Commuting in Alachua County, Florida: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:32 PM
Is the commute in Alachua County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:32 PM
Commute Time Burden in Alachua County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Alachua 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 171 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 14% less time on the road than the Florida average of 24.0 minutes each way, a difference of 3.4 minutes.
Alachua County holds about 1.3% of Florida's population but accounts for roughly 1.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Alachua County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,121 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)
Alachua County
20.5 min
41.1 min
171 hrs/yr
$5,303
1,528
Florida
24.0 min
47.9 min
200 hrs/yr
$6,189
3,068
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
20.5
minutes to get to work in
Alachua County.
That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 88% of counties in Florida
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 14.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Alachua County
Car:
76.5%
Worked at Home:
14.1%
Public Transportation:
2.9%
Walked:
2.7%
Bicycle:
1.9%unusually high
Other:
1.3%
Motorcycle:
0.5%
Taxi:
0.3%
Biking is unusually common in Alachua County: 3.8 times more than the Florida average (1.9% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in Alachua County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Alachua 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Bicycle
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
86.2%
3.4%
2.9%
3.4%
2.8%
0.4%
0.7%
0.0%
2010
85.3%
3.5%
3.4%
3.3%
3.2%
0.4%
0.8%
0.0%
2011
84.8%
3.6%
3.9%
3.1%
3.3%
0.4%
0.8%
0.0%
2012
83.8%
4.2%
4.0%
3.1%
3.5%
0.5%
0.9%
0.0%
2013
83.6%
4.0%
4.2%
3.1%
3.4%
0.6%
1.0%
0.0%
2014
83.1%
4.3%
4.5%
3.2%
3.2%
0.7%
1.0%
0.0%
2015
83.3%
4.1%
4.5%
3.3%
2.9%
0.8%
1.1%
0.0%
2016
83.5%
4.6%
4.3%
3.1%
2.7%
0.9%
1.0%
0.0%
2017
83.5%
4.5%
4.1%
3.3%
2.7%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
2018
84.6%
4.6%
3.9%
2.9%
2.3%
0.9%
0.8%
0.0%
2019
84.2%
5.1%
3.5%
3.1%
2.2%
0.9%
0.8%
0.1%
2020
83.6%
6.7%
3.1%
2.9%
2.0%
0.9%
0.6%
0.2%
2021
82.3%
8.6%
2.7%
2.7%
2.1%
0.9%
0.4%
0.2%
2022
80.0%
10.8%
2.9%
2.6%
1.9%
1.1%
0.4%
0.2%
2023
78.2%
12.1%
2.9%
3.2%
1.9%
0.9%
0.5%
0.3%
2024
76.5%
14.1%
2.9%
2.7%
1.9%
1.3%
0.5%
0.3%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 86.2% in 2009 to 76.5% in 2024, down 9.7 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Alachua County: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 14.1% in 2024, up 10.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Biking lost the most ground, falling from 2.8% to 1.9% of workers (down 0.9 percentage points).
Public transit peaked at 4.5% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 2.9%.
Commute Start Times in Alachua County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Alachua County?
The bars show when commuters in Alachua 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 Florida for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMAlachua County2.6%Florida4.7%
2.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMAlachua County2.3%Florida3.5%
2.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMAlachua County2.8%Florida4.0%
2.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMAlachua County6.4%Florida9.1%
6.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMAlachua County8.8%Florida8.9%
8.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMAlachua County15.9%Florida15.1%
15.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMAlachua County14.7%Florida10.6%
14.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMAlachua County11.6%Florida13.1%
11.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMAlachua County6.9%Florida5.8%
6.9%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMAlachua County8.5%Florida8.0%
8.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMAlachua County3.5%Florida3.5%
3.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMAlachua County1.8%Florida1.5%
1.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMAlachua County7.2%Florida6.3%
7.2%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMAlachua County6.8%Florida5.9%
6.8%
Alachua CountyFloridaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Alachua County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across Florida. Early starts are less common than in Florida: 7.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Florida: 51.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.7% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.9%) 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 Alachua 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 Alachua 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 Alachua County next to Florida 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
Alachua County
Florida
United States
2009
7:54 AM
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:55 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:57 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:57 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:59 AM
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:57 AM
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:56 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:56 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:56 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:54 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:55 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:54 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:52 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:52 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:51 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:53 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Alachua County were on the road by 7:53 AM, 1 minute earlier than in 2009 (7:54 AM). That goes against the trend across Florida, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Alachua County now leave 15 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Alachua County has moved 2 minutes earlier.
How does Alachua County's commute time compare?
Metric
Alachua County
Florida
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.5 min
24.0 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
14.1%
15.7%
15.0%
Walked
2.7%
1.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
2.9%
1.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Alachua County is 20.5 minutes, shorter than the 24.0 minutes in Florida.
2.9% commute by public transit, higher than the 1.2% in Florida. 2.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.4% in Florida.
Alachua County, FL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Alachua County, FL is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 285,474 residents against a local median of 27,885. Alachua County, FL's work from home, at 14.1%, runs 33% above the 10.6% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.5 min against a local median of 30.4 min, 32% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 32% below the local median it puts Alachua County, FL at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 9.5% on work from home, so Alachua County, FL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Alachua County, FL has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Alachua County, Florida.
Is living in Alachua County, Florida good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 171 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,303 at a typical national wage. That's 14% less than the typical Florida commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Alachua County, Florida?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Alachua County, Florida. 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 Florida?
Among counties in Florida, the shortest average commutes are in Taylor County (13.8 min), Monroe County (16.1 min), Franklin County (16.6 min). The longest are in Washington County (32.8 min), Osceola County (32.3 min), Liberty County (32.1 min).