In the absence of in vivo measurements, the oxygen concentration within articular cartilage is calculated from the balance between cellular oxygen consumption and mass transfer. Current estimates of the oxygen tension within articular cartilage are based on oxygen consumption data from full‐depth tissue samples. However, superficial and deep cell subpopulations of articular cartilage express intrinsic metabolic differences. We test the hypothesis that the subpopulations differ with respect to their intrinsic oxygen consumption rate. Chondrocytes from the full cartilage thickness demonstrate enhanced oxygen consumption when deprived of glucose, consistent with the Crabtree phenomena. Chondrocyte subpopulations differ in the prevailing availability of oxygen and glucose, which decrease with distance from the cartilage–synovial fluid interface. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that the oxygen consumption of each subpopulation is modulated by nutrient availability, by examining the expression of the Crabtree effect. The deep cells had a greater oxygen consumption than the superficial cells (V_max of 6.6 compared to 3.2 fmol/cell/h), consistent with our observations of mitochondrial volume (mean values 52.0 vs. 36.4 µm³/cell). Both populations expressed the Crabtree phenomena, with oxygen consumption increasing ∼2.5‐fold in response to glycolytic inhibition by glucose deprivation or 2‐deoxyglucose. Over 90% of this increase was oligomycin‐sensitive and thus accounted for by oxidative phosphorylation. The data contributes towards our understanding of chondrocyte energy metabolism and provides information valuable for the accurate calculation of the oxygen concentration that the cells experience in vivo. The work has further application to the optimisation of bioreactor design and engineered tissues. J. Cell. Physiol. 223:630–639, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.