Commuting in Jefferson 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, 7:04 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Jefferson County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:04 PM
Commute Time Burden in Jefferson County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Jefferson County spend about 33 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 140 hours, about 5.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 42% less time on the road than the New York average of 28.7 minutes each way, a difference of 12.0 minutes.
Jefferson County holds about 0.6% of New York's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Jefferson County would save about 56 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,730 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)
Jefferson County
16.7 min
33.5 min
140 hrs/yr
$4,326
408
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
16.7
minutes to get to work in
Jefferson County.
That's 25% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 92% of counties in New York
The most common departure window is 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Jefferson County
Car:
85.9%unusually high
Worked at Home:
7.7%
Walked:
4.2%
Other:
1.3%
Public Transportation:
0.3%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.2%unusually low
Taxi:
0.2%unusually low
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Driving is 56% more common in Jefferson County than the New York average (85.9% vs 55.0%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Jefferson County: 84.7 times less than the New York average (0.3% vs 21.7%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Jefferson County: 3.8 times less than the New York average (0.2% vs 0.7%).
Biking is unusually rare in Jefferson County: 3.4 times less than the New York average (0.2% vs 0.8%).
Commute Mode Trends in Jefferson County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Jefferson 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
90.3%
3.1%
4.2%
0.8%
1.0%
0.3%
0.1%
0.3%
2010
90.5%
3.4%
3.5%
0.9%
0.8%
0.4%
0.2%
0.3%
2011
89.1%
4.1%
4.8%
0.6%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.3%
2012
88.8%
4.2%
4.8%
0.6%
0.8%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
88.0%
4.4%
5.4%
0.5%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2014
87.8%
4.5%
5.7%
0.5%
0.4%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
2015
87.0%
3.9%
6.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.6%
0.1%
0.4%
2016
86.5%
4.0%
6.9%
1.0%
0.4%
0.8%
0.1%
0.4%
2017
85.7%
5.0%
6.5%
1.2%
0.3%
0.7%
0.1%
0.4%
2018
86.6%
5.2%
5.5%
1.2%
0.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2019
86.5%
5.2%
5.5%
1.2%
0.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2020
86.0%
6.3%
5.2%
1.2%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
86.0%
6.7%
4.7%
1.3%
0.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
86.8%
6.3%
4.3%
1.3%
0.5%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
85.7%
7.4%
4.5%
1.2%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
2024
85.9%
7.7%
4.2%
1.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2010 at 90.5% and lowest in 2017 at 85.7%. Overall it fell from 90.3% in 2009 to 85.9% in 2024, down 4.4 percentage points.
Working from home gained the most ground in Jefferson County: its share of workers rose from 3.1% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2024, up 4.6 percentage points.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.0% to 0.3% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 6.9% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 4.2%.
Commute Start Times in Jefferson County
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe lowest share of rush-hour departures among New York's 62 counties: only 41.2% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Jefferson County?
The bars show when commuters in Jefferson 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 AMJefferson County3.5%New York3.9%
3.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMJefferson County5.7%New York2.9%
5.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMJefferson County11.7%New York3.7%
11.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMJefferson County12.4%New York7.5%
12.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMJefferson County9.8%New York8.1%
9.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMJefferson County11.8%New York13.9%
11.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMJefferson County10.5%New York11.1%
10.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMJefferson County9.1%New York14.0%
9.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMJefferson County4.8%New York7.7%
4.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMJefferson County6.2%New York9.5%
6.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMJefferson County2.4%New York3.7%
2.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMJefferson County1.5%New York1.7%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMJefferson County5.9%New York6.9%
5.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMJefferson County4.8%New York5.3%
4.8%
Jefferson CountyNew YorkSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Jefferson County is 6:00-6:29 AM, when 12.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 7.5% across New York. Early starts are more common than in New York: 21.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.6% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in New York: 41.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.7%) 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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
Jefferson County
New York
United States
2009
7:23 AM
7:54 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:17 AM
7:54 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:15 AM
7:54 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:10 AM
7:55 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:10 AM
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:08 AM
7:56 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:08 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:10 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:13 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:12 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:14 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:18 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:17 AM
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:17 AM
7:56 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:14 AM
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:17 AM
7:57 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Jefferson County were on the road by 7:17 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:23 AM). That goes against the trend across New York, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Jefferson County now leave 20 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 Jefferson County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Jefferson County's commute time compare?
Metric
Jefferson County
New York
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.7 min
28.7 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
06:00 AM – 06:29 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
7.7%
15.0%
15.0%
Walked
4.2%
5.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
21.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Jefferson County is 16.7 minutes, shorter than the 28.7 minutes in New York.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 21.7% in New York. 4.2% commute by walking, lower than the 5.6% in New York.
Jefferson County, NY Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Jefferson County, NY is typical in size for this group, 115,039 residents against a local median of 117,951, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Jefferson County, NY sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 7% below the local median at 7.7% against 8.3%. Jefferson County, NY has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Jefferson County, New York.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Jefferson County, New York?
Commuters here spend an estimated 140 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,326 at a typical national wage. That's 42% less than the typical New York commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Jefferson County, New York?
Traffic peaks between 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County, New York?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.3% of commuters use it versus 21.7% in New York, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).