Commuting in Providence County, Rhode Island: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 6:55 下午
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Providence County?
Map AI9/24/26, 6:55 下午
Commute Time Burden in Providence County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Providence County spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 182 hours, about 7.6 full days, spent commuting. That is about the same time on the road as the Rhode Island average of 21.9 minutes each way.
Providence County holds about 60.3% of Rhode Island's population but accounts for roughly 60.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Providence County would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,256 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)
Providence County
21.8 min
43.7 min
182 hrs/yr
$5,641
2,308
Rhode Island
21.9 min
43.9 min
183 hrs/yr
$5,668
2,085
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
21.8
minutes to get to work in
Providence County.
That's 3% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 12.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Providence County
Car:
79.5%
Worked at Home:
12.3%
Walked:
3.1%
Public Transportation:
2.3%
Other:
2.0%
Taxi:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Providence County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Providence 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
88.4%
2.9%
3.4%
3.6%
1.1%
0.1%
0.3%
0.1%
2010
88.1%
2.8%
3.8%
3.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2011
87.7%
2.9%
4.0%
3.7%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
0.1%
2012
87.2%
2.9%
4.1%
3.9%
1.3%
0.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2013
86.9%
3.0%
4.3%
3.8%
1.3%
0.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2014
87.0%
2.8%
4.3%
3.8%
1.4%
0.1%
0.6%
0.0%
2015
86.8%
3.0%
4.3%
4.0%
1.3%
0.1%
0.5%
0.0%
2016
86.9%
3.1%
4.4%
3.7%
1.3%
0.1%
0.5%
0.1%
2017
87.0%
3.4%
4.4%
3.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.4%
0.1%
2018
87.8%
3.5%
4.1%
3.3%
0.8%
0.2%
0.4%
0.1%
2019
88.0%
3.5%
3.9%
3.4%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
87.3%
4.9%
3.4%
2.8%
0.9%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2021
85.1%
7.4%
3.2%
2.6%
1.0%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2022
83.6%
9.0%
3.1%
2.4%
1.3%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
2023
81.3%
10.9%
3.0%
2.5%
1.6%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2024
79.5%
12.3%
3.1%
2.3%
2.0%
0.4%
0.4%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 88.4% in 2009 to 79.5% in 2024, down 8.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Providence County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 12.3% in 2024, up 9.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 8.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.6% to 2.3% of workers (down 1.3 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2020 release and has stayed ahead since.
Walking peaked at 4.4% in 2016 and has since fallen back to 3.1%.
Commute Start Times in Providence County
🌅Dawn PatrolThe highest share of pre-6 AM departures among Rhode Island's 5 counties: 12.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM.
😴Sleeping InThe highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among Rhode Island's 5 counties: 25.1% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
🧘Rush-Hour DodgersThe lowest share of rush-hour departures among Rhode Island's 5 counties: only 47.3% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
⏰Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among Rhode Island's 5 counties: the typical start is 3 minutes earlier than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Providence County?
The bars show when commuters in Providence 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 Rhode Island for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Providence CountyRhode IslandSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Providence County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.9% across Rhode Island. Early starts are more common than in Rhode Island: 12.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 11.1% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Rhode Island: 47.3% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.4% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.1%) 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 Providence 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 Providence 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 Providence County next to Rhode Island 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
Providence County
Rhode Island
United States
2009
7:47 AM
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:47 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:48 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:49 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:50 AM
7:49 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:51 AM
7:49 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:52 AM
7:50 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:50 AM
7:49 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:50 AM
7:48 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:49 AM
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:46 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:46 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:44 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:44 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:44 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:44 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Providence County were on the road by 7:44 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:47 AM). Across Rhode Island, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Providence County now leave 6 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 Providence County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Providence County's commute time compare?
Metric
Providence County
Rhode Island
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
21.8 min
21.9 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
12.3%
13.0%
15.0%
Walked
3.1%
2.8%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.3%
1.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Providence County is about the same as in Rhode Island.
2.3% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.7% in Rhode Island. 3.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.8% in Rhode Island.
Providence County, RI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Providence County, RI is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 663,899 residents against a local median of 84,657. Where Providence County, RI breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 20% below the local median of 15.3% at 12.3%.
The counties themselves spread 3.8% on work from home, so Providence County, RI sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Providence County, RI has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Providence County, Rhode Island.
Is living in Providence County, Rhode Island good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 182 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,641 at a typical national wage.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Providence County, Rhode Island?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Providence County, Rhode Island. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How do commute times compare across counties in Rhode Island?
Among counties in Rhode Island, the shortest average commutes are in Newport County (17.9 min), Providence County (21.8 min), Kent County (22.5 min). The longest are in Bristol County (23.2 min), Washington County (22.8 min), Kent County (22.5 min).