Commuting in Lee 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, 7:59 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Lee County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:59 PM
Commute Time Burden in Lee County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Lee County spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 156 hours, about 6.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 16% less time on the road than the Alabama average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 3.5 minutes.
Lee County holds about 3.6% of Alabama's population but accounts for roughly 3.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Lee County would save about 62 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,930 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)
Lee County
18.7 min
37.4 min
156 hrs/yr
$4,825
1,868
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
18.7
minutes to get to work in
Lee County.
That's 17% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest 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 9.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Lee County
Car:
86.3%
Worked at Home:
9.5%
Walked:
2.6%
Other:
0.7%
Public Transportation:
0.7%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Lee County: 3.1 times less than the Alabama average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Lee County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Lee 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
Public Transportation
Other
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
92.5%
2.7%
2.4%
0.8%
0.5%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
2010
91.9%
2.8%
2.5%
0.9%
0.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
2011
92.0%
2.8%
2.4%
0.9%
0.6%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
2012
91.7%
2.7%
2.8%
0.9%
0.7%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
2013
92.2%
2.7%
2.6%
0.9%
0.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
92.4%
2.8%
2.4%
0.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
92.7%
3.1%
2.2%
1.0%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2016
92.3%
3.7%
2.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
2017
92.8%
3.5%
1.9%
0.8%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
92.4%
3.9%
1.8%
0.7%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
92.0%
4.0%
2.2%
0.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
91.5%
4.5%
2.3%
0.6%
0.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
90.9%
5.3%
2.4%
0.6%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
88.5%
7.2%
2.8%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2023
87.1%
8.3%
2.9%
0.8%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2024
86.3%
9.5%
2.6%
0.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2017 at 92.8%. Overall it fell from 92.5% in 2009 to 86.3% in 2024, down 6.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Lee County: its share of workers rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 9.5% in 2024, up 6.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Lee County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Lee County?
The bars show when commuters in Lee 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 AMLee County4.2%Alabama6.8%
4.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLee County3.0%Alabama5.1%
3.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLee County4.6%Alabama5.9%
4.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLee County8.4%Alabama9.9%
8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLee County10.2%Alabama11.3%
10.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLee County18.6%Alabama16.8%
18.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLee County14.5%Alabama11.8%
14.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLee County10.4%Alabama8.6%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLee County4.5%Alabama3.5%
4.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLee County5.1%Alabama4.6%
5.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLee County2.2%Alabama2.2%
2.2%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLee County1.3%Alabama1.0%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLee County6.8%Alabama6.3%
6.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLee County6.3%Alabama6.2%
6.3%
Lee CountyAlabamaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Lee County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 18.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.8% across Alabama. Early starts are less common than in Alabama: 11.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Alabama: 53.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 48.6% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.6%) 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 Lee 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 Lee 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 Lee 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
Lee County
Alabama
United States
2009
7:34 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:34 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:36 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:38 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:35 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:37 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:39 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:37 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:35 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:32 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:35 AM
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:36 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:32 AM
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Lee County were on the road by 7:32 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:34 AM). Across Alabama, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Lee County now leave 6 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 Lee County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Lee County's commute time compare?
Metric
Lee County
Alabama
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.7 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
9.5%
8.8%
15.0%
Walked
2.6%
1.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in Lee County is 18.7 minutes, shorter than the 22.1 minutes in Alabama.
0.7% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.3% in Alabama. 2.6% commute by walking, higher than the 1.1% in Alabama.
Lee County, AL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Lee County, AL is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 181,134 residents against a local median of 36,086. Lee 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 one-way commute, 15% below the local median at 18.7 min against 21.9 min. Lee County, AL has the 2nd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Lee County, Alabama.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Lee County, Alabama?
Commuters here spend an estimated 156 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,825 at a typical national wage. That's 16% less than the typical Alabama commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Lee County, Alabama?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Lee 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 do commute times compare across counties in Alabama?
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).