Commuting in Harnett 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, 8:19 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Harnett County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:19 PM
Commute Time Burden in Harnett County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Harnett County spend about 61 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 255 hours, about 10.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 40% more time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 8.8 minutes.
Harnett County holds about 1.3% of North Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 1.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Harnett County would save about 102 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,163 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)
Harnett County
30.6 min
61.2 min
255 hrs/yr
$7,908
1,366
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
30.6
minutes to get to work in
Harnett County.
That's 37% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 95% of counties in North Carolina
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 8.8% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Harnett County
Car:
88.8%
Worked at Home:
8.8%
Walked:
1.4%
Other:
0.7%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public transit is unusually rare in Harnett County: 9.1 times less than the North Carolina average (0.1% vs 0.7%).
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Harnett County: 722.5 times less than the North Carolina average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Harnett County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Harnett 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
93.1%
3.0%
1.9%
1.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
2010
94.0%
2.7%
1.4%
1.3%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2011
94.7%
2.5%
1.3%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2012
94.5%
2.9%
1.3%
0.9%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2013
94.3%
3.1%
1.2%
0.8%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
94.8%
2.9%
1.0%
0.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
94.7%
3.0%
1.0%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
0.4%
0.0%
2016
94.6%
3.1%
1.1%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2017
94.5%
3.2%
1.0%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.0%
2018
94.8%
3.0%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2019
94.4%
3.4%
1.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2020
93.7%
3.6%
1.3%
1.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
92.6%
4.9%
1.4%
0.9%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
92.0%
5.5%
1.6%
0.8%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
90.3%
7.0%
1.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
88.8%
8.8%
1.4%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2014 at 94.8%. Overall it fell from 93.1% in 2009 to 88.8% in 2024, down 4.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Harnett County: its share of workers rose from 3.0% in 2009 to 8.8% in 2024, up 5.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.4 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 Harnett County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Harnett County?
The bars show when commuters in Harnett 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.
Harnett CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Harnett County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across North Carolina. Early starts are more common than in North Carolina: 19.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in North Carolina: 47.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (17.9%) 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 Harnett 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 Harnett 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 Harnett 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
Harnett County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:14 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:13 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:13 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:12 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:14 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:15 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:13 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:12 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:10 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:08 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:08 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:13 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:14 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:15 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:15 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:16 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Harnett County were on the road by 7:16 AM, 2 minutes later than in 2009 (7:14 AM). North Carolina followed the same path, with the typical start moving 1 minute later. Commuters in Harnett County now leave 21 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 Harnett County has moved 9 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Harnett County in the whole series.
How does Harnett County's commute time compare?
Metric
Harnett County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
30.6 min
21.9 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
06:00 AM – 06:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
8.8%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.4%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Harnett County is 30.6 minutes, longer than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in North Carolina. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Harnett County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Harnett County, NC is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 139,132 residents against a local median of 80,150. The measure that sets Harnett County, NC apart most is one-way commute: 30.6 min, 34% above the local median of 22.9 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves spread 8.9 min on one-way commute, so Harnett County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Harnett County, NC has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Harnett County, North Carolina.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Harnett County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 255 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,908 at a typical national wage. That's 40% more than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Harnett County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Harnett County, North Carolina. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in Harnett County, North Carolina?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.1% of commuters use it versus 0.7% in North Carolina, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
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).