Long Beach Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Long Beach, New York: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Long Beach: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Long Beach spend about 75 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 314 hours, about 13.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 31% more time on the road than the New York average of 28.7 minutes each way, a difference of 9.0 minutes.
Long Beach holds about 0.2% of New York's population and accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Long Beach would save about 126 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,891 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach | 37.7 min | 75.3 min | 314 hrs/yr | $9,728 | 4,366 |
| 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.
Long Beach Commute Map
On average, it takes 37.7 minutes to get to work in Long Beach. That's 68% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 18.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Long Beach
- Car: 61.0%
- Worked at Home: 18.8%
- Public Transportation: 15.2%
- Walked: 2.0%
- Other: 1.5%
- Bicycle: 0.9%
- Taxi: 0.5%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Long Beach, versus 0.1% in New York.
Commute Mode Trends in Long Beach, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Long Beach 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 | Worked at Home | Public Transportation | Walked | Other | Bicycle | Taxi | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 70.2% | 4.9% | 20.0% | 3.4% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 69.2% | 4.6% | 19.9% | 4.9% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 68.0% | 4.3% | 20.4% | 6.0% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 67.6% | 3.5% | 21.0% | 6.5% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 67.9% | 3.4% | 19.8% | 6.8% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 68.7% | 3.6% | 19.2% | 6.6% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 70.1% | 3.8% | 19.0% | 5.2% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 71.7% | 3.1% | 18.6% | 4.7% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 71.3% | 3.2% | 19.1% | 4.4% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 68.6% | 4.6% | 21.2% | 3.9% | 1.1% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 70.0% | 5.0% | 18.7% | 4.5% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 65.4% | 8.2% | 20.3% | 4.4% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 65.0% | 11.2% | 18.2% | 3.7% | 1.3% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 62.8% | 14.9% | 16.5% | 3.4% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 63.8% | 14.9% | 15.7% | 3.2% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 61.0% | 18.8% | 15.2% | 2.0% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2016 at 71.7%. Overall it fell from 70.2% in 2009 to 61.0% in 2024, down 9.2 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Long Beach: its share of workers rose from 4.9% in 2009 to 18.8% in 2024, up 13.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 20.0% to 15.2% of workers (down 4.8 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2024 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 6.8% in 2013 and has since fallen back to 2.0%.
Commute Start Times in Long Beach
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Long Beach?
The bars show when commuters in Long Beach 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 AM
Long Beach3.7%
New York3.9%
|
3.7% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Long Beach3.0%
New York2.9%
|
3.0% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Long Beach6.3%
New York3.7%
|
6.3% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Long Beach8.6%
New York7.5%
|
8.6% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Long Beach11.3%
New York8.1%
|
11.3% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Long Beach11.0%
New York13.9%
|
11.0% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Long Beach11.9%
New York11.1%
|
11.9% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Long Beach14.7%
New York14.0%
|
14.7% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Long Beach9.0%
New York7.7%
|
9.0% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Long Beach7.2%
New York9.5%
|
7.2% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Long Beach2.8%
New York3.7%
|
2.8% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Long Beach1.5%
New York1.7%
|
1.5% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Long Beach3.7%
New York6.9%
|
3.7% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Long Beach5.2%
New York5.3%
|
5.2% |
Long Beach New York Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Long Beach is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 14.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.0% across New York. Early starts are more common than in New York: 13.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 10.6% there. The morning rush looks much like New York's: 49.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% 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 Long Beach, 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 Long Beach 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 Long Beach 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Long Beach | New York | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:46 AM | 7:54 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:51 AM | 7:54 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:53 AM | 7:54 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:49 AM | 7:55 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:46 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:43 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:43 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:42 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:40 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:44 AM | 7:55 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:44 AM | 7:55 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:39 AM | 7:55 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:43 AM | 7:55 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:46 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:44 AM | 7:56 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:45 AM | 7:57 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Long Beach were on the road by 7:45 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across New York, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Long Beach now leave 7 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Long Beach's commute time compare?
| Metric | Long Beach | New York | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 37.7 min | 28.7 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM |
| Secondary Departure Window | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 18.8% | 15.0% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 2.0% | 5.6% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 15.2% | 21.7% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Long Beach is 37.7 minutes, longer than the 28.7 minutes in New York.
15.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 21.7% in New York. 2.0% commute by walking, lower than the 5.6% in New York.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Long Beach, New York.
Is living in Long Beach, New York good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 314 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $9,728 at a typical national wage. That's 31% more than the typical New York commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Long Beach, New York?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Long Beach, New York. 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.