Commuting in Durham County, North Carolina: 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
Is the commute in Durham County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 7:57 PM
Commute Time Burden in Durham County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Durham 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 6% less time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 1.2 minutes.
Durham County holds about 3.1% of North Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 2.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Durham County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,130 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)
Durham County
20.6 min
41.2 min
172 hrs/yr
$5,325
2,725
North Carolina
21.9 min
43.7 min
182 hrs/yr
$5,645
1,609
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
Durham County.
That's 8% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 22.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Durham County
Car:
71.1%
Worked at Home:
22.9%
Walked:
2.1%
Public Transportation:
1.8%
Other:
1.0%
Bicycle:
0.6%unusually high
Taxi:
0.4%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Biking is unusually common in Durham County: 3.2 times more than the North Carolina average (0.6% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Durham County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Durham 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
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
88.6%
4.0%
2.6%
3.4%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
88.6%
3.9%
2.9%
3.3%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
88.3%
4.2%
2.5%
3.3%
0.8%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
87.9%
4.3%
2.6%
3.3%
0.8%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
87.2%
4.4%
2.9%
3.6%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
2014
86.9%
4.4%
2.8%
3.8%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
2015
86.6%
4.8%
2.6%
3.9%
0.9%
0.8%
0.2%
0.2%
2016
86.7%
4.8%
2.5%
4.1%
0.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
87.3%
5.0%
2.3%
3.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
2018
87.2%
5.2%
2.3%
3.4%
1.0%
0.6%
0.2%
0.2%
2019
87.0%
5.7%
2.3%
3.2%
0.9%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
2020
83.8%
9.4%
2.1%
3.0%
0.9%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
2021
79.6%
14.2%
2.1%
2.4%
0.9%
0.4%
0.1%
0.2%
2022
75.8%
17.7%
2.5%
2.3%
1.1%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
73.9%
20.2%
2.1%
2.0%
0.9%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
2024
71.1%
22.9%
2.1%
1.8%
1.0%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 88.6% in 2009 to 71.1% in 2024, down 17.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Durham County: its share of workers rose from 4.0% in 2009 to 22.9% in 2024, up 18.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 17.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 3.4% to 1.8% of workers (down 1.6 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Durham County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Durham County?
The bars show when commuters in Durham 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 North Carolina for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMDurham County2.8%North Carolina4.4%
2.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMDurham County2.2%North Carolina3.5%
2.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMDurham County3.4%North Carolina4.6%
3.4%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMDurham County8.3%North Carolina9.0%
8.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMDurham County9.8%North Carolina10.2%
9.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMDurham County12.5%North Carolina15.3%
12.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMDurham County11.9%North Carolina12.8%
11.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMDurham County13.9%North Carolina11.7%
13.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMDurham County8.7%North Carolina5.4%
8.7%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMDurham County8.9%North Carolina6.4%
8.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMDurham County3.9%North Carolina2.8%
3.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMDurham County1.4%North Carolina1.4%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMDurham County5.9%North Carolina6.3%
5.9%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMDurham County6.5%North Carolina6.4%
6.5%
Durham CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Durham County is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 13.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.7% across North Carolina. Early starts are less common than in North Carolina: 8.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush looks much like North Carolina's: 48.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.6%) 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 Durham 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 Durham 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 Durham County next to North Carolina 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
Durham County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:53 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:54 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:56 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:57 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:57 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:56 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:56 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:57 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:58 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:57 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:58 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
8:01 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:56 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:58 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Durham County were on the road by 7:58 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:53 AM). The shift is sharper than across North Carolina, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Durham County now leave 20 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Durham County's commute time compare?
Metric
Durham County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.6 min
21.9 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
22.9%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
2.1%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.8%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Durham County is 20.6 minutes, shorter than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
1.8% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.7% in North Carolina. 2.1% commute by walking, higher than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Durham County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Durham County, NC is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 331,707 residents against a local median of 80,150. The measure that sets Durham County, NC apart most is one-way commute: 20.6 min, 23% below the local median of 26.7 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 9.1 min on one-way commute, so Durham County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Durham County, NC has the lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Durham County, North Carolina.
Is commuting expensive in Durham County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 172 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,325 at a typical national wage. That's 6% less than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Durham County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Durham County, North Carolina. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How much money can remote workers save in Durham County, North Carolina?
About 22.9% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Durham County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,130 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Which counties in North Carolina have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in North Carolina, the shortest average commutes are in Macon County (17.2 min), Watauga County (17.2 min), Dare County (17.4 min). The longest are in Gates County (35.9 min), Currituck County (33.9 min), Tyrrell County (33.6 min).