Mapping UK Commuting Flows

Commute-flow is an interactive map which reveals the commuting flow patterns for every area in England & Wales. The map uses origin-destination data from the 2011 census to show where people commute to and from in their daily work lives.

If you select an area on the map you can view where people commute to for work. If you click on the burger menu icon you can switch to show the incoming commuter flows for the selected area. You can also switch between visualizing commuting flows on the map using polylines or polygons.


You can view these commute flows animated on Mark Evens' Commute Map of England & Wales. These hypnotic animated visualizations show workers traveling to and from English & Welsh cities. Using the two drop-down menus above the map you can select a region and then an individual city or town.

After you select an individual location the map animates the commuting flow into the city in the morning and then the commuting flow as workers return home in the evening. The four locations where the most workers commute from are indicated by the colored moving dots on the map. A list below the map also shows the locations where people commute from and the numbers that commute from each location.

If you want to see commuting flows in the U.S. then check out Mark's Commute Map, which animates commuting flows to and from American cities.


If you are interested in how people in England & Wales commute then you should also have a look at DataShine's commuting maps. DataShine Region Commute and Datashine Commute both reveal English & Welsh commuting patterns (at different regional levels). These maps also allow you to select a mode of transport, which allows you to see where people commute to by bike, train, car, on foot and by other modes of transport.