Commuting in Washington County, Mississippi: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 7:57 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Washington County?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:57 PM
Commute Time Burden in Washington County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Washington County spend about 32 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 134 hours, about 5.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 25% less time on the road than the Mississippi average of 21.5 minutes each way, a difference of 5.4 minutes.
Washington County holds about 1.4% of Mississippi's population but accounts for roughly 1.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Washington County would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,664 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)
Washington County
16.1 min
32.2 min
134 hrs/yr
$4,159
545
Mississippi
21.5 min
43.0 min
179 hrs/yr
$5,558
914
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
16.1
minutes to get to work in
Washington County.
That's 28% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 91% of counties in Mississippi
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 3.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Washington County
Car:
92.8%
Worked at Home:
3.7%
Walked:
1.7%
Public Transportation:
1.1%unusually high
Other:
0.6%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Washington County, versus 0.1% in Mississippi.
Public transit is unusually common in Washington County: 4.2 times more than the Mississippi average (1.1% vs 0.3%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Washington County: 12.4 times less than the Mississippi average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Biking is essentially absent in Washington County, versus 0.1% in Mississippi.
Commute Mode Trends in Washington County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Washington 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
Public Transportation
Other
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
94.3%
2.1%
1.8%
0.4%
0.3%
0.7%
0.3%
0.1%
2010
93.1%
3.2%
2.2%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
2011
93.0%
3.2%
2.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
91.9%
3.7%
2.7%
0.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2013
92.4%
3.5%
2.4%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
94.1%
2.6%
1.8%
0.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
95.8%
1.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2016
96.2%
1.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
97.0%
1.2%
1.0%
0.0%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
96.6%
1.1%
1.3%
0.0%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
95.9%
1.1%
1.5%
0.1%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
95.4%
1.3%
1.8%
0.2%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2021
94.4%
2.3%
1.7%
0.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
93.5%
2.9%
2.1%
0.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
93.3%
3.2%
1.8%
0.8%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2024
92.8%
3.7%
1.7%
1.1%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2017 at 97.0% and lowest in 2012 at 91.9%. Overall it fell from 94.3% in 2009 to 92.8% in 2024, down 1.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Washington County: its share of workers rose from 2.1% in 2009 to 3.7% in 2024, up 1.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Taking a taxi lost the most ground, falling from 0.7% to 0.0% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).
Public transit overtook taking a taxi to become the 4th most common choice in the 2019 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Washington County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Washington County?
The bars show when commuters in Washington 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 Mississippi for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Washington CountyMississippiSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Washington County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 20.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 17.1% across Mississippi. Early starts are about as common as in Mississippi: 17.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 16.4% there. The morning rush looks much like Mississippi's: 52.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.4% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.4%) 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington County next to Mississippi 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
Washington County
Mississippi
United States
2009
7:34 AM
7:20 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:34 AM
7:21 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:36 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:36 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:37 AM
7:20 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:38 AM
7:20 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:36 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:20 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:32 AM
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:29 AM
7:19 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:19 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:30 AM
7:19 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:29 AM
7:18 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:28 AM
7:18 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:18 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:26 AM
7:18 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Washington County were on the road by 7:26 AM, 8 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:34 AM). The shift is sharper than across Mississippi, where the typical start moved 3 minutes earlier. Commuters in Washington County now leave 12 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 Washington County has moved 4 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Washington County in the whole series.
How does Washington County's commute time compare?
Metric
Washington County
Mississippi
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.1 min
21.5 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
3.7%
5.9%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
1.3%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
0.3%
3.2%
The average commute time in Washington County is 16.1 minutes, shorter than the 21.5 minutes in Mississippi.
1.1% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.3% in Mississippi. 1.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.3% in Mississippi.
Washington County, MS Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Washington County, MS is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 42,708 residents against a local median of 9,757. The measure that sets Washington County, MS apart most is work from home: 3.7%, 57% above the local median of 2.4%.
The counties themselves spread 4.8% on work from home, so Washington County, MS sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Washington County, MS has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Washington County, Mississippi.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Washington County, Mississippi?
Commuters here spend an estimated 134 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,159 at a typical national wage. That's 25% less than the typical Mississippi commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Washington County, Mississippi?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Washington County, Mississippi. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Washington County, Mississippi?
Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 1.1% of commuters use it versus 0.3% in Mississippi, making it a realistic option for many workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Mississippi?
Among counties in Mississippi, the shortest average commutes are in Sharkey County (11.9 min), Coahoma County (13.2 min), Leflore County (15.2 min). The longest are in Wilkinson County (36.8 min), Tate County (32.8 min), Greene County (32.7 min).