Commuting in Hamilton County, New York: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Is the commute in Hamilton County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Hamilton County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Hamilton County spend about 27 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 113 hours, about 4.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 53% less time on the road than the New York average of 28.7 minutes each way, a difference of 15.1 minutes.
Hamilton County holds about 0.0% of New York's population and accounts for roughly 0.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Hamilton County would save about 45 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,404 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)
Hamilton County
13.6 min
27.2 min
113 hrs/yr
$3,511
215
New York
28.7 min
57.4 min
239 hrs/yr
$7,414
1,586
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
13.6
minutes to get to work in
Hamilton County.
That's 39% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Fastest county in New York
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 13.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Hamilton County
Car:
77.7%unusually high
Worked at Home:
13.8%
Walked:
6.5%
Other:
1.2%
Public Transportation:
0.8%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Hamilton County, versus 0.1% in New York.
Driving is 41% more common in Hamilton County than the New York average (77.7% vs 55.0%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Hamilton County: 25.6 times less than the New York average (0.8% vs 21.7%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Hamilton County, versus 0.7% in New York.
Biking is essentially absent in Hamilton County, versus 0.8% in New York.
Commute Mode Trends in Hamilton County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Hamilton 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
85.3%
4.8%
8.8%
1.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
86.6%
4.1%
8.2%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
86.7%
4.1%
7.8%
1.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
88.6%
3.8%
6.1%
1.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
88.2%
4.2%
6.2%
0.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
2014
86.6%
3.8%
6.0%
2.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.5%
2015
83.4%
5.8%
5.6%
4.9%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2016
85.6%
3.1%
3.8%
6.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
87.7%
2.4%
4.2%
4.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.4%
2018
87.4%
3.3%
3.8%
4.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
2019
86.0%
4.1%
6.1%
3.2%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2020
80.2%
9.3%
8.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2021
76.3%
16.5%
6.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2022
75.5%
15.8%
7.9%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
76.7%
13.7%
7.6%
1.1%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
77.7%
13.8%
6.5%
1.2%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2012 at 88.6% and lowest in 2022 at 75.5%. Overall it fell from 85.3% in 2009 to 77.7% in 2024, down 7.6 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Hamilton County: its share of workers rose from 4.8% in 2009 to 13.8% in 2024, up 9.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 8.8% to 6.5% of workers (down 2.3 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 16.5% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 13.8%.
Commute Start Times in Hamilton County
🚦Rush-Hour RegularsThe highest share of rush-hour departures among New York's 62 counties: 57.0% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Hamilton County?
The bars show when commuters in Hamilton 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 York for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMHamilton County7.3%New York3.9%
7.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMHamilton County2.0%New York2.9%
2.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMHamilton County5.1%New York3.7%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMHamilton County6.5%New York7.5%
6.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMHamilton County15.9%New York8.1%
15.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMHamilton County16.8%New York13.9%
16.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMHamilton County16.9%New York11.1%
16.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMHamilton County7.3%New York14.0%
7.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMHamilton County5.8%New York7.7%
5.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMHamilton County5.2%New York9.5%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMHamilton County2.1%New York3.7%
2.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMHamilton County0.1%New York1.7%
0.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMHamilton County3.9%New York6.9%
3.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMHamilton County5.0%New York5.3%
5.0%
Hamilton CountyNew YorkSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Hamilton County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 16.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.1% across New York. Early starts are more common than in New York: 14.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in New York: 57.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.3%) 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton County next to New York 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
Hamilton County
New York
United States
2009
7:34 AM
7:54 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:38 AM
7:54 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:34 AM
7:54 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:55 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:39 AM
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:31 AM
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:46 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:25 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:21 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:05 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:14 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:08 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:15 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:15 AM
7:56 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:23 AM
7:57 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Hamilton County were on the road by 7:23 AM, 11 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:34 AM). That goes against the trend across New York, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Hamilton County now leave 14 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 Hamilton County has moved 10 minutes later.
How does Hamilton County's commute time compare?
Metric
Hamilton County
New York
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.6 min
28.7 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
13.8%
15.0%
15.0%
Walked
6.5%
5.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
21.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Hamilton County is 13.6 minutes, shorter than the 28.7 minutes in New York.
0.8% commute by public transit, lower than the 21.7% in New York. 6.5% commute by walking, higher than the 5.6% in New York.
Hamilton County, NY Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Hamilton County, NY is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 5,089 residents against a local median of 58,430. Where Hamilton County, NY breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 46% above the local median of 9.4% at 13.8%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 13.6 min against a local median of 21.0 min, 35% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 35% below the local median it puts Hamilton County, NY at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 10.3% on work from home, so Hamilton County, NY sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Hamilton County, NY has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Hamilton County, New York.
Is commuting expensive in Hamilton County, New York?
Commuters here spend an estimated 113 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,511 at a typical national wage. That's 53% less than the typical New York commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Hamilton County, New York?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Hamilton County, New York. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Hamilton County, New York?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.8% of commuters use it versus 21.7% in New York, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across counties in New York?
Among counties in New York, the shortest average commutes are in Hamilton County (13.6 min), Chautauqua County (15.4 min), Franklin County (16.4 min). The longest are in Bronx County (43.2 min), Queens County (41.8 min), Kings County (41.6 min).