Commuting in Guilford 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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Is the commute in Guilford County longer than the national average?
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Commute Time Burden in Guilford County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Guilford County spend about 38 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 157 hours, about 6.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 14% less time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 3.0 minutes.
Guilford County holds about 5.1% of North Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 4.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Guilford County would save about 63 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,952 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)
Guilford County
18.9 min
37.8 min
157 hrs/yr
$4,880
1,944
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
18.9
minutes to get to work in
Guilford County.
That's 16% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 80% 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 13.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Guilford County
Car:
81.7%
Worked at Home:
13.9%
Walked:
1.7%
Other:
1.2%
Public Transportation:
1.2%
Taxi:
0.2%
Bicycle:
0.1%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Guilford County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Guilford 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
91.5%
3.7%
1.7%
1.6%
1.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
2010
92.1%
3.5%
1.7%
1.5%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2011
91.6%
3.8%
1.8%
1.5%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2012
91.4%
3.9%
1.8%
1.7%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2013
91.3%
4.4%
1.6%
1.5%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2014
91.4%
4.5%
1.7%
1.4%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2015
91.1%
5.0%
1.6%
1.3%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2016
91.2%
5.2%
1.4%
1.2%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2017
91.2%
5.5%
1.3%
1.0%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2018
91.3%
5.4%
1.5%
0.9%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2019
90.5%
5.6%
1.6%
1.2%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
2020
89.0%
6.7%
1.8%
1.4%
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
2021
86.8%
8.7%
1.8%
1.5%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
2022
85.0%
10.2%
1.9%
1.4%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
2023
82.9%
12.1%
1.8%
1.5%
1.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2024
81.7%
13.9%
1.7%
1.2%
1.2%
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 92.1%. Overall it fell from 91.5% in 2009 to 81.7% in 2024, down 9.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Guilford County: its share of workers rose from 3.7% in 2009 to 13.9% in 2024, up 10.2 percentage points. Most of that increase, 8.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Guilford County
😴Sleeping InThe 3rd-highest share of 9 AM-or-later starts among North Carolina's 100 counties: 29.2% of commuters leave at 9 AM or later.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Guilford County?
The bars show when commuters in Guilford 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.
Guilford CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Guilford County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 14.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.8% across North Carolina. Early starts are less common than in North Carolina: 9.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush looks much like North Carolina's: 48.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (29.2%) 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 Guilford 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 Guilford 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 Guilford 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
Guilford County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:49 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:49 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:51 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:52 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:51 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:51 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:50 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:51 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:52 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:53 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:54 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:55 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Guilford County were on the road by 7:55 AM, 6 minutes later than in 2009 (7:49 AM). The shift is sharper than across North Carolina, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Guilford County now leave 17 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 Guilford County has moved 4 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Guilford County in the whole series.
How does Guilford County's commute time compare?
Metric
Guilford County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.9 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
13.9%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.2%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Guilford County is 18.9 minutes, shorter than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
1.2% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.7% in North Carolina. 1.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Guilford County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Guilford County, NC is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 547,431 residents against a local median of 173,005. Where Guilford County, NC breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 44% above the local median of 9.7% at 13.9%.
The counties themselves spread 7.5% on work from home, so Guilford County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Guilford County, NC has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Guilford County, North Carolina.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Guilford County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 157 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,880 at a typical national wage. That's 14% less than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Guilford County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Guilford 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.
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).