouth County8.9%New Jersey7.6%
8.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMonmouth County8.7%New Jersey8.1%
8.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMonmouth County3.3%New Jersey3.2%
3.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMonmouth County1.5%New Jersey1.5%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMonmouth County6.0%New Jersey6.3%
6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMonmouth County4.7%New Jersey5.4%
4.7%
Monmouth CountyNew JerseySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Monmouth County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.2% across New Jersey. Early starts are about as common as in New Jersey: 10.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush looks much like New Jersey's: 48.6% 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 Monmouth 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 Monmouth 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 Monmouth 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
Monmouth County
New Jersey
United States
2009
7:48 AM
7:48 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:48 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:47 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:47 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:47 AM
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:49 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:48 AM
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:49 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:49 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:49 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:49 AM
7:49 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:50 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:51 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Monmouth County were on the road by 7:51 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:48 AM). New Jersey followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes later. Commuters in Monmouth 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 Monmouth County has moved 3 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Monmouth County in the whole series.
How does Monmouth County's commute time compare?
Metric
Monmouth County
New Jersey
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
25.7 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
18.9%
16.8%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
2.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
5.2%
8.1%
3.2%
The average commute time in Monmouth County is about the same as in New Jersey.
5.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 8.1% in New Jersey. 1.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.6% in New Jersey.
Monmouth County, NJ Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Monmouth County, NJ is typical in size for this group, 645,196 residents against a local median of 654,303, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. The measure that sets Monmouth County, NJ apart most is work from home: 18.9%, 32% above the local median of 14.3%.
The counties themselves spread 8.4% on work from home, so Monmouth County, NJ sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Monmouth County, NJ has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Monmouth County, New Jersey?
Commuters here spend an estimated 214 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,634 at a typical national wage. That's 2% less than the typical New Jersey commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Monmouth County, New Jersey?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Monmouth 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.
Which counties in New Jersey have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).