Commuting in Highlands 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, 7:59 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Highlands County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:59 PM
Commute Time Burden in Highlands County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Highlands County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 149 hours, about 6.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 26% less time on the road than the Florida average of 24.0 minutes each way, a difference of 6.1 minutes.
Highlands County holds about 0.5% of Florida's population but accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Highlands County would save about 59 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,844 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)
Highlands County
17.8 min
35.7 min
149 hrs/yr
$4,611
999
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
17.8
minutes to get to work in
Highlands County.
That's 20% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest 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 8.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Highlands County
Car:
87.5%
Worked at Home:
8.6%
Walked:
1.9%
Other:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.4%
Public Transportation:
0.2%unusually low
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Highlands County: 5.2 times less than the Florida average (0.2% vs 1.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Highlands County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Highlands 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
91.8%
3.5%
2.1%
1.6%
0.1%
0.8%
0.0%
0.2%
2010
89.9%
3.6%
2.0%
2.0%
0.2%
2.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
89.2%
3.7%
2.2%
1.8%
0.3%
2.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
89.8%
3.5%
2.3%
1.6%
0.3%
2.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2013
89.8%
2.8%
1.7%
1.1%
0.6%
3.7%
0.0%
0.3%
2014
89.3%
3.2%
2.0%
1.1%
0.5%
3.6%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
90.8%
3.8%
1.8%
0.6%
0.5%
2.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
90.5%
4.0%
1.3%
0.7%
0.8%
2.4%
0.0%
0.3%
2017
88.9%
4.9%
1.7%
0.7%
0.9%
2.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2018
88.8%
5.9%
2.6%
0.5%
0.6%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2019
89.8%
5.2%
2.1%
0.9%
0.4%
1.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2020
89.7%
5.3%
2.0%
1.1%
0.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.4%
2021
88.6%
6.2%
2.4%
1.0%
0.3%
1.1%
0.1%
0.4%
2022
89.0%
6.6%
2.1%
1.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.4%
2023
88.6%
7.6%
1.9%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
2024
87.5%
8.6%
1.9%
1.1%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 91.8% in 2009 to 87.5% in 2024, down 4.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Highlands County: its share of workers rose from 3.5% in 2009 to 8.6% in 2024, up 5.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 0.8% to 0.2% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Highlands County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Highlands County?
The bars show when commuters in Highlands 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 AMHighlands County4.3%Florida4.7%
4.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMHighlands County3.9%Florida3.5%
3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMHighlands County4.8%Florida4.0%
4.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMHighlands County8.1%Florida9.1%
8.1%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMHighlands County12.4%Florida8.9%
12.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMHighlands County19.7%Florida15.1%
19.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMHighlands County14.4%Florida10.6%
14.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMHighlands County10.6%Florida13.1%
10.6%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMHighlands County2.6%Florida5.8%
2.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMHighlands County4.8%Florida8.0%
4.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMHighlands County2.6%Florida3.5%
2.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMHighlands County1.0%Florida1.5%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMHighlands County6.1%Florida6.3%
6.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMHighlands County4.8%Florida5.9%
4.8%
Highlands CountyFloridaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Highlands County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 19.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.1% across Florida. Early starts are about as common as in Florida: 13.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Florida: 57.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.7% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.2%) 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 Highlands 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 Highlands 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 Highlands 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
Highlands County
Florida
United States
2009
7:28 AM
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:25 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:29 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:29 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:29 AM
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:29 AM
7:47 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:33 AM
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:36 AM
7:46 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:39 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:40 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:40 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:40 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:30 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:26 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:22 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:25 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Highlands County were on the road by 7:25 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:28 AM). That goes against the trend across Florida, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Highlands County now leave 13 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 Highlands County has moved 15 minutes earlier.
How does Highlands County's commute time compare?
Metric
Highlands County
Florida
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.8 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
8.6%
15.7%
15.0%
Walked
1.9%
1.4%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
1.2%
3.2%
The average commute time in Highlands County is 17.8 minutes, shorter than the 24.0 minutes in Florida.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.2% in Florida. 1.9% commute by walking, higher than the 1.4% in Florida.
Highlands County, FL Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Highlands County, FL is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 105,700 residents against a local median of 35,386. The measure that sets Highlands County, FL apart most is work from home: 8.6%, 82% above the local median of 4.7%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 17.8 min against a local median of 22.2 min, 20% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 20% below the local median it puts Highlands County, FL at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 8.6% on work from home, so Highlands County, FL sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Highlands County, FL has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Highlands County, Florida.
Is commuting expensive in Highlands County, Florida?
Commuters here spend an estimated 149 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,611 at a typical national wage. That's 26% less than the typical Florida commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Highlands County, Florida?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Highlands 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.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Highlands County, Florida?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 1.2% in Florida, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across 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).