Commuting in Yancey 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 Yancey County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 6:24 PM
Commute Time Burden in Yancey County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Yancey County spend about 47 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 196 hours, about 8.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% more time on the road than the North Carolina average of 21.9 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.
Yancey County holds about 0.2% of North Carolina's population and accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Yancey County would save about 78 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,425 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)
Yancey County
23.5 min
46.9 min
196 hrs/yr
$6,062
396
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
23.5
minutes to get to work in
Yancey County.
That's 5% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 11.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Yancey County
Car:
85.6%
Worked at Home:
11.7%
Walked:
1.5%
Other:
1.2%
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 Yancey County, versus 0.1% in North Carolina.
Public transit is unusually rare in Yancey County: 8.4 times less than the North Carolina average (0.1% vs 0.7%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Yancey County, versus 0.2% in North Carolina.
Biking is essentially absent in Yancey County, versus 0.2% in North Carolina.
Commute Mode Trends in Yancey County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Yancey 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
91.0%
2.9%
5.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2010
92.5%
3.4%
3.3%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2011
89.3%
3.7%
5.4%
1.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
89.4%
5.1%
4.4%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2013
90.0%
5.6%
3.5%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2014
88.8%
6.0%
4.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
88.8%
6.5%
3.8%
0.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
89.6%
5.6%
3.6%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2017
90.9%
5.1%
2.8%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2018
91.3%
3.9%
2.4%
2.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2019
91.2%
5.5%
1.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2020
89.1%
6.4%
1.1%
3.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2021
89.6%
7.0%
0.6%
2.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
89.0%
7.3%
0.9%
2.7%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
87.7%
8.7%
1.4%
2.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
85.6%
11.7%
1.5%
1.2%
0.1%
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 peaked in 2010 at 92.5%. Overall it fell from 91.0% in 2009 to 85.6% in 2024, down 5.4 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Yancey County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 11.7% in 2024, up 8.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.2 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 5.4% to 1.5% of workers (down 3.9 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2012 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Yancey County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Yancey County?
The bars show when commuters in Yancey 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 AMYancey County7.1%North Carolina4.4%
7.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMYancey County2.2%North Carolina3.5%
2.2%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMYancey County5.8%North Carolina4.6%
5.8%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMYancey County9.9%North Carolina9.0%
9.9%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMYancey County12.4%North Carolina10.2%
12.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMYancey County16.9%North Carolina15.3%
16.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMYancey County11.8%North Carolina12.8%
11.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMYancey County7.4%North Carolina11.7%
7.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMYancey County4.8%North Carolina5.4%
4.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMYancey County7.2%North Carolina6.4%
7.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMYancey County1.3%North Carolina2.8%
1.3%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMYancey County1.5%North Carolina1.4%
1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMYancey County6.0%North Carolina6.3%
6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMYancey County5.7%North Carolina6.4%
5.7%
Yancey CountyNorth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Yancey County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 16.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across North Carolina. Early starts are more common than in North Carolina: 15.1% 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 5 commuters (21.7%) 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 Yancey 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 Yancey 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 Yancey 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
Yancey County
North Carolina
United States
2009
7:25 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:24 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:24 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:22 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:14 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:19 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:23 AM
7:38 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:19 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:25 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:29 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:28 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:22 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Yancey County were on the road by 7:22 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:25 AM). That goes against the trend across North Carolina, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Yancey County now leave 16 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 Yancey County has moved 6 minutes earlier.
How does Yancey County's commute time compare?
Metric
Yancey County
North Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
23.5 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
06:30 AM – 06:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
11.7%
16.3%
15.0%
Walked
1.5%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.7%
3.2%
The average commute time in Yancey County is 23.5 minutes, longer than the 21.9 minutes in North Carolina.
0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.7% in North Carolina. 1.5% commute by walking, lower than the 1.6% in North Carolina.
Yancey County, NC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Yancey County, NC is typical in size for this group, 18,788 residents against a local median of 21,867, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Yancey County, NC's work from home, at 11.7%, runs 62% above the 7.2% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 11.6% on work from home, so Yancey County, NC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Yancey County, NC has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Yancey County, North Carolina.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Yancey County, North Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 196 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $6,062 at a typical national wage. That's 7% more than the typical North Carolina commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Yancey County, North Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Yancey County, North Carolina. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Yancey 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.
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).