Commuting in Lauderdale County, Alabama: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 12:13 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Lauderdale County?
Map AI9/24/26, 12:13 PM
Commute Time Burden in Lauderdale County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Lauderdale County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 172 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% less time on the road than the Alabama average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 1.5 minutes.
Lauderdale County holds about 1.9% of Alabama's population but accounts for roughly 1.7% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Lauderdale County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,127 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)
Lauderdale County
20.6 min
41.2 min
172 hrs/yr
$5,319
744
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.
On average, it takes
20.6
minutes to get to work in
Lauderdale County.
That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 71% of counties in Alabama
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 7.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Lauderdale County
Car:
89.7%
Worked at Home:
7.8%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
1.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is unusually rare in Lauderdale County: 11.8 times less than the Alabama average (0.0% vs 0.3%).
Commute Mode Trends in Lauderdale County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Lauderdale County 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.
Share of workers aged 16 and over, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show commute mode data by year
Year
Car
Worked at Home
Walked
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
Public Transportation
Bicycle
2009
96.1%
1.7%
1.3%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2010
96.3%
1.8%
1.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
95.7%
2.3%
1.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2012
96.1%
2.2%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
95.9%
2.1%
1.1%
0.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
2014
95.8%
1.8%
1.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
2015
94.9%
2.2%
1.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
2016
95.7%
1.7%
1.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2017
95.7%
1.8%
1.7%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2018
95.7%
1.9%
1.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2019
95.7%
2.1%
1.4%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2020
94.0%
4.1%
1.0%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2021
93.7%
4.3%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2022
92.8%
5.2%
0.9%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
91.3%
6.4%
1.1%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
89.7%
7.8%
1.2%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 96.3%. Overall it fell from 96.1% in 2009 to 89.7% in 2024, down 6.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Lauderdale County: its share of workers rose from 1.7% in 2009 to 7.8% in 2024, up 6.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Lauderdale County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Lauderdale County?
The bars show when commuters in Lauderdale County 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 AMLauderdale County5.4%Alabama6.8%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLauderdale County6.1%Alabama5.1%
6.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLauderdale County5.5%Alabama5.9%
5.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLauderdale County7.8%Alabama9.9%
7.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLauderdale County11.1%Alabama11.3%
11.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLauderdale County15.2%Alabama16.8%
15.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLauderdale County12.5%Alabama11.8%
12.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLauderdale County8.9%Alabama8.6%
8.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLauderdale County4.0%Alabama3.5%
4.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLauderdale County5.2%Alabama4.6%
5.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLauderdale County2.8%Alabama2.2%
2.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLauderdale County1.3%Alabama1.0%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLauderdale County7.7%Alabama6.3%
7.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLauderdale County6.5%Alabama6.2%
6.5%
Lauderdale CountyAlabamaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Lauderdale County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.8% across Alabama. Early starts are about as common as in Alabama: 17.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Alabama's: 47.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 48.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.5%) 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 Lauderdale County, 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 Lauderdale County 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 Lauderdale County 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.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Lauderdale County
Alabama
United States
2009
7:28 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:28 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:29 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:29 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:27 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:24 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:24 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:20 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:26 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:27 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:25 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:22 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:26 AM
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:23 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:28 AM
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Lauderdale County were on the road by 7:28 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across Alabama, the typical start barely moved either. Commuters in Lauderdale County now leave 10 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 Lauderdale County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Lauderdale County's commute time compare?
Metric
Lauderdale County
Alabama
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.6 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
7.8%
8.8%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
1.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in Lauderdale County is 20.6 minutes, shorter than the 22.1 minutes in Alabama.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.3% in Alabama. 1.2% commute by walking, higher than the 1.1% in Alabama.
Lauderdale County, AL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Lauderdale County, AL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 95,537 residents against a local median of 33,276. Lauderdale County, AL sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is work from home, 8% above the local median at 7.8% against 7.2%. Lauderdale County, AL has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Lauderdale County, Alabama.
Is living in Lauderdale County, Alabama good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,319 at a typical national wage. That's 7% less than the typical Alabama commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Lauderdale County, Alabama?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Lauderdale County, 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.
How common is public transit use in Lauderdale County, Alabama?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.3% in Alabama, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in Alabama have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Alabama, the shortest average commutes are in Pike County (16.4 min), Houston County (18.3 min), Escambia County (18.5 min). The longest are in Blount County (33.2 min), Pickens County (32.5 min), Lowndes County (31.9 min).