Shaker Heights Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Shaker Heights, Ohio: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Shaker Heights: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Shaker Heights spend about 43 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 180 hours, about 7.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% more time on the road than the Ohio average of 21.1 minutes each way, a difference of 0.5 minutes.
Shaker Heights holds about 0.2% of Ohio's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Shaker Heights would save about 72 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,233 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaker Heights | 21.6 min | 43.2 min | 180 hrs/yr | $5,582 | 2,232 |
| 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.
Shaker Heights Commute Map
On average, it takes 21.6 minutes to get to work in Shaker Heights. That's 4% shorter 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 23.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Shaker Heights
- Car: 70.2%
- Worked at Home: 23.4%
- Public Transportation: 3.6% unusually high
- Walked: 1.3%
- Other: 1.0%
- Bicycle: 0.5%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
- Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Shaker Heights, versus 0.1% in Ohio.
Public transit is unusually common in Shaker Heights: 3.6 times more than the Ohio average (3.6% vs 1.0%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Shaker Heights, versus 0.2% in Ohio.
Commute Mode Trends in Shaker Heights, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Shaker Heights 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 | 82.9% | 5.6% | 7.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 83.4% | 5.8% | 7.7% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 83.9% | 6.0% | 6.7% | 2.4% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 84.4% | 6.3% | 6.2% | 1.8% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 83.7% | 6.6% | 5.8% | 2.0% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 83.6% | 7.0% | 5.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 84.7% | 6.2% | 5.5% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 83.7% | 7.9% | 5.0% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 82.5% | 8.2% | 5.8% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 84.3% | 8.1% | 5.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 83.2% | 8.3% | 5.6% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 80.0% | 11.0% | 6.7% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 78.9% | 13.2% | 5.7% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 76.7% | 16.6% | 4.7% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 74.9% | 18.0% | 4.3% | 1.3% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 70.2% | 23.4% | 3.6% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2015 at 84.7%. Overall it fell from 82.9% in 2009 to 70.2% in 2024, down 12.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Shaker Heights: its share of workers rose from 5.6% in 2009 to 23.4% in 2024, up 17.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 15.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 7.7% to 3.6% of workers (down 4.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2012 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Shaker Heights
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Shaker Heights?
The bars show when commuters in Shaker Heights 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 AM
Shaker Heights3.7%
Ohio5.2%
|
3.7% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Shaker Heights1.2%
Ohio3.9%
|
1.2% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Shaker Heights1.3%
Ohio5.3%
|
1.3% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Shaker Heights6.2%
Ohio8.4%
|
6.2% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Shaker Heights6.2%
Ohio10.1%
|
6.2% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Shaker Heights10.9%
Ohio13.4%
|
10.9% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Shaker Heights13.5%
Ohio12.2%
|
13.5% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Shaker Heights18.2%
Ohio10.5%
|
18.2% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Shaker Heights10.5%
Ohio5.5%
|
10.5% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Shaker Heights12.3%
Ohio6.0%
|
12.3% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Shaker Heights5.7%
Ohio2.8%
|
5.7% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Shaker Heights0.8%
Ohio1.5%
|
0.8% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Shaker Heights3.6%
Ohio7.7%
|
3.6% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Shaker Heights5.7%
Ohio7.8%
|
5.7% |
Shaker Heights Ohio Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Shaker Heights is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 18.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.5% across Ohio. Early starts are less common than in Ohio: 6.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Ohio: 48.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (28.2%) 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 Shaker Heights, 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 Shaker Heights 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 Shaker Heights 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Shaker Heights | Ohio | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:03 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:03 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:04 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 8:03 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:03 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:05 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:02 AM | 7:42 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:59 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:00 AM | 7:41 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:00 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:57 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:01 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:03 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:06 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:05 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:11 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Shaker Heights were on the road by 8:11 AM, 9 minutes later than in 2009 (8:03 AM). That goes against the trend across Ohio, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Shaker Heights now leave 33 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 Shaker Heights has moved 15 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Shaker Heights in the whole series.
How does Shaker Heights's commute time compare?
| Metric | Shaker Heights | Ohio | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 21.6 min | 21.1 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 08:00 AM – 08:29 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 | 23.4% | 13.0% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 1.3% | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 3.6% | 1.0% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Shaker Heights is 21.6 minutes, longer than the 21.1 minutes in Ohio.
3.6% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.0% in Ohio. 1.3% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Ohio.
Shaker Heights, OH Commute Compared With Nearby Cities
How Shaker Heights, OH compares with the 1 cities closest to it.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaker Heights, OH | 28,870 | 21.6 min #2/2 | 23.4% #1/2 | 8:11 AM #1/2 |
| Cleveland Heights, OH | 44,352 | 21.2 min | 18.3% | 8:15 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Shaker Heights, Ohio?
Commuters here spend an estimated 180 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,582 at a typical national wage. That's 2% more than the typical Ohio commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Shaker Heights, Ohio?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Shaker Heights, 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.
Do people use public transit in Shaker Heights, Ohio?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 3.6% of commuters use it versus 1.0% in Ohio, making it a realistic option for many workers.
How much money can remote workers save in Shaker Heights, Ohio?
About 23.4% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Shaker Heights would save about 72 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,233 at the same national wage assumption used above.