Elk County Commute Time Map & Patterns

Commute Time Burden in Elk County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Elk County spend about 31 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 128 hours, about 5.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 31% less time on the road than the Pennsylvania average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 7.0 minutes.

Elk County holds about 0.2% of Pennsylvania's population and accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Elk County would save about 51 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,591 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)
Elk County	15.4 min	30.8 min	128 hrs/yr	$3,977	372
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.

Commute Time Map: Pennsylvania Counties

Compare commute times among different counties

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On average, it takes 15.4 minutes to get to work in Elk County. That's 31% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Among the top 3 fastest counties in Pennsylvania

The most common departure window is 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 3.1% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Elk County

• Car: 92.8% unusually high
• Worked at Home: 3.1% unusually low
• Other: 1.7%
• Walked: 1.6%
• Public Transportation: 0.4% unusually low
• Motorcycle: 0.3% unusually high
• Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
• Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Elk County: 4.0 times more than the Pennsylvania average (0.3% vs 0.1%).

Driving is 23% more common in Elk County than the Pennsylvania average (92.8% vs 75.7%).

Public transit is unusually rare in Elk County: 9.2 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.4% vs 3.6%).

Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Elk County: 12.0 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.0% vs 0.2%).

Working from home is unusually rare in Elk County: 5.1 times less than the Pennsylvania average (3.1% vs 15.6%).

Biking is unusually rare in Elk County: 31.9 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.0% vs 0.4%).

Commute Mode Trends in Elk County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Elk 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.

• Car
• Worked at Home
• Other
• Walked
• Public Transportation
• Motorcycle
• Taxi
• Bicycle

Show commute mode data by year

Year	Car	Worked at Home	Other	Walked	Public Transportation	Motorcycle	Taxi	Bicycle
2009	93.5%	1.3%	0.9%	3.1%	0.9%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%
2010	94.0%	1.3%	0.6%	2.9%	0.8%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%
2011	93.3%	1.6%	0.6%	3.4%	1.0%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%
2012	93.3%	1.8%	0.5%	3.5%	0.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2013	92.6%	2.8%	0.3%	3.6%	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2014	91.8%	3.9%	0.2%	3.4%	0.6%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2015	92.0%	4.0%	0.3%	2.9%	0.7%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2016	92.6%	3.7%	0.1%	2.7%	0.6%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2017	92.8%	3.7%	0.1%	2.4%	0.7%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	93.9%	3.2%	0.1%	1.9%	0.6%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2019	94.1%	2.4%	0.1%	2.6%	0.4%	0.1%	0.0%	0.3%
2020	93.5%	2.2%	0.6%	2.9%	0.3%	0.1%	0.0%	0.3%
2021	92.6%	2.6%	0.9%	2.8%	0.7%	0.1%	0.0%	0.3%
2022	93.1%	2.6%	0.9%	2.7%	0.4%	0.1%	0.0%	0.3%
2023	91.9%	2.8%	1.7%	2.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.0%	0.3%
2024	92.8%	3.1%	1.7%	1.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.0%	0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2019 at 94.1% and lowest in 2014 at 91.8%. Overall it fell from 93.5% in 2009 to 92.8% in 2024, down 0.7 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Elk County: its share of workers rose from 1.3% in 2009 to 3.1% in 2024, up 1.8 percentage points.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.1% to 1.6% of workers (down 1.5 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Elk County

• ⏰ Earlier AlarmsThe 3rd-biggest shift to earlier mornings among Pennsylvania's 67 counties: the typical start is 17 minutes earlier than in 2009.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Elk County?

The bars show when commuters in Elk 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 Pennsylvania for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM	12:00-4:59 AM Elk County5.0% Pennsylvania5.3%	5.0%
5:00-5:29 AM	5:00-5:29 AM Elk County4.7% Pennsylvania3.9%	4.7%
5:30-5:59 AM	5:30-5:59 AM Elk County7.1% Pennsylvania5.3%	7.1%
6:00-6:29 AM	6:00-6:29 AM Elk County10.2% Pennsylvania8.9%	10.2%
6:30-6:59 AM	6:30-6:59 AM Elk County16.0% Pennsylvania10.1%	16.0%
7:00-7:29 AM	7:00-7:29 AM Elk County13.9% Pennsylvania13.8%	13.9%
7:30-7:59 AM	7:30-7:59 AM Elk County10.9% Pennsylvania11.4%	10.9%
8:00-8:29 AM	8:00-8:29 AM Elk County7.1% Pennsylvania10.9%	7.1%
8:30-8:59 AM	8:30-8:59 AM Elk County2.4% Pennsylvania5.8%	2.4%
9:00-9:59 AM	9:00-9:59 AM Elk County3.0% Pennsylvania6.1%	3.0%
10:00-10:59 AM	10:00-10:59 AM Elk County1.8% Pennsylvania2.7%	1.8%
11:00-11:59 AM	11:00-11:59 AM Elk County1.3% Pennsylvania1.4%	1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM	12:00-3:59 PM Elk County8.7% Pennsylvania7.6%	8.7%
4:00-11:59 PM	4:00-11:59 PM Elk County7.8% Pennsylvania6.9%	7.8%

Elk County Pennsylvania Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Elk County is 6:30-6:59 AM, when 16.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.1% across Pennsylvania. Early starts are more common than in Pennsylvania: 16.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush looks much like Pennsylvania's: 47.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.7%) 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 Elk 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 Elk 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 Elk County 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.

• Elk County
• Pennsylvania
• United States

Show typical departure times by year

Year	Elk County	Pennsylvania	United States
2009	7:32 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:33 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:29 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:28 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:29 AM	7:39 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:27 AM	7:38 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:25 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:23 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:19 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:15 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:14 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:16 AM	7:36 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:18 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:17 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:16 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:15 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Elk County were on the road by 7:15 AM, 17 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:32 AM). The shift is sharper than across Pennsylvania, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Elk County now leave 23 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).

How does Elk County's commute time compare?

Metric	Elk County	Pennsylvania	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	15.4 min	22.4 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	06:30 AM – 06:59 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	3.1%	15.6%	15.0%
Walked	1.6%	3.2%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.4%	3.6%	3.2%

The average commute time in Elk County is 15.4 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Pennsylvania.

0.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.6% in Pennsylvania. 1.6% commute by walking, lower than the 3.2% in Pennsylvania.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau