Commuting in Meade County, Kentucky: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You10/22/26, 12:51 AM
How long is the round-trip commute in Meade County?
Map AI10/22/26, 12:51 AM
Commute Time Burden in Meade County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Meade County spend about 56 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 232 hours, about 9.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 34% more time on the road than the Kentucky average of 20.8 minutes each way, a difference of 7.1 minutes.
Meade County holds about 0.7% of Kentucky's population but accounts for roughly 0.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Meade County would save about 93 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,881 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)
Meade County
27.9 min
55.8 min
232 hrs/yr
$7,202
534
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
27.9
minutes to get to work in
Meade County.
That's 24% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 83% of counties in Kentucky
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 9.6% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Meade County
Car:
88.0%
Worked at Home:
9.6%
Walked:
1.2%
Other:
0.9%
Public Transportation:
0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is unusually rare in Meade County: 5.1 times less than the Kentucky average (0.1% vs 0.6%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Meade County, versus 0.1% in Kentucky.
Commute Mode Trends in Meade County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Meade 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
94.9%
2.1%
1.2%
1.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
94.5%
2.3%
1.1%
1.4%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2011
94.8%
2.2%
1.0%
1.2%
0.6%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
95.5%
2.3%
0.7%
0.8%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2013
95.4%
2.2%
0.9%
0.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2014
95.9%
2.3%
0.7%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
97.0%
2.0%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
96.5%
2.0%
0.8%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
95.5%
2.9%
0.7%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
95.5%
2.7%
0.6%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
95.4%
2.1%
1.3%
0.8%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
93.5%
4.1%
1.3%
0.5%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
92.3%
5.4%
1.0%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
90.7%
6.6%
1.4%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
88.9%
8.6%
1.8%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
88.0%
9.6%
1.2%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2015 at 97.0%. Overall it fell from 94.9% in 2009 to 88.0% in 2024, down 6.9 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Meade County: its share of workers rose from 2.1% in 2009 to 9.6% in 2024, up 7.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Meade County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Meade County?
The bars show when commuters in Meade 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 AMMeade County6.9%Kentucky5.9%
6.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMeade County5.1%Kentucky4.3%
5.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMeade County8.4%Kentucky5.3%
8.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMeade County13.4%Kentucky8.3%
13.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMeade County10.9%Kentucky10.3%
10.9%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMeade County15.6%Kentucky14.8%
15.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMeade County10.4%Kentucky12.4%
10.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMeade County6.0%Kentucky9.6%
6.0%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMeade County2.8%Kentucky4.5%
2.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMeade County3.4%Kentucky5.2%
3.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMeade County4.3%Kentucky2.5%
4.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMeade County1.7%Kentucky1.3%
1.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMeade County4.6%Kentucky7.3%
4.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMeade County6.5%Kentucky8.4%
6.5%
Meade CountyKentuckySource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Meade County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.8% across Kentucky. Early starts are more common than in Kentucky: 20.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.5% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Kentucky: 42.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.5%) 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 Meade 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 Meade 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 Meade 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
Meade County
Kentucky
United States
2009
7:16 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:15 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:10 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:09 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:13 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:12 AM
7:35 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:13 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:15 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:13 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:12 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:14 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:16 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:18 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:17 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 Meade County were on the road by 7:10 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:16 AM). The shift is sharper than across Kentucky, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Meade 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 Meade County has moved 3 minutes earlier.
How does Meade County's commute time compare?
Metric
Meade County
Kentucky
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
27.9 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
06:00 AM – 06:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
9.6%
10.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.2%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.1%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Meade County is 27.9 minutes, longer than the 20.8 minutes in Kentucky.
0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in Kentucky. 1.2% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Kentucky.
Meade County, KY Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Meade County, KY is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 30,155 residents against a local median of 20,880. The measure that sets Meade County, KY apart most is work from home: 9.6%, 18% above the local median of 8.2%.
The counties themselves spread 5.4% on work from home, so Meade County, KY sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Meade County, KY has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Meade County, Kentucky.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Meade County, Kentucky?
Commuters here spend an estimated 232 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,202 at a typical national wage. That's 34% more than the typical Kentucky commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Meade County, Kentucky?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Meade County, Kentucky. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Meade County, Kentucky?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.1% of commuters use it versus 0.6% in Kentucky, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Which counties in Kentucky have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).