The average Bay Area commute time was 30 minutes in 2023
of Bay Area commuters spent less than 30 minutes getting to work each day in 2023
of Bay Area commuters spent at least one hour getting to work each day in 2023
Introduction
How long is it taking us to travel to work?
Except for individuals who work at home, three million Bay Area workers must find a way to their jobs on a typical workday. Their choice of transportation mode, departure time, trip origin and destination all play key roles in determining door-to-door travel time. The collective result of these daily decisions is reflected in the average commute time for the region – a figure which crept up from 25 minutes in 2010 to 33 minutes in 2019 and stood at 30 minutes in 2023.
Regional Performance
Commute times have continued to increase, with the average Bay Area commute taking 30 minutes in 2023.
Average Bay Area commute times peaked in 2019, at 33 minutes, before dropping sharply during the pandemic. Across all modes, the average Bay Area commute took 30 minutes door-to-door in 2023, the most recent year with available data. Increasing congestion and longer-distance commutes to job centers in San Francisco and Silicon Valley have contributed to this trend. Importantly, how someone chooses to get to work affects their commuting time. In 2023, commuters that drove alone spent 29 minutes getting to work, while those taking public transit spent 73% more time commuting, at 50 minutes.
Longer transit commute times are not surprising considering nearly two-thirds of transit commuters work in San Francisco. Crowding on Muni and longer trip distances on BART and Caltrain make it difficult to get to work under 30 minutes. This results in above-average travel times for transit users. Since 2010, the share of transit commutes at least an hour long each way has increased by more than eight percentage points, from 29.4% in 2010 to 37.5% in 2023.
The average commute time for commuters who drive alone was 29 minutes in 2023
The average commute time for commuters taking transit was 50 minutes in 2023
Historical Trend for Commute Time
Regional Distribution
While the majority of Bay Area residents have reasonable commute times, in 2023, 13 percent had extreme commutes – lasting at least one hour each way.
Commuting times vary widely based on where people live and work, and how they travel. In 2023, more than half of commuters across the region had an average commute of under 30 minutes. More than two-thirds of commuters living in Sonoma County got to work in less 30 minutes. Only in San Francisco and Contra Costa County did more than 50% of commuters take more than 30 minutes to get to work.
Across the region, 13 percent of all commutes lasted at least an hour in 2023 – an increase of three percentage points since 2010. Contra Costa County residents led the pack with nearly one in four commuters traveling at least one hour each way, though Solano and Alameda counties are also home to sizeable shares of super commuters.
of commuters who live in Napa County took less than 15 minutes to get to work in 2023
of commuters who live in Contra Costa County took at least 60 minutes to get to work in 2023
Commute Time Distribution by County of Residence (2023)
Local Focus
Commuters living in Contra Costa County spend significantly more time getting to work than residents of other counties.
The five cities with the longest average commute time in 2023 – Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Clayton and Hercules – are all located in Contra Costa County. Residents of these cities each took an average of around 40 minutes or more to get to work, with transit commutes stretching well over an hour. Commute time trends in these communities illustrate the impact of the regional jobs-housing imbalance, with many residents commuting to distant job centers in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
With commute times averaging less than 23 minutes, residents of cities in Sonoma and Napa counties – including Healdsburg, St. Helena, Yountville and Santa Rosa – had the fastest commutes in the region in 2023. These cities are joined by several jobs-rich communities in Silicon Valley such as Palo Alto, Los Altos, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, where residents spent around 23 minutes getting to work each day.
Contra Costa County residents had the longest average commutes in the Bay Area at 37 minutes in 2023
Sonoma County residents had the shortest average commutes in the region at just 25 minutes in 2023
Average Commute Time for Cities and Neighborhoods (2023)
Sources & Methodology
For the American Community Survey datasets, 1-year rolling average data is used for all region and county geographic levels, while 5-year rolling average data was used for cities and tracts. This is due to the fact that more localized data is not included in the 1-year dataset across all Bay Area cities. Similarly, data on commute time by commute mode is not available for every Bay Area city or census tract, even when the 5-year data is used for those localized geographies. Therefore, some jurisdictions have data only for the “Overall” commute mode. The use of 1-year estimates for counties and 5-year estimates for cities also results in discrepancies for San Francisco, which is both a city and a county. Note that all 2020 data uses 5-year estimates because the ACS did not report 1-year data for 2020.
Regional commute times were calculated by summing aggregate county travel times and dividing by the relevant population; similarly, modal commute times were calculated using aggregate times and dividing by the number of communities choosing that mode for the given geography. Census tract data and jurisdiction data is not available for a small number of tracts/jurisdictions with insufficient numbers of residents/employees.
U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey
Table B08013 (2011-2023; by place of residence)
Table C08136 (2011-2023; by place of residence)
Table B08301 (2011-2023; by place of residence)
Table B08303 (2011-2023; by place of residence)
Table B08536 (2023 only; by place of employment)
Table B08601 (2023 only; by place of employment)