Commuting in Mason 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, 8:18 PM
How much time do drivers in Mason County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:18 PM
Commute Time Burden in Mason County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Mason County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 146 hours, about 6.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 16% less time on the road than the Kentucky average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 3.3 minutes.
Mason County holds about 0.4% of Kentucky's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Mason County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,808 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)
Mason County
17.5 min
35.0 min
146 hrs/yr
$4,521
309
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
17.5
minutes to get to work in
Mason County.
That's 22% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 85% of counties in Kentucky
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 8.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Mason County
Car:
88.7%
Worked at Home:
8.1%
Walked:
2.1%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Public Transportation:
0.3%
Other:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Mason County, versus 0.1% in Kentucky.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Mason County, versus 0.1% in Kentucky.
Commute Mode Trends in Mason County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Mason 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
89.8%
3.5%
3.6%
0.1%
0.2%
1.5%
1.3%
0.0%
2010
91.6%
3.7%
2.5%
0.0%
0.4%
1.5%
0.3%
0.0%
2011
91.9%
3.5%
2.5%
0.0%
0.4%
1.2%
0.5%
0.0%
2012
92.0%
3.8%
2.3%
0.0%
0.5%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
94.8%
2.3%
1.1%
0.0%
0.3%
0.8%
0.5%
0.2%
2014
94.5%
2.4%
1.1%
0.0%
0.6%
0.8%
0.3%
0.3%
2015
93.8%
2.1%
1.9%
0.1%
0.6%
0.9%
0.3%
0.3%
2016
93.8%
2.6%
1.7%
0.1%
0.8%
0.5%
0.2%
0.3%
2017
94.3%
2.9%
1.5%
0.2%
0.3%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
2018
92.9%
4.2%
1.6%
0.1%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
92.9%
4.4%
1.8%
0.1%
0.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2020
92.5%
5.1%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2021
92.9%
4.7%
1.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
2022
92.0%
5.5%
1.7%
0.0%
0.1%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
2023
90.9%
6.4%
1.8%
0.3%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
88.7%
8.1%
2.1%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
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 2013 at 94.8%. Overall it fell from 89.8% in 2009 to 88.7% in 2024, down 1.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Mason County: its share of workers rose from 3.5% in 2009 to 8.1% in 2024, up 4.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.7 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.6% to 2.1% of workers (down 1.5 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Mason County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Mason County?
The bars show when commuters in Mason 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 AMMason County7.5%Kentucky5.9%
7.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMason County4.2%Kentucky4.3%
4.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMason County7.6%Kentucky5.3%
7.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMason County7.9%Kentucky8.3%
7.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMason County8.1%Kentucky10.3%
8.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMason County16.7%Kentucky14.8%
16.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMason County10.9%Kentucky12.4%
10.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMason County10.1%Kentucky9.6%
10.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMason County4.0%Kentucky4.5%
4.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMason County3.8%Kentucky5.2%
3.8%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMason County0.8%Kentucky2.5%
0.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMason County1.3%Kentucky1.3%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMason County9.9%Kentucky7.3%
9.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMason County7.2%Kentucky8.4%
7.2%
Mason CountyKentuckySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Mason County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.8% across Kentucky. Early starts are more common than in Kentucky: 19.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.5% there. The morning rush looks much like Kentucky's: 45.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.0%) 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 Mason 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 Mason 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 Mason 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
Mason County
Kentucky
United States
2009
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:37 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:39 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:33 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:29 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:27 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:20 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:20 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:24 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:18 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:24 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:29 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:26 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:26 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Mason County were on the road by 7:26 AM, 8 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:35 AM). The shift is sharper than across Kentucky, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Mason County now leave 11 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 Mason County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Mason County's commute time compare?
Metric
Mason County
Kentucky
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.5 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.1%
10.2%
15.0%
Walked
2.1%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Mason County is 17.5 minutes, shorter than the 20.8 minutes in Kentucky.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Kentucky. 2.1% commute by walking, higher than the 2.0% in Kentucky.
Mason County, KY Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Mason County, KY is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 16,956 residents against a local median of 8,444. Where Mason County, KY breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 101% above the local median of 4.0% at 8.1%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 17.5 min against a local median of 31.3 min, 44% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 44% below the local median it puts Mason County, KY at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 3.5% on work from home, so Mason County, KY sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Mason County, KY has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Mason County, Kentucky.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Mason County, Kentucky?
Commuters here spend an estimated 146 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,521 at a typical national wage. That's 16% less than the typical Kentucky commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Mason County, Kentucky?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Mason County, Kentucky. 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.
How do commute times compare across 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).