Commuting in Clay County, Kentucky: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 5:10 PM
Is the commute in Clay County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 5:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Clay County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Clay 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 172 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 1% less time on the road than the Kentucky average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 0.2 minutes.
Clay County holds about 0.4% of Kentucky's population and accounts for roughly 0.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Clay County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,129 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)
Clay County
20.6 min
41.2 min
172 hrs/yr
$5,324
557
Kentucky
20.8 min
41.6 min
173 hrs/yr
$5,369
832
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
20.6
minutes to get to work in
Clay County.
That's 8% shorter 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 9.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Clay County
Car:
87.2%
Worked at Home:
9.4%
Other:
1.8%
Walked:
1.0%
Public Transportation:
0.4%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Clay County, versus 0.1% in Kentucky.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Clay County, versus 0.1% in Kentucky.
Commute Mode Trends in Clay County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Clay 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
Other
Walked
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
93.6%
2.0%
2.3%
1.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
93.7%
2.1%
2.5%
1.0%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2011
94.1%
2.0%
1.8%
1.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
95.6%
1.0%
1.8%
0.9%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2013
95.2%
1.4%
1.2%
1.5%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
94.9%
1.5%
0.8%
2.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
94.7%
2.1%
0.7%
2.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
93.5%
2.0%
1.0%
2.7%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2017
92.9%
2.3%
1.7%
2.6%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
92.3%
2.6%
1.7%
2.9%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
91.4%
5.0%
1.2%
1.8%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
90.8%
5.9%
1.1%
1.6%
0.2%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
90.4%
7.1%
1.6%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
90.7%
7.1%
0.8%
1.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
90.0%
7.4%
0.7%
1.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
87.2%
9.4%
1.8%
1.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2012 at 95.6%. Overall it fell from 93.6% in 2009 to 87.2% in 2024, down 6.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Clay County: its share of workers rose from 2.0% in 2009 to 9.4% in 2024, up 7.4 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 1.7% to 1.0% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Clay County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Clay County?
The bars show when commuters in Clay 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 Kentucky for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMClay County7.3%Kentucky5.9%
7.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMClay County3.4%Kentucky4.3%
3.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMClay County7.9%Kentucky5.3%
7.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMClay County8.8%Kentucky8.3%
8.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMClay County16.8%Kentucky10.3%
16.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMClay County17.8%Kentucky14.8%
17.8%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMClay County14.3%Kentucky12.4%
14.3%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMClay County5.1%Kentucky9.6%
5.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMClay County5.0%Kentucky4.5%
5.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMClay County1.8%Kentucky5.2%
1.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMClay County1.5%Kentucky2.5%
1.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMClay County0.7%Kentucky1.3%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMClay County5.7%Kentucky7.3%
5.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMClay County3.9%Kentucky8.4%
3.9%
Clay CountyKentuckySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Clay County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.8% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.8% across Kentucky. Early starts are more common than in Kentucky: 18.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.5% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Kentucky: 54.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 7 commuters (13.5%) 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 Clay 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 Clay 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 Clay County next to Kentucky 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
Clay County
Kentucky
United States
2009
7:33 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:40 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:31 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:29 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:27 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:23 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:24 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:23 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:28 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:42 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:28 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:20 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:15 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:10 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Clay County were on the road by 7:10 AM, 23 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:33 AM). The shift is sharper than across Kentucky, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Clay County now leave 28 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 Clay County has moved 18 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Clay County in the whole series.
How does Clay County's commute time compare?
Metric
Clay County
Kentucky
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.6 min
20.8 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
9.4%
10.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.0%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.4%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Clay County is about the same as in Kentucky.
0.4% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Kentucky. 1.0% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Kentucky.
Clay County, KY Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Clay County, KY is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 19,921 residents against a local median of 13,086. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Clay County, KY an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 12% above the local median at 20.6 min against 18.3 min. Clay County, KY has the 4th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Clay County, Kentucky.
Is commuting expensive in Clay County, Kentucky?
Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,324 at a typical national wage. That's 1% less than the typical Kentucky commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Clay County, Kentucky?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Clay County, Kentucky. 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 Kentucky?
Among counties in Kentucky, the shortest average commutes are in Calloway County (13.9 min), Owsley County (15.0 min), Taylor County (15.3 min). The longest are in Owen County (37.7 min), Spencer County (33.3 min), Bracken County (33.2 min).