Commuting in Jefferson County, Washington: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:06 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Jefferson County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:06 PM
Commute Time Burden in Jefferson County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Jefferson County spend about 33 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 137 hours, about 5.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 26% less time on the road than the Washington average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 5.9 minutes.
Jefferson County holds about 0.4% of Washington's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Jefferson County would save about 55 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,703 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)
Jefferson County
16.5 min
33.0 min
137 hrs/yr
$4,257
1,208
Washington
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,785
1,525
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
16.5
minutes to get to work in
Jefferson County.
That's 26% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 23.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Jefferson County
Car:
69.0%
Worked at Home:
23.7%
Walked:
4.6%
Other:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.7%
Public Transportation:
0.5%unusually low
Motorcycle:
0.4%
Taxi:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Jefferson County: 6.4 times less than the Washington average (0.5% vs 3.4%).
Commute Mode Trends in Jefferson County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Jefferson 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
79.7%
9.3%
5.5%
1.6%
1.8%
1.4%
0.6%
0.0%
2010
79.4%
10.2%
4.1%
2.2%
2.1%
1.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2011
80.6%
10.7%
3.4%
1.6%
2.3%
1.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2012
80.1%
10.8%
3.5%
1.7%
1.8%
1.4%
0.4%
0.4%
2013
82.2%
9.2%
3.9%
1.3%
1.3%
1.4%
0.4%
0.3%
2014
81.6%
7.9%
5.0%
1.6%
1.3%
1.9%
0.4%
0.3%
2015
81.0%
8.7%
5.9%
1.0%
1.0%
1.7%
0.3%
0.2%
2016
81.8%
8.1%
4.8%
2.0%
1.2%
1.8%
0.1%
0.3%
2017
82.2%
8.1%
4.6%
2.0%
1.1%
1.9%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
81.6%
8.6%
5.4%
1.8%
0.7%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
78.9%
10.9%
5.9%
1.5%
0.9%
1.8%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
77.7%
12.1%
4.9%
2.2%
1.2%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
74.0%
17.8%
4.9%
0.7%
0.9%
1.6%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
73.0%
18.7%
4.3%
0.4%
1.3%
2.0%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
70.7%
21.5%
4.4%
0.5%
0.9%
1.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2024
69.0%
23.7%
4.6%
0.8%
0.7%
0.5%
0.4%
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 82.2%. Overall it fell from 79.7% in 2009 to 69.0% in 2024, down 10.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Jefferson County: its share of workers rose from 9.3% in 2009 to 23.7% in 2024, up 14.4 percentage points. Most of that increase, 12.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 1.8% to 0.7% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Jefferson County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Jefferson County?
The bars show when commuters in Jefferson 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 Washington for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMJefferson County5.4%Washington7.1%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMJefferson County1.5%Washington4.7%
1.5%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMJefferson County5.7%Washington5.8%
5.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMJefferson County6.7%Washington8.6%
6.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMJefferson County8.5%Washington9.5%
8.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMJefferson County10.8%Washington12.4%
10.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMJefferson County19.4%Washington11.0%
19.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMJefferson County10.4%Washington10.2%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMJefferson County8.5%Washington5.5%
8.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMJefferson County9.9%Washington7.5%
9.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMJefferson County4.3%Washington3.5%
4.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMJefferson County1.7%Washington1.7%
1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMJefferson County3.9%Washington6.9%
3.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMJefferson County3.2%Washington5.6%
3.2%
Jefferson CountyWashingtonSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Jefferson County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 19.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.0% across Washington. Early starts are less common than in Washington: 12.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Washington: 49.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.0%) 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County next to Washington 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
Jefferson County
Washington
United States
2009
7:53 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:50 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:47 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:50 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:58 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:57 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:50 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:51 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:46 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:45 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:49 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:51 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:52 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:55 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:50 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:48 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Jefferson County were on the road by 7:48 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:53 AM). That goes against the trend across Washington, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Jefferson County now leave 10 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 Jefferson County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Jefferson County's commute time compare?
Metric
Jefferson County
Washington
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.5 min
22.4 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 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
23.7%
19.8%
15.0%
Walked
4.6%
3.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
3.4%
3.2%
The average commute time in Jefferson County is 16.5 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Washington.
0.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.4% in Washington. 4.6% commute by walking, higher than the 3.0% in Washington.
Jefferson County, WA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Jefferson County, WA is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 33,577 residents against a local median of 77,052. The measure that sets Jefferson County, WA apart most is work from home: 23.7%, 64% above the local median of 14.5%.
The counties themselves spread 12.4% on work from home, so Jefferson County, WA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Jefferson County, WA has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Jefferson County, Washington.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Jefferson County, Washington?
Commuters here spend an estimated 137 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,257 at a typical national wage. That's 26% less than the typical Washington commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Jefferson County, Washington?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Jefferson County, Washington. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Jefferson County, Washington?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.5% of commuters use it versus 3.4% in Washington, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in Washington have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Washington, the shortest average commutes are in Walla Walla County (12.2 min), San Juan County (12.3 min), Asotin County (13.2 min). The longest are in Mason County (32.0 min), Garfield County (28.4 min), Snohomish County (28.3 min).