Commuting in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:29 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Luzerne County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:29 PM
Commute Time Burden in Luzerne County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Luzerne County spend about 40 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 167 hours, about 7.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 10% less time on the road than the Pennsylvania average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 2.3 minutes.
Luzerne County holds about 2.5% of Pennsylvania's population but accounts for roughly 2.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Luzerne County would save about 67 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,074 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)
Luzerne County
20.1 min
40.1 min
167 hrs/yr
$5,184
1,252
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.
On average, it takes
20.1
minutes to get to work in
Luzerne County.
That's 10% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 10.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Luzerne County
Car:
84.6%
Worked at Home:
10.9%
Walked:
2.4%
Other:
0.9%
Public Transportation:
0.7%unusually low
Taxi:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually rare in Luzerne County: 5.2 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Public transit is unusually rare in Luzerne County: 5.4 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.7% vs 3.6%).
Commute Mode Trends in Luzerne County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Luzerne 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
Other
Public Transportation
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
92.9%
2.3%
3.0%
0.5%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2010
92.9%
2.1%
3.2%
0.5%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
92.5%
2.6%
3.2%
0.4%
1.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
92.1%
2.6%
3.4%
0.4%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
92.4%
2.6%
3.2%
0.4%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2014
92.0%
2.8%
3.2%
0.5%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2015
91.8%
3.1%
3.1%
0.5%
1.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2016
91.8%
3.1%
3.1%
0.5%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
92.1%
3.3%
2.8%
0.5%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
91.3%
3.9%
2.6%
0.7%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
91.5%
3.8%
2.7%
0.7%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
90.0%
5.3%
2.8%
0.7%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
88.4%
6.9%
2.7%
0.9%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
87.0%
8.2%
2.5%
1.2%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
86.1%
9.3%
2.5%
0.9%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
84.6%
10.9%
2.4%
0.9%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 92.9% in 2009 to 84.6% in 2024, down 8.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Luzerne County: its share of workers rose from 2.3% in 2009 to 10.9% in 2024, up 8.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.0% to 2.4% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2017 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Luzerne County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Luzerne County?
The bars show when commuters in Luzerne 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 AMLuzerne County5.5%Pennsylvania5.3%
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLuzerne County4.1%Pennsylvania3.9%
4.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLuzerne County5.3%Pennsylvania5.3%
5.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLuzerne County9.0%Pennsylvania8.9%
9.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLuzerne County9.8%Pennsylvania10.1%
9.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLuzerne County12.7%Pennsylvania13.8%
12.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLuzerne County11.6%Pennsylvania11.4%
11.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLuzerne County10.5%Pennsylvania10.9%
10.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLuzerne County5.2%Pennsylvania5.8%
5.2%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLuzerne County4.7%Pennsylvania6.1%
4.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLuzerne County2.3%Pennsylvania2.7%
2.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLuzerne County1.1%Pennsylvania1.4%
1.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLuzerne County9.9%Pennsylvania7.6%
9.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLuzerne County8.2%Pennsylvania6.9%
8.2%
Luzerne CountyPennsylvaniaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Luzerne County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 12.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Pennsylvania. Early starts are about as common as in Pennsylvania: 14.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush looks much like Pennsylvania's: 44.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.2%) 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 Luzerne 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 Luzerne 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 Luzerne 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.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Luzerne County
Pennsylvania
United States
2009
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:44 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:42 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Luzerne County were on the road by 7:39 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:45 AM). The shift is sharper than across Pennsylvania, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Luzerne County now leave 1 minute 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 Luzerne County has moved 5 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Luzerne County in the whole series.
How does Luzerne County's commute time compare?
Metric
Luzerne County
Pennsylvania
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.1 min
22.4 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
10.9%
15.6%
15.0%
Walked
2.4%
3.2%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
3.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Luzerne County is 20.1 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Pennsylvania.
0.7% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.6% in Pennsylvania. 2.4% commute by walking, lower than the 3.2% in Pennsylvania.
Luzerne County, PA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Luzerne County, PA is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 326,964 residents against a local median of 65,382. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Luzerne County, PA an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 9% below the local median at 20.1 min against 22.1 min. Luzerne County, PA has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania?
Commuters here spend an estimated 167 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,184 at a typical national wage. That's 10% less than the typical Pennsylvania commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. 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 common is public transit use in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.7% of commuters use it versus 3.6% in Pennsylvania, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in Pennsylvania have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Pennsylvania, the shortest average commutes are in Cameron County (11.4 min), Elk County (15.4 min), McKean County (15.9 min). The longest are in Pike County (32.5 min), Perry County (32.0 min), Carbon County (30.5 min).