Commuting in Wilson 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, 8:16 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Wilson County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:16 PM
Commute Time Burden in Wilson County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Wilson County spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 154 hours, about 6.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 16% less time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 3.4 minutes.
Wilson County holds about 0.7% of North Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 0.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Wilson County would save about 62 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,908 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)
Wilson County
18.5 min
36.9 min
154 hrs/yr
$4,769
1,002
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
18.5
minutes to get to work in
Wilson County.
That's 18% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 90% of counties in North Carolina
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Wilson County
Car:
89.4%
Worked at Home:
7.7%
Walked:
1.7%
Other:
0.7%
Taxi:
0.2%
Public Transportation:
0.2%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Wilson County: 3.7 times less than the North Carolina average (0.2% vs 0.7%).
Biking is unusually rare in Wilson County: 4.2 times less than the North Carolina average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Wilson County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Wilson 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
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
94.5%
1.1%
1.4%
0.7%
1.3%
0.7%
0.1%
0.3%
2010
94.7%
1.7%
1.5%
0.7%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
2011
94.4%
2.0%
1.8%
0.8%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
0.1%
2012
93.5%
2.2%
1.8%
1.1%
0.6%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
92.6%
2.2%
1.8%
2.5%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
2014
91.9%
2.5%
1.6%
3.1%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2015
92.1%
1.8%
1.7%
3.8%
0.2%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2016
91.2%
1.9%
1.6%
4.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.3%
0.1%
2017
92.6%
1.7%
1.3%
4.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
0.1%
2018
93.1%
2.0%
1.4%
3.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
93.0%
2.2%
1.3%
3.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
2020
92.7%
2.6%
1.6%
2.6%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
93.4%
3.4%
1.4%
1.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
91.9%
5.2%
1.4%
1.0%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
90.4%
6.5%
1.5%
1.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
89.4%
7.7%
1.7%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 94.7%. Overall it fell from 94.5% in 2009 to 89.4% in 2024, down 5.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Wilson County: its share of workers rose from 1.1% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2024, up 6.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 5.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.3% to 0.2% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Wilson County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Wilson County?
The bars show when commuters in Wilson 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 AMWilson County3.9%North Carolina4.4%
3.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMWilson County3.6%North Carolina3.5%
3.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMWilson County4.8%North Carolina4.6%
4.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMWilson County10.7%North Carolina9.0%
10.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMWilson County9.2%North Carolina10.2%
9.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMWilson County14.7%North Carolina15.3%
14.7%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMWilson County13.0%North Carolina12.8%
13.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMWilson County11.9%North Carolina11.7%
11.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMWilson County5.3%North Carolina5.4%
5.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMWilson County4.1%North Carolina6.4%
4.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMWilson County3.1%North Carolina2.8%
3.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMWilson County1.0%North Carolina1.4%
1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMWilson County7.3%North Carolina6.3%
7.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMWilson County7.5%North Carolina6.4%
7.5%
Wilson CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Wilson County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across North Carolina. Early starts are about as common as in North Carolina: 12.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.5% there. The morning rush looks much like North Carolina's: 48.7% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 50.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.0%) 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 Wilson 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 Wilson 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 Wilson 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
Wilson County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:39 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:38 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Wilson County were on the road by 7:37 AM, 2 minutes later than in 2009 (7:35 AM). North Carolina followed the same path, with the typical start moving 1 minute later. Commuters in Wilson County now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Wilson County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Wilson County's commute time compare?
Metric
Wilson County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.5 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
7.7%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Wilson County is 18.5 minutes, shorter than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in North Carolina. 1.7% commute by walking, higher than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Wilson County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Wilson County, NC is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 79,278 residents against a local median of 96,212. Nothing separates Wilson County, NC sharply from the counties around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 10% below the local median at 18.5 min against 20.5 min. Wilson County, NC has the lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Wilson County, North Carolina.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Wilson County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 154 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,769 at a typical national wage. That's 16% less than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Wilson County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Wilson County, North Carolina. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Wilson County, North Carolina?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.2% of commuters use it versus 0.7% in North Carolina, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
How do commute times compare across 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).