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Union County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 7:56 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Union County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 7:56 PM

Commute Time Burden in Union County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Union County spend about 17 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 70 hours, about 2.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 56% less time on the road than the New Mexico average of 18.8 minutes each way, a difference of 10.5 minutes.

Union County holds about 0.2% of New Mexico's population but accounts for roughly 0.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Union County would save about 28 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $862 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)
Union County 8.3 min 16.7 min 70 hrs/yr $2,155 92
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.

Commute Time Map: New Mexico Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in New Mexico
  1. De Baca County (7.9 min)
  2. Quay County (8.0 min)
  3. Union County (8.3 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in New Mexico
  1. Torrance County (36.5 min)
  2. Mora County (30.1 min)
  3. Valencia County (30.1 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Union County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 8.3 minutes to get to work in Union County. That's 63% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Among the top 3 fastest counties in New Mexico

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 6.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Union County

  • Car: 87.0%
  • Worked at Home: 6.2%
  • Walked: 5.5%
  • Motorcycle: 1.2% unusually high
  • Other: < 0.1%
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Union County: 9.2 times more than the New Mexico average (1.2% vs 0.1%).

Public transit is essentially absent in Union County, versus 0.6% in New Mexico.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Union County, versus 0.1% in New Mexico.

Biking is essentially absent in Union County, versus 0.5% in New Mexico.

Commute Mode Trends in Union County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Union 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 Motorcycle Other Public Transportation Taxi Bicycle
2009 89.8% 2.9% 5.1% 0.0% 0.2% 1.0% 0.0% 1.0%
2010 89.0% 3.7% 3.5% 0.0% 0.3% 1.3% 0.0% 2.1%
2011 89.6% 4.2% 2.3% 0.0% 0.4% 1.4% 0.0% 2.1%
2012 88.0% 5.9% 2.0% 0.0% 0.5% 2.0% 0.0% 1.7%
2013 92.3% 4.5% 1.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.4% 0.0% 0.5%
2014 91.4% 4.0% 1.3% 0.4% 0.4% 1.5% 0.0% 0.9%
2015 91.9% 3.5% 1.4% 0.4% 0.5% 1.2% 0.0% 1.2%
2016 90.5% 4.2% 1.6% 0.4% 1.0% 0.9% 0.0% 1.3%
2017 91.5% 1.5% 2.0% 0.5% 1.0% 0.9% 0.0% 2.5%
2018 88.9% 3.3% 3.1% 0.0% 1.1% 1.3% 0.0% 2.4%
2019 83.6% 6.5% 6.6% 0.0% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% 2.2%
2020 85.1% 6.5% 7.1% 0.0% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 86.0% 5.3% 8.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 85.2% 6.9% 7.1% 0.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 83.0% 8.3% 7.2% 0.8% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 87.0% 6.2% 5.5% 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 was highest in 2013 at 92.3% and lowest in 2023 at 83.0%. Overall it fell from 89.8% in 2009 to 87.0% in 2024, down 2.8 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Union County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 6.2% in 2024, up 3.3 percentage points.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.0% to 0.0% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).

Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2023 release and has stayed ahead since.

Walking peaked at 8.0% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 5.5%.

Commute Start Times in Union County

  • Earlier AlarmsThe biggest shift to earlier mornings among New Mexico's 33 counties: the typical start is 29 minutes earlier than in 2009.
  • Early BirdThe 3rd-earliest start among New Mexico's 33 counties: half of commuters are on the road by 7:12 AM.
  • Dawn PatrolThe 3rd-highest share of pre-6 AM departures among New Mexico's 33 counties: 21.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Union County?

The bars show when commuters in Union 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
11.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
2.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
7.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
8.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
12.7%
7:00-7:29 AM
18.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
10.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
12.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
2.6%
9:00-9:59 AM
2.3%
10:00-10:59 AM
2.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
2.1%
12:00-3:59 PM
2.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
3.5%

Union County New Mexico Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Union County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 18.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.5% across New Mexico. Early starts are more common than in New Mexico: 21.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.1% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in New Mexico: 54.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 51.5% there. About 1 in 8 commuters (13.1%) 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 Union 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 Union 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 Union 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 Union County New Mexico United States
2009 7:42 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:43 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:37 AM 7:36 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:42 AM 7:36 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:44 AM 7:36 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:44 AM 7:37 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:44 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:42 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:39 AM 7:36 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:40 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:34 AM 7:36 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:39 AM 7:35 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:27 AM 7:35 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:20 AM 7:35 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:11 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:12 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Union County were on the road by 7:12 AM, 29 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:42 AM). The shift is sharper than across New Mexico, where the typical start moved 2 minutes earlier. Commuters in Union County now leave 26 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 Union County has moved 22 minutes earlier.

How does Union County's commute time compare?

Metric Union County New Mexico US Average
Avg. Commute Time 8.3 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 06:30 AM – 06:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 6.2% 12.2% 15.0%
Walked 5.5% 1.9% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.6% 3.2%

The average commute time in Union County is 8.3 minutes, shorter than the 18.8 minutes in New Mexico.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.6% in New Mexico. 5.5% commute by walking, higher than the 1.9% in New Mexico.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Union County, NM Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Union County, NM is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 4,013 residents against a local median of 5,215. The measure that sets Union County, NM apart most is one-way commute: 8.3 min, 29% below the local median of 11.8 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 7.4 min on one-way commute, so Union County, NM sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Union County, NM has the 2nd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Union County, NM 4,013 8.3 min #2/6 6.2% #3/6 7:12 AM #1/6
Harding County, NM 741 11.9 min 2.8% 7:28 AM
Dallam County, TX 7,298 11.8 min 2.4% 7:41 AM
Cimarron County, OK 2,218 4.8 min 20.1% 7:39 AM
Las Animas County, CO 14,413 12.2 min 11.5% 7:48 AM
Hartley County, TX 5,215 8.7 min 5.5% 7:38 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Union County, New Mexico.

What is the financial impact of commuting in Union County, New Mexico?

Commuters here spend an estimated 70 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $2,155 at a typical national wage. That's 56% less than the typical New Mexico commuter spends.

What are the busiest morning travel hours in Union County, New Mexico?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Union County, New Mexico. 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.

Do people use public transit in Union County, New Mexico?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.6% in New Mexico, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

Which counties in New Mexico have the fastest and slowest commutes?

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).