New Brunswick Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in New Brunswick, New Jersey: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in New Brunswick: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in New Brunswick spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 172 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 21% less time on the road than the New Jersey average of 26.2 minutes each way, a difference of 5.6 minutes.
New Brunswick holds about 0.6% of New Jersey's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in New Brunswick would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,127 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | 20.6 min | 41.2 min | 172 hrs/yr | $5,318 | 3,811 |
| 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.
New Brunswick Commute Map
On average, it takes 20.6 minutes to get to work in New Brunswick. That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by walking. About 11.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in New Brunswick
- Car: 51.5% unusually low
- Walked: 14.7% unusually high
- Worked at Home: 11.0%
- Other: 10.7%
- Taxi: 5.2% unusually high
- Public Transportation: 4.6%
- Bicycle: 2.3% unusually high
- Motorcycle: < 0.1%
Driving is 26% less common in New Brunswick than the New Jersey average (51.5% vs 69.9%).
Walking is unusually common in New Brunswick: 5.7 times more than the New Jersey average (14.7% vs 2.6%).
Taking a taxi is unusually common in New Brunswick: 8.7 times more than the New Jersey average (5.2% vs 0.6%).
Biking is unusually common in New Brunswick: 7.3 times more than the New Jersey average (2.3% vs 0.3%).
New Brunswick stands out for active commuting: 17.0% of workers walk or bike to work, 5.9 times the New Jersey average of 2.9%.
Commute Mode Trends in New Brunswick, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in New Brunswick 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Walked | Worked at Home | Other | Taxi | Public Transportation | Bicycle | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 68.1% | 14.8% | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1.4% | 10.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 67.1% | 14.3% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 10.5% | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 63.7% | 16.6% | 2.0% | 2.4% | 3.5% | 11.1% | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 59.4% | 15.9% | 2.0% | 6.6% | 3.4% | 11.7% | 1.0% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 56.6% | 15.8% | 1.4% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 10.9% | 1.0% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 54.4% | 14.0% | 1.1% | 14.7% | 3.8% | 10.8% | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 52.7% | 16.3% | 1.1% | 15.4% | 3.3% | 10.0% | 1.1% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 55.5% | 14.4% | 1.0% | 15.5% | 3.0% | 9.5% | 1.2% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 62.3% | 13.1% | 0.9% | 11.7% | 2.3% | 8.7% | 0.8% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 66.6% | 12.8% | 1.2% | 7.0% | 2.1% | 9.3% | 1.1% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 71.3% | 13.5% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 9.7% | 0.8% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 69.0% | 10.4% | 6.4% | 2.1% | 1.1% | 9.7% | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 65.5% | 10.2% | 7.6% | 3.7% | 2.7% | 8.8% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 60.3% | 13.8% | 9.1% | 6.6% | 2.4% | 6.6% | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 55.3% | 14.1% | 10.2% | 9.4% | 4.3% | 4.6% | 2.1% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 51.5% | 14.7% | 11.0% | 10.7% | 5.2% | 4.6% | 2.3% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2019 at 71.3%. Overall it fell from 68.1% in 2009 to 51.5% in 2024, down 16.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in New Brunswick: its share of workers rose from 1.9% in 2009 to 11.0% in 2024, up 9.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 10.0% to 4.6% of workers (down 5.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 16.6% in 2011 and has since fallen back to 14.7%.
Commute Start Times in New Brunswick
What Time Do People Leave for Work in New Brunswick?
The bars show when commuters in New Brunswick 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 AM
New Brunswick3.9%
New Jersey3.9%
|
3.9% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
New Brunswick3.1%
New Jersey3.1%
|
3.1% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
New Brunswick4.6%
New Jersey3.9%
|
4.6% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
New Brunswick12.0%
New Jersey8.0%
|
12.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
New Brunswick10.4%
New Jersey8.9%
|
10.4% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
New Brunswick12.8%
New Jersey14.2%
|
12.8% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
New Brunswick6.9%
New Jersey11.8%
|
6.9% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
New Brunswick8.1%
New Jersey14.0%
|
8.1% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
New Brunswick6.5%
New Jersey7.6%
|
6.5% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
New Brunswick6.6%
New Jersey8.1%
|
6.6% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
New Brunswick4.2%
New Jersey3.2%
|
4.2% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
New Brunswick2.1%
New Jersey1.5%
|
2.1% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
New Brunswick10.9%
New Jersey6.3%
|
10.9% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
New Brunswick8.0%
New Jersey5.4%
|
8.0% |
New Brunswick New Jersey Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in New Brunswick is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 12.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.2% across New Jersey. Early starts are about as common as in New Jersey: 11.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in New Jersey: 38.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.0% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (31.7%) 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 New Brunswick, 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 New Brunswick 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 New Brunswick 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | New Brunswick | New Jersey | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:06 AM | 7:48 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:12 AM | 7:49 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:12 AM | 7:49 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 8:06 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:00 AM | 7:51 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:47 AM | 7:51 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:50 AM | 7:51 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:48 AM | 7:51 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:51 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:52 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:00 AM | 7:49 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:43 AM | 7:49 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:34 AM | 7:49 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:37 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:46 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:44 AM | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in New Brunswick were on the road by 7:44 AM, 22 minutes earlier than in 2009 (8:06 AM). That goes against the trend across New Jersey, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in New Brunswick now leave 6 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 New Brunswick has moved 16 minutes earlier.
How does New Brunswick's commute time compare?
| Metric | New Brunswick | New Jersey | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 20.6 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 | 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 11.0% | 16.8% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 14.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 4.6% | 8.1% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in New Brunswick is 20.6 minutes, shorter than the 26.2 minutes in New Jersey.
4.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 8.1% in New Jersey. 14.7% commute by walking, higher than the 2.6% in New Jersey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
What is the financial impact of commuting in New Brunswick, New Jersey?
Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,318 at a typical national wage. That's 21% less than the typical New Jersey commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in New Brunswick, New Jersey?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.