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Harlan County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Harlan County, Nebraska: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 8:31 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Harlan County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:31 PM

Commute Time Burden in Harlan County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Harlan County spend about 25 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 103 hours, about 4.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 27% less time on the road than the Nebraska average of 17.0 minutes each way, a difference of 4.6 minutes.

Harlan County holds about 0.1% of Nebraska's population and accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Harlan County would save about 41 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,279 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)
Harlan County 12.4 min 24.8 min 103 hrs/yr $3,197 143
Nebraska 17.0 min 34.0 min 142 hrs/yr $4,390 691
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.

Commute Time Map: Nebraska Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in Nebraska
  1. Hooker County (7.4 min)
  2. Cherry County (8.0 min)
  3. Box Butte County (8.0 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Nebraska
  1. Cass County (28.0 min)
  2. Banner County (27.2 min)
  3. Saunders County (26.9 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Harlan County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 12.4 minutes to get to work in Harlan County. That's 45% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 8.5% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Harlan County

  • Car: 84.7%
  • Worked at Home: 8.5%
  • Walked: 6.3%
  • Other: 0.3%
  • Bicycle: 0.3%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Harlan County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.

Public transit is essentially absent in Harlan County, versus 0.5% in Nebraska.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Harlan County, versus 0.1% in Nebraska.

Commute Mode Trends in Harlan County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Harlan 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 Bicycle Other Public Transportation Taxi Motorcycle
2009 89.2% 5.0% 4.0% 0.6% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.7%
2010 88.4% 6.9% 2.6% 0.6% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.8%
2011 86.4% 9.4% 2.1% 0.6% 0.8% 0.1% 0.0% 0.6%
2012 86.5% 9.5% 2.2% 0.8% 0.6% 0.1% 0.0% 0.3%
2013 88.2% 8.6% 2.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1%
2014 84.9% 10.9% 3.1% 0.6% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1%
2015 87.6% 7.4% 4.0% 0.5% 0.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1%
2016 88.8% 6.0% 4.2% 0.4% 0.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1%
2017 89.0% 5.8% 4.3% 0.5% 0.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2018 88.6% 6.5% 3.9% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2019 91.8% 4.0% 3.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 92.7% 4.7% 2.0% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 92.9% 3.8% 2.7% 0.3% 0.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 91.2% 5.1% 2.9% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 87.6% 6.0% 5.5% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 84.7% 8.5% 6.3% 0.3% 0.3% 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 2021 at 92.9%. Overall it fell from 89.2% in 2009 to 84.7% in 2024, down 4.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 3 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Harlan County: its share of workers rose from 5.0% in 2009 to 8.5% in 2024, up 3.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Riding a motorcycle lost the most ground, falling from 0.7% to 0.0% of workers (down 0.7 percentage points).

Working from home peaked at 10.9% in 2014 and has since fallen back to 8.5%.

Commute Start Times in Harlan County

  • Night OwlThe 2nd-latest start among Nebraska's 93 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:50 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Harlan County?

The bars show when commuters in Harlan 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 Nebraska for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM
2.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
2.1%
5:30-5:59 AM
4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM
7.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
13.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
21.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
16.9%
8:30-8:59 AM
6.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
7.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
1.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
6.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
3.5%

Harlan County Nebraska Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Harlan County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 21.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 16.7% across Nebraska. Early starts are less common than in Nebraska: 9.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 12.6% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Nebraska: 58.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 53.1% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.4%) 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 Harlan 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 Harlan 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 Harlan County next to Nebraska 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 Harlan County Nebraska United States
2009 7:46 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:43 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:34 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:36 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:36 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:36 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:38 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:42 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:42 AM 7:36 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:41 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:40 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:41 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:42 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:40 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:44 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:50 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Harlan County were on the road by 7:50 AM, 3 minutes later than in 2009 (7:46 AM). That goes against the trend across Nebraska, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Harlan County now leave 12 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 Harlan County has moved 10 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Harlan County in the whole series.

How does Harlan County's commute time compare?

Metric Harlan County Nebraska US Average
Avg. Commute Time 12.4 min 17.0 min 22.4 min
Departure Window 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 8.5% 11.1% 15.0%
Walked 6.3% 2.3% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.5% 3.2%

The average commute time in Harlan County is 12.4 minutes, shorter than the 17.0 minutes in Nebraska.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.5% in Nebraska. 6.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.3% in Nebraska.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Harlan County, NE Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Harlan County, NE is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 2,847 residents against a local median of 4,568. Where Harlan County, NE breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 51% above the local median of 5.6% at 8.5%.

The counties themselves spread 3.6% on work from home, so Harlan County, NE sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Harlan County, NE has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Harlan County, NE 2,847 12.4 min #3/6 8.5% #1/6 7:50 AM #6/6
Phelps County, NE 9,009 9.0 min 5.6% 7:32 AM
Phillips County, KS 4,813 12.7 min 7.9% 7:41 AM
Franklin County, NE 2,846 15.4 min 4.3% 7:33 AM
Furnas County, NE 4,568 11.3 min 5.5% 7:29 AM
Gosper County, NE 2,040 20.1 min 6.9% 7:20 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Harlan County, Nebraska.

Is commuting expensive in Harlan County, Nebraska?

Commuters here spend an estimated 103 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,197 at a typical national wage. That's 27% less than the typical Nebraska commuter spends.

What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Harlan County, Nebraska?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Harlan County, Nebraska. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Do people use public transit in Harlan County, Nebraska?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.5% in Nebraska, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Nebraska?

Among counties in Nebraska, the shortest average commutes are in Hooker County (7.4 min), Cherry County (8.0 min), Box Butte County (8.0 min). The longest are in Cass County (28.0 min), Banner County (27.2 min), Saunders County (26.9 min).