Commuting in Swain 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, 8:08 PM
How much time do drivers in Swain County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:08 PM
Commute Time Burden in Swain County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Swain County spend about 35 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 146 hours, about 6.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 20% less time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 4.3 minutes.
Swain County holds about 0.1% of North Carolina's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Swain County would save about 58 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,813 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)
Swain County
17.5 min
35.1 min
146 hrs/yr
$4,533
599
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
17.5
minutes to get to work in
Swain County.
That's 22% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest 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 6.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Swain County
Car:
90.3%
Worked at Home:
6.0%
Other:
2.1%
Walked:
1.6%
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Swain County, versus 0.1% in North Carolina.
Public transit is unusually rare in Swain County: 38.6 times less than the North Carolina average (0.0% vs 0.7%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Swain County, versus 0.2% in North Carolina.
Biking is essentially absent in Swain County, versus 0.2% in North Carolina.
Commute Mode Trends in Swain County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Swain 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
Other
Walked
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
94.3%
4.1%
0.3%
1.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2010
94.0%
4.4%
0.4%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2011
93.4%
4.4%
0.3%
1.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
93.4%
4.0%
0.0%
2.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
2013
95.5%
2.6%
0.0%
1.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
2014
96.3%
1.6%
0.0%
1.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.4%
0.3%
2015
95.9%
1.7%
0.3%
1.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
2016
95.5%
1.6%
0.7%
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
2017
95.4%
1.8%
1.1%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
2018
92.9%
3.6%
1.9%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2019
91.5%
4.4%
1.9%
1.4%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
90.8%
5.9%
1.3%
1.4%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
89.1%
7.6%
1.4%
1.0%
0.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
88.5%
7.3%
2.1%
1.3%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
90.1%
5.4%
1.9%
1.2%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
90.3%
6.0%
2.1%
1.6%
0.0%
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 2014 at 96.3% and lowest in 2022 at 88.5%. Overall it fell from 94.3% in 2009 to 90.3% in 2024, down 4.0 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 2 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Swain County: its share of workers rose from 4.1% in 2009 to 6.0% in 2024, up 1.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 1.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Working from home peaked at 7.6% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 6.0%.
Commute Start Times in Swain County
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe biggest shift to later mornings among North Carolina's 100 counties: the typical start is 23 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Swain County?
The bars show when commuters in Swain 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 AMSwain County2.1%North Carolina4.4%
2.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMSwain County3.7%North Carolina3.5%
3.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMSwain County5.2%North Carolina4.6%
5.2%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMSwain County7.0%North Carolina9.0%
7.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMSwain County9.2%North Carolina10.2%
9.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMSwain County13.2%North Carolina15.3%
13.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMSwain County18.0%North Carolina12.8%
18.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMSwain County12.7%North Carolina11.7%
12.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMSwain County5.5%North Carolina5.4%
5.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMSwain County7.1%North Carolina6.4%
7.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMSwain County1.5%North Carolina2.8%
1.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMSwain County2.6%North Carolina1.4%
2.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMSwain County5.5%North Carolina6.3%
5.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMSwain County6.7%North Carolina6.4%
6.7%
Swain CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Swain County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 18.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.8% across North Carolina. Early starts are less common than in North Carolina: 11.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in North Carolina: 53.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.4%) 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 Swain 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 Swain 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 Swain 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
Swain County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:23 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:19 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:21 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:18 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:22 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:24 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:24 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:27 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:46 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Swain County were on the road by 7:46 AM, 23 minutes later than in 2009 (7:23 AM). The shift is sharper than across North Carolina, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Swain County now leave 8 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 Swain County has moved 13 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Swain County in the whole series.
How does Swain County's commute time compare?
Metric
Swain County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
17.5 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
6.0%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.6%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Swain County is 17.5 minutes, shorter than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in North Carolina. The share of commuters using walking is about the same as North Carolina.
Swain County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Swain County, NC is the 5th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 14,014 residents against a local median of 43,786. Where Swain County, NC breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 23% below the local median of 7.8% at 6.0%.
The counties themselves spread 10.1% on work from home, so Swain County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Swain County, NC has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Swain County, North Carolina.
Is living in Swain County, North Carolina good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 146 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,533 at a typical national wage. That's 20% less than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Swain County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Swain 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.
Do people use public transit in Swain County, North Carolina?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% 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).