Commuting in McKinley 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, 8:25 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in McKinley County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:25 PM
Commute Time Burden in McKinley County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in McKinley County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 170 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 8% more time on the road than the New Mexico average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 1.5 minutes.
McKinley County holds about 3.3% of New Mexico's population but accounts for roughly 3.6% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in McKinley County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,104 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)
McKinley County
20.4 min
40.7 min
170 hrs/yr
$5,260
235
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
20.4
minutes to get to work in
McKinley County.
That's 9% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 75% of counties in New Mexico
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 8.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in McKinley County
Car:
87.6%
Worked at Home:
8.9%
Walked:
1.4%
Public Transportation:
1.1%
Other:
0.9%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in McKinley County, versus 0.1% in New Mexico.
Biking is unusually rare in McKinley County: 39.6 times less than the New Mexico average (0.0% vs 0.5%).
Commute Mode Trends in McKinley County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in McKinley 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
Public Transportation
Other
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
84.9%
9.7%
2.6%
0.1%
2.4%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2010
84.8%
9.9%
2.6%
0.3%
2.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
84.0%
9.9%
3.4%
0.2%
2.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
84.5%
10.1%
3.8%
0.2%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
84.2%
10.5%
3.6%
0.2%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2014
83.3%
11.4%
3.5%
0.2%
1.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2015
83.9%
10.4%
3.5%
0.4%
1.4%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2016
84.7%
9.5%
3.8%
0.6%
1.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.3%
2017
84.6%
9.5%
3.7%
0.6%
1.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
84.3%
9.1%
4.4%
0.8%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2019
83.8%
9.5%
4.3%
1.1%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
83.0%
10.2%
4.0%
1.6%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
82.0%
11.7%
3.6%
1.6%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
85.1%
10.4%
2.7%
1.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
86.5%
9.6%
2.1%
1.1%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
87.6%
8.9%
1.4%
1.1%
0.9%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share bottomed out in 2021 at 82.0%. Overall it rose from 84.9% in 2009 to 87.6% in 2024, up 2.7 percentage points. It has risen in each of the last 3 releases.
Public transit gained the most ground in McKinley County: its share of workers rose from 0.1% in 2009 to 1.1% in 2024, up 1.0 percentage points.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.6% to 1.4% of workers (down 1.2 percentage points).
Public transit overtook riding a motorcycle to become the 4th most common choice in the 2010 release and has stayed ahead since.
Working from home peaked at 11.7% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 8.9%.
Commute Start Times in McKinley County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in McKinley County?
The bars show when commuters in McKinley 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 AMMcKinley County5.4%New Mexico4.6%
5.4%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMMcKinley County2.9%New Mexico3.5%
2.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMMcKinley County4.3%New Mexico5.1%
4.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMMcKinley County7.2%New Mexico8.7%
7.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMMcKinley County10.4%New Mexico10.1%
10.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMMcKinley County18.6%New Mexico15.5%
18.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMMcKinley County21.7%New Mexico14.8%
21.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMMcKinley County8.2%New Mexico11.1%
8.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMMcKinley County3.8%New Mexico4.5%
3.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMMcKinley County4.2%New Mexico6.0%
4.2%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMMcKinley County1.9%New Mexico3.1%
1.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMMcKinley County1.4%New Mexico1.3%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMMcKinley County5.5%New Mexico6.3%
5.5%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMMcKinley County4.3%New Mexico5.5%
4.3%
McKinley CountyNew MexicoSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in McKinley County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 21.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.8% across New Mexico. Early starts are about as common as in New Mexico: 12.5% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in New Mexico: 59.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.5% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (17.5%) 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 McKinley 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 McKinley 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 McKinley 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
McKinley County
New Mexico
United States
2009
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:34 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:33 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:34 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:39 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:40 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:39 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:38 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:36 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in McKinley County were on the road by 7:32 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:35 AM). New Mexico followed the same path, with the typical start moving 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in McKinley County now leave 6 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 McKinley County has moved 6 minutes earlier.
How does McKinley County's commute time compare?
Metric
McKinley County
New Mexico
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.4 min
18.8 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
8.9%
12.2%
15.0%
Walked
1.4%
1.9%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
0.6%
3.2%
The average commute time in McKinley County is 20.4 minutes, longer than the 18.8 minutes in New Mexico.
1.1% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.6% in New Mexico. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 1.9% in New Mexico.
McKinley County, NM Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
McKinley County, NM is typical in size for this group, 70,433 residents against a local median of 65,339, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. The measure that sets McKinley County, NM apart most is work from home: 8.9%, 34% below the local median of 13.4%.
The counties themselves spread 16.4% on work from home, so McKinley County, NM sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. McKinley County, NM has the 5th highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in McKinley County, New Mexico.
Is commuting expensive in McKinley County, New Mexico?
Commuters here spend an estimated 170 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,260 at a typical national wage. That's 8% more than the typical New Mexico commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in McKinley County, New Mexico?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in McKinley County, New Mexico. 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.
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).