Commuting in Mobile County, Alabama: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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What does a typical morning commute look like in Mobile County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:00 PM
Commute Time Burden in Mobile County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Mobile County spend about 45 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 189 hours, about 7.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% more time on the road than the Alabama average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 0.5 minutes.
Mobile County holds about 8.1% of Alabama's population but accounts for roughly 8.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Mobile County would save about 76 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,343 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)
Mobile County
22.7 min
45.4 min
189 hrs/yr
$5,858
2,467
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
22.7
minutes to get to work in
Mobile County.
That's 1% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 8.3% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Mobile County
Car:
89.5%
Worked at Home:
8.3%
Walked:
1.0%
Other:
0.6%
Public Transportation:
0.4%
Taxi:
0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Mobile County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Mobile 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
Public Transportation
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
94.9%
2.4%
1.2%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2010
94.7%
2.7%
1.3%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
94.7%
2.8%
1.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
94.7%
2.8%
1.0%
0.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
94.8%
3.1%
0.9%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
94.4%
3.3%
0.9%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2015
94.1%
3.7%
0.9%
0.6%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
93.6%
3.9%
1.1%
0.8%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
93.4%
4.2%
1.1%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
93.2%
4.3%
1.1%
0.8%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
93.0%
4.4%
1.1%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
92.6%
4.9%
1.0%
0.8%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
92.0%
5.7%
0.9%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
91.4%
6.3%
0.9%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
90.2%
7.5%
1.0%
0.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
89.5%
8.3%
1.0%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 94.9% in 2009 to 89.5% in 2024, down 5.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 11 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Mobile County: its share of workers rose from 2.4% in 2009 to 8.3% in 2024, up 5.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.9 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Mobile County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Mobile County?
The bars show when commuters in Mobile 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 AMMobile County8.0%Alabama6.8%
8.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMobile County5.4%Alabama5.1%
5.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMobile County7.3%Alabama5.9%
7.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMobile County11.0%Alabama9.9%
11.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMobile County11.6%Alabama11.3%
11.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMobile County15.1%Alabama16.8%
15.1%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMobile County11.5%Alabama11.8%
11.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMobile County6.8%Alabama8.6%
6.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMobile County3.5%Alabama3.5%
3.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMobile County4.6%Alabama4.6%
4.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMobile County2.3%Alabama2.2%
2.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMobile County1.0%Alabama1.0%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMobile County6.4%Alabama6.3%
6.4%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMobile County5.5%Alabama6.2%
5.5%
Mobile CountyAlabamaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Mobile County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.8% across Alabama. Early starts are more common than in Alabama: 20.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Alabama: 44.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 48.6% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.8%) 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 Mobile 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 Mobile 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 Mobile 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
Mobile County
Alabama
United States
2009
7:20 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:19 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:19 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:18 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:17 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:17 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:18 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:16 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:15 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:14 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:12 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:12 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:13 AM
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:12 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:12 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:13 AM
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Mobile County were on the road by 7:13 AM, 6 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:20 AM). Across Alabama, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Mobile County now leave 24 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Mobile County's commute time compare?
Metric
Mobile County
Alabama
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.7 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
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.3%
8.8%
15.0%
Walked
1.0%
1.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.4%
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in Mobile County is 22.7 minutes, longer than the 22.1 minutes in Alabama.
0.4% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.3% in Alabama. 1.0% commute by walking, lower than the 1.1% in Alabama.
Mobile County, AL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Mobile County, AL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 411,339 residents against a local median of 25,170. The measure that sets Mobile County, AL apart most is one-way commute: 22.7 min, 27% below the local median of 31.1 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 10.5 min on one-way commute, so Mobile County, AL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Mobile County, AL has the 2nd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Mobile County, Alabama.
Is commuting expensive in Mobile County, Alabama?
Commuters here spend an estimated 189 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,858 at a typical national wage. That's 2% more than the typical Alabama commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Mobile County, Alabama?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Mobile County, Alabama. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).