Commuting in Lucas 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, 4:43 PM
How much time do drivers in Lucas County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 4:43 PM
Commute Time Burden in Lucas County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Lucas County spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 153 hours, about 6.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 13% less time on the road than the Ohio average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 2.8 minutes.
Lucas County holds about 3.6% of Ohio's population but accounts for roughly 3.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Lucas County would save about 61 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,894 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)
Lucas County
18.3 min
36.7 min
153 hrs/yr
$4,735
1,763
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
18.3
minutes to get to work in
Lucas County.
That's 18% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 77% of counties in Ohio
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 8.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Lucas County
Car:
87.6%
Worked at Home:
8.9%
Walked:
1.6%
Public Transportation:
0.8%
Other:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Lucas County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Lucas 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
92.6%
2.5%
2.1%
1.8%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
92.8%
2.5%
2.1%
1.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
92.8%
2.5%
2.3%
1.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
92.7%
2.5%
2.2%
1.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
92.8%
2.6%
2.2%
1.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2014
93.1%
2.4%
2.2%
1.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2015
92.6%
2.6%
2.2%
1.6%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2016
92.5%
2.7%
2.0%
1.6%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2017
92.1%
2.9%
2.1%
1.6%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2018
92.1%
2.8%
2.1%
1.7%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2019
92.1%
2.8%
2.1%
1.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.3%
0.2%
2020
91.3%
3.9%
2.1%
1.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2021
90.2%
5.3%
1.9%
1.3%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2022
89.8%
6.2%
1.7%
1.2%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2023
88.5%
7.6%
1.7%
1.0%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
87.6%
8.9%
1.6%
0.8%
0.8%
0.2%
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 2014 at 93.1%. Overall it fell from 92.6% in 2009 to 87.6% in 2024, down 5.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Lucas County: its share of workers rose from 2.5% in 2009 to 8.9% in 2024, up 6.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.8% to 0.8% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Lucas County
😴Sleeping InThe 3rd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Ohio's 88 counties: 30.1% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Lucas County?
The bars show when commuters in Lucas 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 AMLucas County5.0%Ohio5.2%
5.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLucas County3.3%Ohio3.9%
3.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLucas County4.3%Ohio5.3%
4.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLucas County7.3%Ohio8.4%
7.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLucas County9.3%Ohio10.1%
9.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLucas County12.3%Ohio13.4%
12.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLucas County12.5%Ohio12.2%
12.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLucas County10.5%Ohio10.5%
10.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLucas County5.4%Ohio5.5%
5.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLucas County6.3%Ohio6.0%
6.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLucas County2.8%Ohio2.8%
2.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLucas County1.7%Ohio1.5%
1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLucas County8.5%Ohio7.7%
8.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLucas County10.8%Ohio7.8%
10.8%
Lucas CountyOhioSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Lucas County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 12.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.2% across Ohio. Early starts are less common than in Ohio: 12.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush looks much like Ohio's: 44.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (30.1%) 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 Lucas 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 Lucas 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 Lucas 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
Lucas County
Ohio
United States
2009
7:52 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:53 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:54 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:53 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:53 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:54 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:55 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:55 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:55 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:55 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:55 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:52 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:53 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:52 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:51 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:50 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Lucas County were on the road by 7:50 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:52 AM). Ohio followed the same path, with the typical start moving 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Lucas County now leave 12 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 Lucas County has moved 4 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Lucas County in the whole series.
How does Lucas County's commute time compare?
Metric
Lucas County
Ohio
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.3 min
21.1 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.9%
13.0%
15.0%
Walked
1.6%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
1.0%
3.2%
The average commute time in Lucas County is 18.3 minutes, shorter than the 21.1 minutes in Ohio.
0.8% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.0% in Ohio. 1.6% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Ohio.
Lucas County, OH Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Lucas County, OH is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 427,836 residents against a local median of 98,415. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Lucas County, OH an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 13% below the local median at 18.3 min against 21.0 min. Lucas County, OH has the 2nd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Lucas County, Ohio.
Is commuting expensive in Lucas County, Ohio?
Commuters here spend an estimated 153 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,735 at a typical national wage. That's 13% less than the typical Ohio commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Lucas County, Ohio?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Lucas County, Ohio. 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.
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).