State College Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in State College, 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 State College: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in State College spend about 26 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 109 hours, about 4.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 41% less time on the road than the Pennsylvania average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 9.3 minutes.
State College holds about 0.3% of Pennsylvania's population but accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in State College would save about 44 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,354 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State College | 13.1 min | 26.2 min | 109 hrs/yr | $3,385 | 2,193 |
| 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.
State College Commute Map
On average, it takes 13.1 minutes to get to work in State College. That's 42% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM, followed by 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by walking. About 15.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in State College
- Car: 42.9% unusually low
- Walked: 30.9% unusually high
- Worked at Home: 15.3%
- Public Transportation: 6.4%
- Bicycle: 3.3% unusually high
- Taxi: 0.8% unusually high
- Other: 0.4%
- Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in State College, versus 0.1% in Pennsylvania.
Driving is 43% less common in State College than the Pennsylvania average (42.9% vs 75.7%).
Walking is unusually common in State College: 9.5 times more than the Pennsylvania average (30.9% vs 3.2%).
Taking a taxi is unusually common in State College: 3.0 times more than the Pennsylvania average (0.8% vs 0.2%).
Biking is unusually common in State College: 7.5 times more than the Pennsylvania average (3.3% vs 0.4%).
State College stands out for active commuting: 34.3% of workers walk or bike to work, 9.3 times the Pennsylvania average of 3.7%.
Commute Mode Trends in State College, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in State College 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 | Walked | Worked at Home | Public Transportation | Bicycle | Taxi | Other | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 45.4% | 41.3% | 3.1% | 5.8% | 3.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| 2010 | 46.6% | 39.4% | 4.0% | 6.1% | 3.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| 2011 | 47.2% | 38.3% | 3.8% | 7.2% | 2.5% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| 2012 | 49.2% | 36.1% | 3.0% | 6.6% | 4.2% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2013 | 47.8% | 35.8% | 2.7% | 8.0% | 5.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2014 | 46.9% | 35.8% | 2.7% | 8.4% | 5.9% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 43.8% | 36.5% | 2.6% | 10.2% | 6.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 2016 | 42.2% | 35.6% | 3.4% | 10.4% | 7.5% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 41.4% | 35.5% | 3.3% | 12.1% | 7.0% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 43.5% | 32.8% | 3.4% | 12.0% | 7.2% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 42.2% | 33.7% | 4.2% | 13.6% | 5.3% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 47.0% | 27.8% | 6.4% | 12.2% | 5.7% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 46.9% | 25.8% | 9.6% | 11.8% | 4.7% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 48.3% | 25.4% | 12.6% | 9.5% | 3.2% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 47.0% | 26.8% | 13.8% | 8.2% | 3.3% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 42.9% | 30.9% | 15.3% | 6.4% | 3.3% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2012 at 49.2% and lowest in 2017 at 41.4%. Overall it fell from 45.4% in 2009 to 42.9% in 2024, down 2.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in State College: its share of workers rose from 3.1% in 2009 to 15.3% in 2024, up 12.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 41.3% to 30.9% of workers (down 10.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook public transit to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Public transit peaked at 13.6% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 6.4%.
Commute Start Times in State College
What Time Do People Leave for Work in State College?
The bars show when commuters in State College 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
State College2.5%
Pennsylvania5.3%
|
2.5% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
State College1.2%
Pennsylvania3.9%
|
1.2% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
State College1.3%
Pennsylvania5.3%
|
1.3% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
State College2.0%
Pennsylvania8.9%
|
2.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
State College4.0%
Pennsylvania10.1%
|
4.0% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
State College8.4%
Pennsylvania13.8%
|
8.4% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
State College8.6%
Pennsylvania11.4%
|
8.6% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
State College10.4%
Pennsylvania10.9%
|
10.4% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
State College7.3%
Pennsylvania5.8%
|
7.3% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
State College12.8%
Pennsylvania6.1%
|
12.8% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
State College7.4%
Pennsylvania2.7%
|
7.4% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
State College5.3%
Pennsylvania1.4%
|
5.3% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
State College12.3%
Pennsylvania7.6%
|
12.3% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
State College16.5%
Pennsylvania6.9%
|
16.5% |
State College Pennsylvania Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in State College is 4:00-11:59 PM, when 16.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 6.9% across Pennsylvania. Early starts are less common than in Pennsylvania: 5.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Pennsylvania: 31.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.2% there. About 1 in 2 commuters (54.3%) 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 State College, 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 State College 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 State College 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 | State College | Pennsylvania | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 9:38 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 9:32 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 9:26 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 9:19 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 9:05 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:57 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:48 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 8:47 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:50 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:45 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:50 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:49 AM | 7:36 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:49 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:46 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 9:13 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 9:20 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in State College were on the road by 9:20 AM, 18 minutes earlier than in 2009 (9:38 AM). The shift is sharper than across Pennsylvania, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in State College now leave 102 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 State College has moved 31 minutes later.
How does State College's commute time compare?
| Metric | State College | Pennsylvania | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 13.1 min | 22.4 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM |
| Secondary Departure Window | 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 15.3% | 15.6% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 30.9% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 6.4% | 3.6% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in State College is 13.1 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Pennsylvania.
6.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 3.6% in Pennsylvania. 30.9% commute by walking, higher than the 3.2% in Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in State College, Pennsylvania.
Is living in State College, Pennsylvania good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 109 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,385 at a typical national wage. That's 41% less than the typical Pennsylvania commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in State College, Pennsylvania?
Traffic peaks between 04:00 PM – 11:59 PM in State College, Pennsylvania. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.