Bethlehem Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Bethlehem: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Bethlehem spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 154 hours, about 6.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 17% less time on the road than the Pennsylvania average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 3.9 minutes.
Bethlehem holds about 0.6% of Pennsylvania's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Bethlehem would save about 62 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,910 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | 18.5 min | 37.0 min | 154 hrs/yr | $4,775 | 1,891 |
| Pennsylvania | 22.4 min | 44.7 min | 186 hrs/yr | $5,779 | 1,152 |
| 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.
Bethlehem Commute Map
On average, it takes 18.5 minutes to get to work in Bethlehem. That's 18% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 17.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Bethlehem
- Car: 74.0%
- Worked at Home: 17.2%
- Walked: 3.4%
- Public Transportation: 1.9%
- Other: 1.6%
- Taxi: 0.9% unusually high
- Bicycle: 0.9%
- Motorcycle: 0.1%
Taking a taxi is unusually common in Bethlehem: 3.8 times more than the Pennsylvania average (0.9% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Bethlehem, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Bethlehem 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 | Walked | Public Transportation | Other | Taxi | Bicycle | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 88.7% | 2.5% | 4.8% | 2.9% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| 2010 | 88.5% | 2.6% | 5.0% | 2.8% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| 2011 | 88.2% | 3.1% | 5.2% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| 2012 | 88.7% | 3.4% | 5.0% | 2.1% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 2013 | 87.7% | 3.5% | 4.6% | 3.1% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 86.1% | 3.7% | 4.6% | 3.6% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 85.0% | 3.4% | 5.0% | 3.8% | 2.0% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2016 | 84.3% | 2.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 84.9% | 3.1% | 5.1% | 3.9% | 2.4% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 84.6% | 3.6% | 4.9% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 85.4% | 3.7% | 4.6% | 2.7% | 3.0% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 83.3% | 6.5% | 4.2% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 80.8% | 9.9% | 3.8% | 2.3% | 2.7% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 77.6% | 12.5% | 3.7% | 2.4% | 3.0% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2023 | 76.9% | 14.2% | 3.2% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.2% |
| 2024 | 74.0% | 17.2% | 3.4% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 88.7% in 2009 to 74.0% in 2024, down 14.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Bethlehem: its share of workers rose from 2.5% in 2009 to 17.2% in 2024, up 14.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 13.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.8% to 3.4% of workers (down 1.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Public transit peaked at 4.3% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 1.9%.
Commute Start Times in Bethlehem
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Bethlehem?
The bars show when commuters in Bethlehem 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 Pennsylvania for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
Bethlehem5.2%
Pennsylvania5.3%
|
5.2% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Bethlehem2.9%
Pennsylvania3.9%
|
2.9% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Bethlehem3.8%
Pennsylvania5.3%
|
3.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Bethlehem6.1%
Pennsylvania8.9%
|
6.1% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Bethlehem8.8%
Pennsylvania10.1%
|
8.8% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Bethlehem13.3%
Pennsylvania13.8%
|
13.3% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Bethlehem14.4%
Pennsylvania11.4%
|
14.4% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Bethlehem9.3%
Pennsylvania10.9%
|
9.3% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Bethlehem6.7%
Pennsylvania5.8%
|
6.7% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Bethlehem6.6%
Pennsylvania6.1%
|
6.6% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Bethlehem3.4%
Pennsylvania2.7%
|
3.4% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Bethlehem1.5%
Pennsylvania1.4%
|
1.5% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Bethlehem8.6%
Pennsylvania7.6%
|
8.6% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Bethlehem9.4%
Pennsylvania6.9%
|
9.4% |
Bethlehem Pennsylvania Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Bethlehem is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.4% across Pennsylvania. Early starts are less common than in Pennsylvania: 12.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush looks much like Pennsylvania's: 45.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.4%) 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 Bethlehem, 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 Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem next to Pennsylvania 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 | Bethlehem | Pennsylvania | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:48 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:50 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:52 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:55 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:00 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:01 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:58 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:56 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:54 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:50 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:48 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:49 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:47 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:45 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:50 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:51 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Bethlehem were on the road by 7:51 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:48 AM). That goes against the trend across Pennsylvania, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Bethlehem now leave 13 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 Bethlehem has moved 2 minutes later.
How does Bethlehem's commute time compare?
| Metric | Bethlehem | Pennsylvania | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 18.5 min | 22.4 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 | 17.2% | 15.6% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 3.4% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Bethlehem is 18.5 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Pennsylvania.
1.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.6% in Pennsylvania. 3.4% commute by walking, higher than the 3.2% in Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Is living in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 154 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,775 at a typical national wage. That's 17% less than the typical Pennsylvania commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 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.