Commuting in Erie County, Ohio: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 1:20 PM
Is the commute in Erie County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 1:20 PM
Commute Time Burden in Erie County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Erie County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 144 hours, about 6.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 18% less time on the road than the Ohio average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 3.8 minutes.
Erie County holds about 0.6% of Ohio's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Erie County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,787 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)
Erie County
17.3 min
34.6 min
144 hrs/yr
$4,469
1,449
Ohio
21.1 min
42.2 min
176 hrs/yr
$5,447
1,212
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
17.3
minutes to get to work in
Erie County.
That's 23% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 89% of counties in Ohio
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 6.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Erie County
Car:
88.6%
Worked at Home:
6.0%
Public Transportation:
2.5%
Walked:
1.7%
Other:
0.5%
Taxi:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Erie County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Erie 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
92.0%
2.6%
0.7%
2.7%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
2010
92.0%
2.7%
0.5%
2.9%
0.9%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
2011
93.0%
2.5%
0.5%
2.2%
0.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.4%
2012
92.5%
2.7%
0.6%
2.1%
1.0%
0.5%
0.2%
0.5%
2013
92.9%
2.8%
0.6%
2.0%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.4%
2014
93.3%
2.6%
0.6%
2.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
2015
93.2%
2.3%
0.7%
2.8%
0.2%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
2016
92.8%
2.9%
0.9%
2.1%
0.2%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
2017
93.1%
2.7%
0.9%
2.0%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.1%
2018
93.0%
2.7%
1.2%
2.0%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2019
93.4%
2.7%
1.1%
1.3%
0.9%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
93.5%
3.0%
1.1%
0.9%
1.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
93.4%
3.4%
0.7%
0.9%
1.0%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
92.7%
4.0%
0.6%
1.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2023
91.1%
5.4%
0.9%
1.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
88.6%
6.0%
2.5%
1.7%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2020 at 93.5%. Overall it fell from 92.0% in 2009 to 88.6% in 2024, down 3.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Erie County: its share of workers rose from 2.6% in 2009 to 6.0% in 2024, up 3.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.7% to 1.7% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2016 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Erie County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Erie County?
The bars show when commuters in Erie 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 Ohio for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMErie County5.3%Ohio5.2%
5.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMErie County3.9%Ohio3.9%
3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMErie County5.1%Ohio5.3%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMErie County6.3%Ohio8.4%
6.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMErie County11.6%Ohio10.1%
11.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMErie County13.8%Ohio13.4%
13.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMErie County12.5%Ohio12.2%
12.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMErie County9.5%Ohio10.5%
9.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMErie County4.4%Ohio5.5%
4.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMErie County6.8%Ohio6.0%
6.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMErie County2.9%Ohio2.8%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMErie County1.9%Ohio1.5%
1.9%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMErie County7.6%Ohio7.7%
7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMErie County8.3%Ohio7.8%
8.3%
Erie CountyOhioSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Erie County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.4% across Ohio. Early starts are about as common as in Ohio: 14.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush looks much like Ohio's: 47.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.6%) 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 Erie 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 Erie 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 Erie County next to Ohio 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
Erie County
Ohio
United States
2009
7:47 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:49 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:48 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:49 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:46 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:46 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:46 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:43 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:44 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:34 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:40 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Erie County were on the road by 7:40 AM, 7 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:47 AM). The shift is sharper than across Ohio, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Erie County now leave 2 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 Erie County has moved 4 minutes earlier.
How does Erie County's commute time compare?
Metric
Erie County
Ohio
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.3 min
21.1 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
6.0%
13.0%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.5%
1.0%
3.2%
The average commute time in Erie County is 17.3 minutes, shorter than the 21.1 minutes in Ohio.
2.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.0% in Ohio. 1.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Ohio.
Erie County, OH Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Erie County, OH is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 74,571 residents against a local median of 58,319. Erie County, OH 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 one-way commute, 15% below the local median at 17.3 min against 20.3 min. Erie County, OH has the 2nd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Erie County, Ohio.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Erie County, Ohio?
Commuters here spend an estimated 144 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,469 at a typical national wage. That's 18% less than the typical Ohio commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Erie County, Ohio?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Erie County, Ohio. 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.
Which counties in Ohio have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Ohio, the shortest average commutes are in Hancock County (15.3 min), Van Wert County (15.5 min), Mercer County (16.0 min). The longest are in Morgan County (32.5 min), Vinton County (32.0 min), Brown County (32.0 min).