Commuting in Marion County, Oregon: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How much time do drivers in Marion County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:03 PM
Commute Time Burden in Marion County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Marion County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 169 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% more time on the road than the Oregon average of 20.1 minutes each way, a difference of 0.2 minutes.
Marion County holds about 8.2% of Oregon's population but accounts for roughly 8.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Marion County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,101 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)
Marion County
20.3 min
40.7 min
169 hrs/yr
$5,253
1,144
Oregon
20.1 min
40.3 min
168 hrs/yr
$5,203
967
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
20.3
minutes to get to work in
Marion County.
That's 9% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 74% of counties in Oregon
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 12.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Marion County
Car:
81.6%
Worked at Home:
12.7%
Walked:
2.5%
Public Transportation:
1.3%
Other:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.6%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Marion County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Marion 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
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
88.3%
4.8%
2.9%
2.0%
0.7%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
2010
87.7%
5.0%
3.2%
1.9%
0.6%
1.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2011
88.0%
4.8%
3.5%
1.6%
0.7%
1.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2012
87.6%
4.6%
3.8%
1.7%
0.8%
1.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2013
87.8%
4.4%
4.0%
1.5%
0.7%
1.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2014
88.0%
4.2%
4.0%
1.6%
0.7%
1.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2015
88.2%
4.1%
3.9%
1.7%
0.6%
1.0%
0.4%
0.1%
2016
88.3%
4.4%
3.6%
1.8%
0.6%
0.9%
0.4%
0.1%
2017
88.7%
4.6%
3.0%
1.9%
0.7%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
2018
88.6%
4.7%
2.9%
1.8%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
88.6%
5.1%
2.7%
1.7%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
87.0%
6.6%
2.7%
1.6%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
84.9%
9.0%
2.6%
1.5%
0.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
2022
83.7%
10.5%
2.5%
1.3%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
82.7%
11.7%
2.3%
1.3%
0.9%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
2024
81.6%
12.7%
2.5%
1.3%
1.1%
0.6%
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 2017 at 88.7%. Overall it fell from 88.3% in 2009 to 81.6% in 2024, down 6.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Marion County: its share of workers rose from 4.8% in 2009 to 12.7% in 2024, up 7.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 2.0% to 1.3% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Walking peaked at 4.0% in 2013 and has since fallen back to 2.5%.
Commute Start Times in Marion County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Marion County?
The bars show when commuters in Marion 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 Oregon for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMMarion County7.1%Oregon5.9%
7.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMarion County4.8%Oregon3.8%
4.8%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMarion County5.4%Oregon5.0%
5.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMarion County9.4%Oregon7.6%
9.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMarion County10.8%Oregon9.7%
10.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMarion County14.4%Oregon13.0%
14.4%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMarion County13.0%Oregon13.0%
13.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMarion County8.9%Oregon10.6%
8.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMarion County3.8%Oregon5.8%
3.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMarion County5.7%Oregon7.2%
5.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMarion County2.9%Oregon3.7%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMarion County1.8%Oregon1.8%
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMarion County6.5%Oregon7.1%
6.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMarion County5.4%Oregon5.7%
5.4%
Marion CountyOregonSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Marion County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.0% across Oregon. Early starts are more common than in Oregon: 17.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Oregon's: 47.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.3% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.3%) 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 Marion 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 Marion 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 Marion County next to Oregon 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
Marion County
Oregon
United States
2009
7:28 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:28 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:27 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:28 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:28 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:28 AM
7:42 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:28 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:28 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:27 AM
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:25 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:25 AM
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:24 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:24 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:24 AM
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:26 AM
7:41 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:26 AM
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Marion County were on the road by 7:26 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:28 AM). That goes against the trend across Oregon, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Marion County now leave 12 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Marion County's commute time compare?
Metric
Marion County
Oregon
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.3 min
20.1 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
12.7%
19.0%
15.0%
Walked
2.5%
3.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.3%
2.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Marion County is about the same as in Oregon.
1.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.2% in Oregon. 2.5% commute by walking, lower than the 3.3% in Oregon.
Marion County, OR Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Marion County, OR is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 349,246 residents against a local median of 130,588. Where Marion County, OR breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 27% below the local median of 17.5% at 12.7%.
The counties themselves spread 15.0% on work from home, so Marion County, OR sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Marion County, OR has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Marion County, Oregon.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Marion County, Oregon?
Commuters here spend an estimated 169 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,253 at a typical national wage. That's 1% more than the typical Oregon commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Marion County, Oregon?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Marion County, Oregon. 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.
How do commute times compare across counties in Oregon?
Among counties in Oregon, the shortest average commutes are in Lake County (7.7 min), Harney County (8.6 min), Baker County (8.9 min). The longest are in Columbia County (31.7 min), Clackamas County (23.9 min), Polk County (22.2 min).