South Laurel Commute Time Map & Patterns

Help

Commuting in South Laurel, Maryland: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 4:02 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in South Laurel?

Map AI 9/24/26, 4:02 PM

Commute Time Burden in South Laurel: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in South Laurel spend about 63 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 260 hours, about 10.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 11% more time on the road than the Maryland average of 28.3 minutes each way, a difference of 3.0 minutes.

South Laurel holds about 0.5% of Maryland's population but accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in South Laurel would save about 104 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,230 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)
South Laurel	31.3 min	62.5 min	260 hrs/yr	$8,075	3,259
Maryland	28.3 min	56.5 min	236 hrs/yr	$7,301	2,353
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.

South Laurel Commute Map

On average, it takes 31.3 minutes to get to work in South Laurel. That's 39% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

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 14.6% work from home.

How People Get to Work in South Laurel

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in South Laurel, versus 0.1% in Maryland.

Taking a taxi is unusually common in South Laurel: 5.0 times more than the Maryland average (2.4% vs 0.5%).

Biking is unusually rare in South Laurel: 11.1 times less than the Maryland average (0.0% vs 0.3%).

Few people walk or bike to work in South Laurel: just 0.7%, 3.1 times below the Maryland average of 2.3%.

Commute Mode Trends in South Laurel, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in South Laurel 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	Taxi	Other	Walked	Motorcycle	Bicycle
2009	83.0%	2.7%	9.3%	0.1%	0.3%	4.3%	0.1%	0.2%
2010	81.9%	3.4%	9.9%	0.0%	0.4%	3.8%	0.1%	0.5%
2011	85.4%	3.5%	8.9%	0.0%	0.4%	1.4%	0.0%	0.5%
2012	86.9%	2.9%	8.3%	0.0%	0.4%	1.3%	0.0%	0.3%
2013	86.1%	2.7%	8.8%	0.2%	0.4%	1.4%	0.0%	0.4%
2014	85.9%	2.8%	9.1%	0.5%	0.3%	1.3%	0.0%	0.0%
2015	87.3%	2.7%	7.7%	0.6%	0.5%	1.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2016	85.8%	3.0%	8.0%	0.9%	0.9%	1.5%	0.0%	0.0%
2017	86.0%	3.2%	7.0%	1.0%	0.9%	1.7%	0.0%	0.2%
2018	86.1%	3.6%	6.3%	0.8%	1.0%	1.8%	0.0%	0.3%
2019	85.8%	4.5%	5.9%	0.9%	1.3%	1.2%	0.0%	0.3%
2020	83.8%	5.1%	7.2%	1.2%	1.6%	0.8%	0.0%	0.2%
2021	80.9%	8.8%	6.2%	1.8%	1.3%	0.6%	0.0%	0.3%
2022	77.8%	12.1%	5.5%	2.7%	1.1%	0.7%	0.0%	0.1%
2023	76.5%	12.6%	5.8%	2.6%	1.7%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	75.0%	14.6%	5.5%	2.4%	1.7%	0.7%	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 2015 at 87.3%. Overall it fell from 83.0% in 2009 to 75.0% in 2024, down 8.0 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in South Laurel: its share of workers rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 14.6% in 2024, up 11.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.1 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 9.3% to 5.5% of workers (down 3.8 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.

Commute Start Times in South Laurel

What Time Do People Leave for Work in South Laurel?

The bars show when commuters in South Laurel 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 Maryland for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		3.6%
5:00-5:29 AM		4.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		3.5%
6:00-6:29 AM		9.9%
6:30-6:59 AM		7.6%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.9%
7:30-7:59 AM		11.9%
8:00-8:29 AM		11.2%
8:30-8:59 AM		4.1%
9:00-9:59 AM		9.0%
10:00-10:59 AM		2.7%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM		7.0%
4:00-11:59 PM		9.1%

South Laurel Maryland Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in South Laurel is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.0% across Maryland. Early starts are less common than in Maryland: 12.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.8% there. The morning rush looks much like Maryland's: 44.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.3% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.4%) 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 South Laurel, 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 South Laurel 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 South Laurel next to Maryland 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	South Laurel	Maryland	United States
2009	7:28 AM	7:35 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:29 AM	7:36 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:28 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:26 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:26 AM	7:35 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:24 AM	7:35 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:26 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:28 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:30 AM	7:35 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:38 AM	7:35 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:40 AM	7:35 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:41 AM	7:36 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:43 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:42 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:33 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:47 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in South Laurel were on the road by 7:47 AM, 18 minutes later than in 2009 (7:28 AM). The shift is sharper than across Maryland, where the typical start moved 4 minutes later. Commuters in South Laurel now leave 9 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 South Laurel has moved 7 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for South Laurel in the whole series.

How does South Laurel's commute time compare?

Metric	South Laurel	Maryland	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	31.3 min	28.3 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	14.6%	19.3%	15.0%
Walked	0.7%	2.0%	2.4%
Public Transit	5.5%	4.2%	3.2%

The average commute time in South Laurel is 31.3 minutes, longer than the 28.3 minutes in Maryland.

5.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 4.2% in Maryland. 0.7% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Maryland.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

South Laurel, MD Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How South Laurel, MD compares with the 2 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
South Laurel, MD	30,999	31.3 min #3/3	14.6% #3/3	7:47 AM #3/3
Laurel, MD	25,209	30.3 min	15.8%	7:37 AM
North Laurel, MD	23,968	27.5 min	20.4%	7:43 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in South Laurel, Maryland.

Is living in South Laurel, Maryland good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 260 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $8,075 at a typical national wage. That's 11% more than the typical Maryland commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in South Laurel, Maryland?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in South Laurel, Maryland. 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.