Commuting in San Juan 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, 8:20 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in San Juan County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:20 PM
Commute Time Burden in San Juan County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in San Juan County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 169 hours, about 7.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 8% more time on the road than the New Mexico average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 1.4 minutes.
San Juan County holds about 5.7% of New Mexico's population but accounts for roughly 6.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in San Juan County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,094 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)
San Juan County
20.3 min
40.5 min
169 hrs/yr
$5,235
526
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
20.3
minutes to get to work in
San Juan County.
That's 10% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 72% 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 6.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in San Juan County
Car:
90.3%
Worked at Home:
6.3%
Walked:
2.7%
Other:
0.5%
Public Transportation:
0.2%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in San Juan County: 3.6 times less than the New Mexico average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is unusually rare in San Juan County: 3.7 times less than the New Mexico average (0.2% vs 0.6%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in San Juan County, versus 0.1% in New Mexico.
Biking is unusually rare in San Juan County: 4.5 times less than the New Mexico average (0.1% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in San Juan County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in San Juan 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
93.3%
3.7%
2.0%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
93.6%
3.7%
1.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
94.0%
3.6%
1.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
93.7%
3.5%
1.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
93.1%
4.0%
1.7%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
93.5%
3.2%
1.7%
0.8%
0.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2015
93.7%
2.9%
1.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
2016
93.7%
2.9%
2.0%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
94.1%
2.7%
1.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2018
94.0%
3.0%
1.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2019
94.2%
3.2%
1.7%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
93.7%
3.1%
2.3%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
92.6%
4.1%
2.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
91.9%
4.8%
2.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
91.4%
5.6%
2.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
90.3%
6.3%
2.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
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 94.2%. Overall it fell from 93.3% in 2009 to 90.3% in 2024, down 3.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in San Juan County: its share of workers rose from 3.7% in 2009 to 6.3% in 2024, up 2.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in San Juan County
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe 3rd-biggest shift to later mornings among New Mexico's 33 counties: the typical start is 10 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in San Juan County?
The bars show when commuters in San Juan 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 AMSan Juan County5.2%New Mexico4.6%
5.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMSan Juan County3.9%New Mexico3.5%
3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMSan Juan County4.5%New Mexico5.1%
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMSan Juan County10.9%New Mexico8.7%
10.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMSan Juan County12.3%New Mexico10.1%
12.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMSan Juan County14.7%New Mexico15.5%
14.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMSan Juan County13.8%New Mexico14.8%
13.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMSan Juan County11.3%New Mexico11.1%
11.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMSan Juan County3.0%New Mexico4.5%
3.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMSan Juan County5.6%New Mexico6.0%
5.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMSan Juan County2.2%New Mexico3.1%
2.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMSan Juan County1.1%New Mexico1.3%
1.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMSan Juan County5.8%New Mexico6.3%
5.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMSan Juan County5.6%New Mexico5.5%
5.6%
San Juan CountyNew MexicoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in San Juan County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across New Mexico. Early starts are about as common as in New Mexico: 13.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush looks much like New Mexico's: 52.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.5% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.4%) 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 San Juan 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 San Juan 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 San Juan 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
San Juan County
New Mexico
United States
2009
7:17 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:18 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:16 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:18 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:21 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:22 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:19 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:19 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:19 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:19 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:22 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:20 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:27 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in San Juan County were on the road by 7:27 AM, 10 minutes later than in 2009 (7:17 AM). That goes against the trend across New Mexico, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in San Juan County now leave 11 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in San Juan County has moved 8 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for San Juan County in the whole series.
How does San Juan County's commute time compare?
Metric
San Juan County
New Mexico
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.3 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
6.3%
12.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.7%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in San Juan County is 20.3 minutes, longer than the 18.8 minutes in New Mexico.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in New Mexico. 2.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.9% in New Mexico.
San Juan County, NM Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
San Juan County, NM is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 121,321 residents against a local median of 26,412. San Juan County, NM's work from home, at 6.3%, runs 63% below the 16.7% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.3 min against a local median of 15.6 min, 30% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 30% above the local median it puts San Juan County, NM at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 22.5% on work from home, so San Juan County, NM sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. San Juan County, NM has the 6th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in San Juan County, New Mexico.
How much does the average commute cost workers in San Juan County, New Mexico?
Commuters here spend an estimated 169 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,235 at a typical national wage. That's 8% more than the typical New Mexico commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in San Juan County, New Mexico?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in San Juan 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 common is public transit use in San Juan County, New Mexico?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 0.6% in New Mexico, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in New Mexico have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).