Hours a year getting around

Californians who travel to work take 28.7 minutes each way on average. Here is how that looks by means, as hours over a year of 250 round trips (250 is our assumption: five days a week for fifty weeks).

• Drove alone

  28.2 min each way · 12,076,803 workers

  235 h

• Carpooled

  30.2 min each way · 1,740,292 workers

  252 h

• Public transportation

  50.1 min each way · 524,948 workers

  418 h

• Walked

  12.8 min each way · 434,023 workers

  107 h
• Cycling has no row: the census reports no separate travel time for bicycles, so we show no figure rather than guess.

These are different people on different trips, not one trip made by each means. People who walk to work mostly live near it, and the census does not say how long their trip would take by car. Commuting is also only part of the time people spend in cars.

The average US household spent $13,318 on transportation in 2024, 17% of everything it spent (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey). That covers vehicle purchases, fuel, insurance, repairs and fares.

At the average hourly earnings of private employees, $37.75 before taxes (BLS, The Employment Situation, table B-3, August 2026 (preliminary)), $13,318 is about 353 hours of work: $13,318 ÷ $37.75. Taxes come out of pay first, so the hours of work needed are more than that. The spending is a national household average that includes people who take transit, and the wage is a national average, so neither is a Californian's own.

The IRS values driving a car at 76 cents a mile (from July 1, 2026, its business mileage rate; IRS). We found no government per-mile figure for walking, cycling or transit, so there is nothing to put beside it.

The federal guidelines say adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week (HHS, Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition). Californians who walk to work average 128 minutes a week of walking on the commute alone (12.8 minutes × 2 × 5 days). The guidelines count walking at a brisk pace; the census does not record the pace.

What a slower trip lets a person notice, the shops, neighbours and weather, is not something government data measures, so this page does not put a number on it.

How long do Californians spend commuting?

The average one-way trip to work takes 28.7 minutes (US Census ACS 2020-2024), about 239 hours a year for a round trip 250 days a year. People who drove alone averaged 28.2 minutes each way, public transportation riders 50.1 and walkers 12.8.

How much does transportation cost a household?

The average US household spent $13,318 on transportation in 2024, 17% of all its spending (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey). At the BLS average hourly wage of $37.75 before taxes, that is about 353 hours of work.

Is walking to work faster than driving?

The averages are not the same trip. Californians who walked to work took 12.8 minutes on average because they live close to work; those who drove alone took 28.2. The census does not say how long the same trip would take by another means.