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Monroe County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Monroe County, Pennsylvania: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 8:13 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Monroe County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:13 PM

Commute Time Burden in Monroe County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Monroe County spend about 57 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 239 hours, about 10.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 28% more time on the road than the Pennsylvania average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 6.3 minutes.

Monroe County holds about 1.3% of Pennsylvania's population but accounts for roughly 1.7% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Monroe County would save about 96 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,965 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)
Monroe County 28.7 min 57.4 min 239 hrs/yr $7,412 1,300
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

Fastest commutes among counties in Pennsylvania
  1. Cameron County (11.4 min)
  2. Elk County (15.4 min)
  3. McKean County (15.9 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Pennsylvania
  1. Pike County (32.5 min)
  2. Perry County (32.0 min)
  3. Carbon County (30.5 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Monroe County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 28.7 minutes to get to work in Monroe County. That's 28% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Among the 5 slowest counties in Pennsylvania

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 11.4% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Monroe County

  • Car: 82.3%
  • Worked at Home: 11.4%
  • Public Transportation: 3.0%
  • Walked: 1.4%
  • Other: 1.2%
  • Taxi: 0.5%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1%
  • Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Biking is unusually rare in Monroe County: 6.3 times less than the Pennsylvania average (0.1% vs 0.4%).

Commute Mode Trends in Monroe County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Monroe 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 Public Transportation Walked Other Taxi Motorcycle Bicycle
2009 87.9% 3.6% 5.0% 2.8% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1%
2010 88.3% 3.4% 5.0% 2.5% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2%
2011 88.4% 3.5% 5.0% 2.3% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2%
2012 88.5% 3.9% 4.7% 2.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1%
2013 88.6% 4.1% 4.4% 2.2% 0.5% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
2014 88.2% 4.4% 4.6% 2.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
2015 87.7% 5.1% 4.3% 2.2% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
2016 87.4% 5.2% 4.5% 2.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
2017 88.2% 4.8% 4.1% 2.1% 0.7% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
2018 87.9% 4.7% 4.3% 2.1% 0.7% 0.3% 0.1% 0.0%
2019 88.2% 4.7% 4.4% 1.6% 0.7% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 88.2% 5.6% 3.2% 1.5% 1.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 87.3% 6.9% 3.0% 1.6% 0.9% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 84.6% 9.2% 3.4% 1.5% 1.0% 0.3% 0.1% 0.0%
2023 84.1% 9.9% 3.2% 1.3% 1.0% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1%
2024 82.3% 11.4% 3.0% 1.4% 1.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 88.6%. Overall it fell from 87.9% in 2009 to 82.3% in 2024, down 5.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Monroe County: its share of workers rose from 3.6% in 2009 to 11.4% in 2024, up 7.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 5.0% to 3.0% of workers (down 2.0 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2015 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in Monroe County

  • Hitting SnoozeThe biggest shift to later mornings among Pennsylvania's 67 counties: the typical start is 14 minutes later than in 2009.
  • Sleeping InThe 3rd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Pennsylvania's 67 counties: 29.0% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
  • Rush-Hour DodgersThe 3rd-lowest share of rush-hour departures among Pennsylvania's 67 counties: only 40.0% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Monroe County?

The bars show when commuters in Monroe 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
7.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
8.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
7.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
11.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
10.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
10.3%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
4.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
3.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
8.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
10.7%

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

The busiest time to head out in Monroe County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 11.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Pennsylvania. Early starts are more common than in Pennsylvania: 18.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Pennsylvania: 40.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.0%) 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 Monroe 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 Monroe 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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Pennsylvania United States
2009 7:26 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:26 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:27 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:30 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:36 AM 7:39 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:35 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:36 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:35 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:33 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:32 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:33 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:38 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:36 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:36 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:37 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:40 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Monroe County were on the road by 7:40 AM, 14 minutes later than in 2009 (7:26 AM). That goes against the trend across Pennsylvania, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Monroe County now leave 2 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 Monroe County has moved 8 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Monroe County in the whole series.

How does Monroe County's commute time compare?

Metric Monroe County Pennsylvania US Average
Avg. Commute Time 28.7 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 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 11.4% 15.6% 15.0%
Walked 1.4% 3.2% 2.4%
Public Transit 3.0% 3.6% 3.2%

The average commute time in Monroe County is 28.7 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in Pennsylvania.

3.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.6% in Pennsylvania. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 3.2% in Pennsylvania.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Monroe County, PA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Monroe County, PA is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 167,515 residents against a local median of 110,807. Monroe County, PA sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.

The largest of those small differences is work from home, 9% below the local median at 11.4% against 12.5%. Monroe County, PA has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Monroe County, PA 167,515 28.7 min #3/6 11.4% #4/6 7:40 AM #5/6
Northampton County, PA 318,250 21.9 min 14.4% 7:33 AM
Carbon County, PA 65,382 30.5 min 10.1% 7:16 AM
Warren County, NJ 110,807 30.8 min 12.5% 7:25 AM
Pike County, PA 60,618 32.5 min 14.7% 7:28 AM
Lackawanna County, PA 216,127 17.9 min 10.0% 7:41 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Monroe County, Pennsylvania?

Commuters here spend an estimated 239 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,412 at a typical national wage. That's 28% more than the typical Pennsylvania commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Monroe County, Pennsylvania?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM also sees a secondary bump.

How do commute times compare across counties in Pennsylvania?

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).