Commuting in Curry County, New Mexico: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:14 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Curry County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:14 PM
Commute Time Burden in Curry County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Curry County spend about 27 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 111 hours, about 4.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 29% less time on the road than the New Mexico average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 5.5 minutes.
Curry County holds about 2.2% of New Mexico's population but accounts for roughly 1.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Curry County would save about 44 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,379 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)
Curry County
13.3 min
26.7 min
111 hrs/yr
$3,448
618
New Mexico
18.8 min
37.7 min
157 hrs/yr
$4,866
619
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
13.3
minutes to get to work in
Curry County.
That's 40% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 3.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Curry County
Car:
93.5%
Worked at Home:
3.7%unusually low
Walked:
1.7%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Other:
0.2%
Public Transportation:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Curry County, versus 0.1% in New Mexico.
Working from home is unusually rare in Curry County: 3.3 times less than the New Mexico average (3.7% vs 12.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Curry County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Curry 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
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Other
Taxi
2009
92.3%
3.2%
2.8%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
0.5%
0.0%
2010
92.0%
3.5%
2.8%
0.3%
0.3%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
2011
93.4%
2.8%
2.5%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2012
93.4%
2.1%
2.6%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.9%
0.0%
2013
93.9%
1.7%
2.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.3%
1.1%
0.0%
2014
93.0%
1.8%
1.7%
0.4%
0.3%
0.7%
2.1%
0.0%
2015
93.2%
1.5%
2.1%
0.4%
0.3%
0.7%
1.8%
0.0%
2016
93.1%
1.3%
2.4%
0.3%
0.1%
0.7%
2.0%
0.0%
2017
94.1%
1.2%
1.9%
0.3%
0.1%
0.6%
1.8%
0.0%
2018
94.7%
1.2%
1.7%
0.4%
0.1%
0.6%
1.2%
0.0%
2019
95.1%
1.3%
1.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
1.0%
0.0%
2020
94.5%
1.8%
2.2%
0.4%
0.2%
0.3%
0.7%
0.0%
2021
95.0%
2.1%
1.5%
0.6%
0.2%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
2022
93.7%
2.7%
1.9%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2023
93.4%
3.1%
2.2%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.4%
0.0%
2024
93.5%
3.7%
1.7%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2019 at 95.1% and lowest in 2010 at 92.0%. Overall it rose from 92.3% in 2009 to 93.5% in 2024, up 1.2 percentage points.
Working from home gained the most ground in Curry County: its share of workers rose from 3.2% in 2009 to 3.7% in 2024, up 0.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.8% to 1.7% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Curry County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Curry County?
The bars show when commuters in Curry 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 New Mexico for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMCurry County5.9%New Mexico4.6%
5.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMCurry County5.0%New Mexico3.5%
5.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMCurry County4.6%New Mexico5.1%
4.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMCurry County10.2%New Mexico8.7%
10.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMCurry County12.2%New Mexico10.1%
12.2%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMCurry County17.2%New Mexico15.5%
17.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMCurry County15.7%New Mexico14.8%
15.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMCurry County7.1%New Mexico11.1%
7.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMCurry County3.8%New Mexico4.5%
3.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMCurry County3.5%New Mexico6.0%
3.5%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMCurry County1.4%New Mexico3.1%
1.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMCurry County0.7%New Mexico1.3%
0.7%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMCurry County5.7%New Mexico6.3%
5.7%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMCurry County7.2%New Mexico5.5%
7.2%
Curry CountyNew MexicoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Curry County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across New Mexico. Early starts are more common than in New Mexico: 15.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush looks much like New Mexico's: 52.2% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.5% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (18.4%) 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 Curry 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 Curry 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 Curry County next to New Mexico 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
Curry County
New Mexico
United States
2009
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:34 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:30 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:28 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:27 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:28 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:27 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:25 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:26 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:24 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:24 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:21 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Curry County were on the road by 7:21 AM, 18 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:39 AM). The shift is sharper than across New Mexico, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Curry County now leave 17 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 Curry County has moved 8 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Curry County in the whole series.
How does Curry County's commute time compare?
Metric
Curry County
New Mexico
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
13.3 min
18.8 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
3.7%
12.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.7%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in Curry County is 13.3 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in New Mexico.
0.2% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in New Mexico. 1.7% commute by walking, lower than the 1.9% in New Mexico.
Curry County, NM Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Curry County, NM is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 47,638 residents against a local median of 9,731. Curry County, NM's work from home, at 3.7%, runs 21% below the 4.6% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 4.6% on work from home, so Curry County, NM sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Curry County, NM has the 4th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Curry County, New Mexico.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Curry County, New Mexico?
Commuters here spend an estimated 111 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,448 at a typical national wage. That's 29% less than the typical New Mexico commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Curry County, New Mexico?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Curry County, New Mexico. 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.
How do commute times compare across counties in New Mexico?
Among counties in New Mexico, the shortest average commutes are in De Baca County (7.9 min), Quay County (8.0 min), Union County (8.3 min). The longest are in Torrance County (36.5 min), Mora County (30.1 min), Valencia County (30.1 min).