Seattle Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 12:26 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in Seattle?

Map AI 9/24/26, 12:26 PM

Commute Time Burden in Seattle: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Seattle spend about 47 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 195 hours, about 8.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 5% more time on the road than the Washington average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 1.1 minutes.

Seattle holds about 9.6% of Washington's population but accounts for roughly 10.0% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Seattle would save about 78 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,424 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)
Seattle	23.5 min	46.9 min	195 hrs/yr	$6,060	5,249
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.

Seattle Commute Map

On average, it takes 23.5 minutes to get to work in Seattle. That's 5% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 09:00 AM – 09:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 34.8% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Seattle

Driving is 43% less common in Seattle than the Washington average (41.3% vs 71.9%).

Public transit is unusually common in Seattle: 3.5 times more than the Washington average (12.0% vs 3.4%).

Biking is unusually common in Seattle: 4.0 times more than the Washington average (2.5% vs 0.6%).

Commute Mode Trends in Seattle, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Seattle 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	Bicycle	Other	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	64.0%	5.5%	18.4%	8.3%	2.6%	0.6%	0.1%	0.6%
2010	62.7%	5.6%	18.8%	8.8%	2.8%	0.5%	0.1%	0.5%
2011	62.4%	5.9%	18.5%	9.0%	3.0%	0.6%	0.1%	0.5%
2012	61.2%	6.3%	18.6%	9.2%	3.4%	0.7%	0.1%	0.6%
2013	60.2%	6.5%	19.3%	9.1%	3.6%	0.7%	0.1%	0.5%
2014	59.3%	6.7%	19.6%	9.4%	3.7%	0.7%	0.1%	0.5%
2015	58.3%	6.8%	20.1%	9.7%	3.8%	0.7%	0.1%	0.5%
2016	56.8%	7.0%	20.8%	10.2%	3.8%	0.8%	0.2%	0.5%
2017	56.3%	7.0%	21.5%	10.3%	3.5%	0.7%	0.3%	0.4%
2018	54.7%	7.2%	21.9%	11.1%	3.6%	0.8%	0.4%	0.4%
2019	53.5%	7.4%	22.7%	11.4%	3.5%	0.8%	0.4%	0.4%
2020	49.9%	14.0%	20.7%	10.8%	3.1%	0.8%	0.5%	0.3%
2021	46.5%	21.4%	17.9%	9.8%	2.8%	0.9%	0.4%	0.3%
2022	43.7%	27.1%	15.7%	9.3%	2.8%	0.9%	0.3%	0.2%
2023	42.6%	31.3%	13.9%	8.3%	2.5%	1.0%	0.2%	0.2%
2024	41.3%	34.8%	12.0%	8.1%	2.5%	1.0%	0.2%	0.2%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 64.0% in 2009 to 41.3% in 2024, down 22.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 15 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Seattle: its share of workers rose from 5.5% in 2009 to 34.8% in 2024, up 29.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 27.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 18.4% to 12.0% of workers (down 6.4 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.

Walking peaked at 11.4% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 8.1%.

Commute Start Times in Seattle

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Seattle?

The bars show when commuters in Seattle 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		3.0%
5:00-5:29 AM		1.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		2.3%
6:00-6:29 AM		4.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.3%
7:00-7:29 AM		11.7%
7:30-7:59 AM		12.1%
8:00-8:29 AM		16.0%
8:30-8:59 AM		9.9%
9:00-9:59 AM		13.1%
10:00-10:59 AM		5.1%
11:00-11:59 AM		2.1%
12:00-3:59 PM		6.2%
4:00-11:59 PM		4.6%

Seattle Washington Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Seattle is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 16.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 10.2% across Washington. Early starts are less common than in Washington: 7.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Washington: 47.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 43.1% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (31.0%) 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 Seattle, 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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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	Seattle	Washington	United States
2009	8:00 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2010	8:02 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2011	8:02 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2012	8:03 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2013	8:04 AM	7:35 AM	7:39 AM
2014	8:05 AM	7:35 AM	7:39 AM
2015	8:04 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2016	8:04 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2017	8:04 AM	7:33 AM	7:38 AM
2018	8:05 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2019	8:05 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2020	8:06 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2021	8:08 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2022	8:09 AM	7:33 AM	7:37 AM
2023	8:11 AM	7:34 AM	7:38 AM
2024	8:13 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Seattle were on the road by 8:13 AM, 13 minutes later than in 2009 (8:00 AM). The shift is sharper than across Washington, where the typical start moved 2 minutes later. Commuters in Seattle now leave 35 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 Seattle has moved 8 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Seattle in the whole series.

How does Seattle's commute time compare?

Metric	Seattle	Washington	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	23.5 min	22.4 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	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	34.8%	19.8%	15.0%
Walked	8.1%	3.0%	2.4%
Public Transit	12.0%	3.4%	3.2%

The average commute time in Seattle is 23.5 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in Washington.

12.0% commute by public transit, higher than the 3.4% in Washington. 8.1% commute by walking, higher than the 3.0% in Washington.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Seattle, WA Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Seattle, WA compares with the 1 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Seattle, WA	746,776	23.5 min #2/2	34.8% #2/2	8:13 AM #2/2
Mercer Island, WA	25,053	22.6 min	38.7%	8:01 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Seattle, Washington.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Seattle, Washington?

Commuters here spend an estimated 195 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,060 at a typical national wage. That's 5% more than the typical Washington commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Seattle, Washington?

Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Seattle, Washington. 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.

Do people use public transit in Seattle, Washington?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 12.0% of commuters use it versus 3.4% in Washington, making it a realistic option for many workers.

How much time do residents in Seattle, Washington save by working from home?

About 34.8% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Seattle would save about 78 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,424 at the same national wage assumption used above.