Commuting in Bernalillo County, New Mexico: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 3:17 PM
Is the commute in Bernalillo County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 3:17 PM
Commute Time Burden in Bernalillo County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Bernalillo County spend about 42 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 174 hours, about 7.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 11% more time on the road than the New Mexico average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 2.0 minutes.
Bernalillo County holds about 31.7% of New Mexico's population but accounts for roughly 35.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Bernalillo County would save about 70 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,158 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)
Bernalillo County
20.9 min
41.8 min
174 hrs/yr
$5,394
2,643
New Mexico
18.8 min
37.7 min
157 hrs/yr
$4,866
619
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
20.9
minutes to get to work in
Bernalillo County.
That's 7% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 81% of counties in New Mexico
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 14.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Bernalillo County
Car:
80.5%
Worked at Home:
14.9%
Walked:
1.8%
Other:
1.0%
Public Transportation:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.7%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Bernalillo County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Bernalillo 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
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
90.1%
3.9%
1.9%
0.8%
1.8%
1.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2010
89.9%
4.1%
1.9%
0.7%
1.9%
1.1%
0.4%
0.0%
2011
89.6%
4.2%
1.9%
0.8%
1.8%
1.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2012
89.7%
4.3%
1.9%
0.7%
1.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2013
89.6%
4.2%
1.9%
0.9%
1.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2014
89.3%
4.1%
2.0%
0.9%
2.0%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2015
89.3%
4.1%
2.0%
0.9%
1.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2016
89.3%
4.2%
1.9%
0.9%
1.9%
1.3%
0.4%
0.0%
2017
89.3%
4.4%
1.9%
0.8%
1.8%
1.3%
0.4%
0.0%
2018
89.5%
4.6%
1.8%
0.7%
1.9%
1.1%
0.3%
0.0%
2019
89.8%
4.7%
1.8%
0.7%
1.7%
1.0%
0.3%
0.0%
2020
88.2%
6.7%
1.7%
0.7%
1.5%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2021
85.7%
9.5%
1.8%
0.7%
1.2%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
84.1%
11.1%
1.8%
0.8%
1.2%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
82.4%
12.8%
1.8%
0.9%
1.1%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
80.5%
14.9%
1.8%
1.0%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 90.1% in 2009 to 80.5% in 2024, down 9.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Bernalillo County: its share of workers rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 14.9% in 2024, up 11.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.8% to 0.8% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Bernalillo County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Bernalillo County?
The bars show when commuters in Bernalillo 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 Mexico for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMBernalillo County3.3%New Mexico4.6%
3.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMBernalillo County2.7%New Mexico3.5%
2.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMBernalillo County4.8%New Mexico5.1%
4.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMBernalillo County7.6%New Mexico8.7%
7.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMBernalillo County9.7%New Mexico10.1%
9.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMBernalillo County16.0%New Mexico15.5%
16.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMBernalillo County13.9%New Mexico14.8%
13.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMBernalillo County11.9%New Mexico11.1%
11.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMBernalillo County5.3%New Mexico4.5%
5.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMBernalillo County7.1%New Mexico6.0%
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMBernalillo County3.8%New Mexico3.1%
3.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMBernalillo County1.4%New Mexico1.3%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMBernalillo County6.9%New Mexico6.3%
6.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMBernalillo County5.6%New Mexico5.5%
5.6%
Bernalillo CountyNew MexicoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Bernalillo County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across New Mexico. Early starts are less common than in New Mexico: 10.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush looks much like New Mexico's: 51.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.9%) 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 Bernalillo 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 Bernalillo 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 Bernalillo County next to New Mexico 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
Bernalillo County
New Mexico
United States
2009
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:41 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:41 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:41 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:38 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:38 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:41 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Bernalillo County were on the road by 7:43 AM, 2 minutes later than in 2009 (7:41 AM). That goes against the trend across New Mexico, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Bernalillo County now leave 5 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 Bernalillo County has moved 4 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Bernalillo County in the whole series.
How does Bernalillo County's commute time compare?
Metric
Bernalillo County
New Mexico
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.9 min
18.8 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
14.9%
12.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.8%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Bernalillo County is 20.9 minutes, longer than the 18.8 minutes in New Mexico.
0.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in New Mexico. 1.8% commute by walking, lower than the 1.9% in New Mexico.
Bernalillo County, NM Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Bernalillo County, NM is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 672,163 residents against a local median of 78,461. Bernalillo County, NM's one-way commute, at 20.9 min, runs 30% below the 30.0 min typical of the counties around it. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 21.4 min on one-way commute, so Bernalillo County, NM sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Bernalillo County, NM has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Bernalillo County, New Mexico?
Commuters here spend an estimated 174 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,394 at a typical national wage. That's 11% more than the typical New Mexico commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Bernalillo County, New Mexico?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How do commute times compare across counties in New Mexico?
Among counties in New Mexico, the shortest average commutes are in De Baca County (7.9 min), Quay County (8.0 min), Union County (8.3 min). The longest are in Torrance County (36.5 min), Mora County (30.1 min), Valencia County (30.1 min).