Commuting in Forsyth County, North Carolina: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
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How long is the round-trip commute in Forsyth County?
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Commute Time Burden in Forsyth County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Forsyth County spend about 40 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 167 hours, about 6.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 8% less time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 1.8 minutes.
Forsyth County holds about 3.6% of North Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 3.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Forsyth County would save about 67 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,067 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)
Forsyth County
20.0 min
40.0 min
167 hrs/yr
$5,167
2,000
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
20.0
minutes to get to work in
Forsyth County.
That's 11% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 75% of counties in North Carolina
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 14.5% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Forsyth County
Car:
82.1%
Worked at Home:
14.5%
Walked:
1.4%
Other:
0.9%
Public Transportation:
0.7%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Forsyth County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Forsyth 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
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
92.2%
3.2%
1.9%
1.2%
1.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2010
92.3%
3.1%
1.6%
1.5%
1.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
91.4%
3.7%
1.7%
1.6%
1.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2012
91.7%
3.7%
1.6%
1.3%
1.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
91.9%
4.0%
1.4%
1.2%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2014
91.7%
4.2%
1.5%
1.2%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2015
90.9%
4.7%
1.6%
1.1%
1.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2016
91.3%
4.8%
1.7%
0.8%
1.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
91.3%
5.0%
1.6%
0.7%
1.0%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
91.5%
4.9%
1.5%
0.7%
1.0%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
91.1%
5.1%
1.6%
0.7%
1.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
89.5%
6.6%
1.7%
0.9%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
87.5%
8.8%
1.6%
0.8%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
86.0%
10.6%
1.5%
0.9%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
83.7%
12.6%
1.5%
1.0%
0.8%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2024
82.1%
14.5%
1.4%
0.9%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 92.3%. Overall it fell from 92.2% in 2009 to 82.1% in 2024, down 10.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Forsyth County: its share of workers rose from 3.2% in 2009 to 14.5% in 2024, up 11.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 1.9% to 1.4% of workers (down 0.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Forsyth County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Forsyth County?
The bars show when commuters in Forsyth 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.
Forsyth CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Forsyth County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.8% across North Carolina. Early starts are less common than in North Carolina: 10.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush looks much like North Carolina's: 51.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.7%) 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 Forsyth 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 Forsyth 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 Forsyth 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
Forsyth County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:46 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:46 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:47 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:47 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Forsyth County were on the road by 7:46 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across North Carolina, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Forsyth County now leave 8 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Forsyth County's commute time compare?
Metric
Forsyth County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.0 min
21.9 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 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
14.5%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.4%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.7%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Forsyth County is 20.0 minutes, shorter than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as North Carolina. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Forsyth County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Forsyth County, NC is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 389,752 residents against a local median of 45,181. Forsyth County, NC's work from home, at 14.5%, runs 64% above the 8.8% typical of the counties around it.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.0 min against a local median of 25.1 min, 20% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 20% below the local median it puts Forsyth County, NC at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 8.3% on work from home, so Forsyth County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Forsyth County, NC has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Forsyth County, North Carolina.
Is commuting expensive in Forsyth County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 167 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,167 at a typical national wage. That's 8% less than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Forsyth County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Forsyth 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.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in North Carolina?
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).