Dothan Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Dothan, Alabama: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Dothan: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Dothan spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 141 hours, about 5.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 23% less time on the road than the Alabama average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 5.2 minutes.
Dothan holds about 1.3% of Alabama's population but accounts for roughly 1.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Dothan would save about 56 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,751 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dothan | 16.9 min | 33.9 min | 141 hrs/yr | $4,378 | 1,954 |
| Alabama | 22.1 min | 44.3 min | 184 hrs/yr | $5,717 | 1,193 |
| 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.
Dothan Commute Map
On average, it takes 16.9 minutes to get to work in Dothan. That's 24% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 5.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Dothan
- Car: 92.7%
- Worked at Home: 5.0%
- Walked: 0.8%
- Other: 0.8%
- Public Transportation: 0.3%
- Taxi: 0.2%
- Motorcycle: 0.2%
- Bicycle: 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Dothan, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Dothan 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Other | Public Transportation | Taxi | Motorcycle | Bicycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 95.1% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 1.6% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2010 | 95.4% | 1.6% | 0.7% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2011 | 95.3% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2012 | 95.4% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.7% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2013 | 95.8% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 95.6% | 1.7% | 0.7% | 1.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 95.2% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2016 | 95.3% | 2.3% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 95.5% | 2.4% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 94.9% | 3.0% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2019 | 94.5% | 3.2% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2020 | 94.3% | 3.6% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2021 | 93.4% | 4.4% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 93.0% | 4.9% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2023 | 92.8% | 4.6% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| 2024 | 92.7% | 5.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 95.8%. Overall it fell from 95.1% in 2009 to 92.7% in 2024, down 2.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Dothan: its share of workers rose from 1.5% in 2009 to 5.0% in 2024, up 3.5 percentage points.
Commute Start Times in Dothan
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Dothan?
The bars show when commuters in Dothan 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 Alabama for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
Dothan6.8%
Alabama6.8%
|
6.8% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Dothan3.7%
Alabama5.1%
|
3.7% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Dothan5.8%
Alabama5.9%
|
5.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Dothan8.4%
Alabama9.9%
|
8.4% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Dothan10.7%
Alabama11.3%
|
10.7% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Dothan16.3%
Alabama16.8%
|
16.3% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Dothan12.4%
Alabama11.8%
|
12.4% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Dothan9.5%
Alabama8.6%
|
9.5% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Dothan2.2%
Alabama3.5%
|
2.2% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Dothan5.0%
Alabama4.6%
|
5.0% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Dothan2.6%
Alabama2.2%
|
2.6% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Dothan2.0%
Alabama1.0%
|
2.0% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Dothan6.0%
Alabama6.3%
|
6.0% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Dothan8.6%
Alabama6.2%
|
8.6% |
Dothan Alabama Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Dothan is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.8% across Alabama. Early starts are less common than in Alabama: 16.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Alabama's: 48.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 48.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.3%) 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 Dothan, 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 Dothan 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 Dothan next to Alabama 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Dothan | Alabama | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:37 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:34 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:33 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:31 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:32 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:33 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:32 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:32 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:33 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:32 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:33 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:31 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:32 AM | 7:21 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:30 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:29 AM | 7:20 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:27 AM | 7:19 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Dothan were on the road by 7:27 AM, 10 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:37 AM). Across Alabama, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Dothan now leave 11 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Dothan has moved 6 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Dothan in the whole series.
How does Dothan's commute time compare?
| Metric | Dothan | Alabama | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 16.9 min | 22.1 min | 22.4 min |
| Departure Window | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM | 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM |
| Secondary Departure Window | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 5.0% | 8.8% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 0.8% | 1.1% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 0.3% | 0.3% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Dothan is 16.9 minutes, shorter than the 22.1 minutes in Alabama.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Alabama. 0.8% commute by walking, lower than the 1.1% in Alabama.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Dothan, Alabama.
Is commuting expensive in Dothan, Alabama?
Commuters here spend an estimated 141 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,378 at a typical national wage. That's 23% less than the typical Alabama commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Dothan, Alabama?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Dothan, Alabama. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.