Commuting in Montgomery County, Alabama: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You10/22/26, 12:49 AM
How long is the round-trip commute in Montgomery County?
Map AI10/22/26, 12:49 AM
Commute Time Burden in Montgomery County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Montgomery County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 157 hours, about 6.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 15% less time on the road than the Alabama average of 22.1 minutes each way, a difference of 3.3 minutes.
Montgomery County holds about 4.5% of Alabama's population but accounts for roughly 3.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Montgomery County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,941 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)
Montgomery County
18.8 min
37.6 min
157 hrs/yr
$4,854
1,911
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
18.8
minutes to get to work in
Montgomery County.
That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 88% 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 8.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Montgomery County
Car:
89.4%
Worked at Home:
8.0%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
0.8%
Public Transportation:
0.3%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Montgomery County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Montgomery 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
94.7%
2.4%
1.2%
0.5%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
95.1%
2.4%
1.0%
0.3%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2011
95.1%
2.3%
1.3%
0.2%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
95.0%
2.3%
1.3%
0.2%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
95.0%
2.2%
1.3%
0.3%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2014
94.6%
2.7%
1.2%
0.4%
0.8%
0.0%
0.2%
0.1%
2015
94.4%
2.8%
1.4%
0.4%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
94.0%
3.1%
1.5%
0.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
93.9%
3.4%
1.4%
0.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
93.6%
3.6%
1.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
93.8%
3.5%
1.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
92.2%
5.2%
1.5%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
91.7%
5.8%
1.4%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
91.0%
6.3%
1.5%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
90.1%
7.3%
1.2%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
89.4%
8.0%
1.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 95.1%. Overall it fell from 94.7% in 2009 to 89.4% in 2024, down 5.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Montgomery County: its share of workers rose from 2.4% in 2009 to 8.0% in 2024, up 5.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 0.9% to 0.3% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Montgomery County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Montgomery County?
The bars show when commuters in Montgomery 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 AMMontgomery County5.5%Alabama6.8%
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMontgomery County3.7%Alabama5.1%
3.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMontgomery County4.7%Alabama5.9%
4.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMontgomery County9.5%Alabama9.9%
9.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMontgomery County10.9%Alabama11.3%
10.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMontgomery County15.8%Alabama16.8%
15.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMontgomery County13.7%Alabama11.8%
13.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMontgomery County9.1%Alabama8.6%
9.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMontgomery County3.4%Alabama3.5%
3.4%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMontgomery County4.3%Alabama4.6%
4.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMontgomery County2.5%Alabama2.2%
2.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMontgomery County1.0%Alabama1.0%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMontgomery County7.5%Alabama6.3%
7.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMontgomery County8.3%Alabama6.2%
8.3%
Montgomery CountyAlabamaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Montgomery County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.8% across Alabama. Early starts are less common than in Alabama: 13.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 17.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Alabama's: 49.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 48.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.7%) 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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
Montgomery County
Alabama
United States
2009
7:32 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:30 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:32 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:32 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:35 AM
7:21 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:34 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:33 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:34 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:35 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
7:32 AM
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:31 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:30 AM
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Montgomery County were on the road by 7:30 AM, 2 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:32 AM). Across Alabama, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Montgomery County now leave 8 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 Montgomery County has moved 5 minutes earlier.
How does Montgomery County's commute time compare?
Metric
Montgomery County
Alabama
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.8 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
8.0%
8.8%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
1.1%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in Montgomery County is 18.8 minutes, shorter than the 22.1 minutes in Alabama.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Alabama. 1.2% commute by walking, higher than the 1.1% in Alabama.
Montgomery County, AL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Montgomery County, AL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 226,670 residents against a local median of 13,122. Montgomery County, AL's work from home, at 8.0%, runs 79% above the 4.5% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 18.8 min against a local median of 25.8 min, 27% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 27% below the local median it puts Montgomery County, AL at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 6.2% on work from home, so Montgomery County, AL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Montgomery County, AL has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Montgomery County, Alabama.
Is living in Montgomery County, Alabama good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 157 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,854 at a typical national wage. That's 15% less than the typical Alabama commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Montgomery County, Alabama?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Montgomery 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.
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).