Commuting in Beaufort County, South Carolina: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:10 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Beaufort County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Beaufort County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Beaufort County spend about 40 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 169 hours, about 7.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 9% less time on the road than the South Carolina average of 22.3 minutes each way, a difference of 2.0 minutes.
Beaufort County holds about 3.7% of South Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 3.4% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Beaufort County would save about 67 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,092 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)
Beaufort County
20.2 min
40.5 min
169 hrs/yr
$5,230
2,667
South Carolina
22.3 min
44.5 min
186 hrs/yr
$5,753
1,499
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
20.2
minutes to get to work in
Beaufort County.
That's 10% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest counties in South Carolina
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 13.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Beaufort County
Car:
82.0%
Worked at Home:
13.2%
Walked:
2.4%
Other:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.6%
Public Transportation:
0.5%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Beaufort County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Beaufort 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
Bicycle
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
87.2%
6.6%
3.4%
1.6%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
2010
87.1%
6.6%
3.6%
1.4%
0.4%
0.5%
0.1%
0.3%
2011
86.4%
6.8%
3.6%
1.8%
0.5%
0.5%
0.1%
0.4%
2012
85.9%
7.0%
3.6%
1.8%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.5%
2013
86.8%
6.4%
3.4%
1.7%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.3%
2014
87.1%
6.7%
2.7%
1.7%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
0.5%
2015
87.0%
6.9%
2.7%
1.6%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.4%
2016
87.9%
6.8%
2.4%
1.4%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.4%
2017
87.7%
7.0%
2.2%
1.8%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
2018
88.1%
7.4%
1.7%
1.5%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
2019
87.4%
8.4%
1.7%
1.4%
0.3%
0.5%
0.3%
0.1%
2020
87.6%
8.4%
1.6%
1.2%
0.3%
0.7%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
85.7%
9.8%
1.8%
1.2%
0.4%
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
2022
84.9%
11.0%
1.8%
0.9%
0.4%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
2023
84.4%
11.3%
2.1%
0.8%
0.4%
0.7%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
82.0%
13.2%
2.4%
1.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2018 at 88.1%. Overall it fell from 87.2% in 2009 to 82.0% in 2024, down 5.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Beaufort County: its share of workers rose from 6.6% in 2009 to 13.2% in 2024, up 6.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.4% to 2.4% of workers (down 1.0 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Beaufort County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Beaufort County?
The bars show when commuters in Beaufort 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 South Carolina for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
Beaufort CountySouth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Beaufort County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 15.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.6% across South Carolina. Early starts are less common than in South Carolina: 10.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.2% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in South Carolina: 53.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.6% 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 Beaufort 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 Beaufort 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 Beaufort County next to South 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
Beaufort County
South Carolina
United States
2009
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:40 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:40 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:41 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:43 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:42 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:41 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:43 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:41 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:41 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:43 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:45 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:43 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Beaufort County were on the road by 7:43 AM, almost exactly the same as in 2009. Across South Carolina, meanwhile, the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Beaufort County now leave 5 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Beaufort County's commute time compare?
Metric
Beaufort County
South Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
20.2 min
22.3 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
13.2%
11.5%
15.0%
Walked
2.4%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
0.4%
3.2%
The average commute time in Beaufort County is 20.2 minutes, shorter than the 22.3 minutes in South Carolina.
0.5% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.4% in South Carolina. 2.4% commute by walking, higher than the 1.6% in South Carolina.
Beaufort County, SC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Beaufort County, SC is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 195,246 residents against a local median of 38,792. The measure that sets Beaufort County, SC apart most is work from home: 13.2%, 103% above the local median of 6.5%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.2 min against a local median of 30.5 min, 34% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 34% below the local median it puts Beaufort County, SC at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 8.5% on work from home, so Beaufort County, SC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Beaufort County, SC has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Is living in Beaufort County, South Carolina good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 169 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,230 at a typical national wage. That's 9% less than the typical South Carolina commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Beaufort County, South Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Beaufort County, South Carolina. 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.
Which counties in South Carolina have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in South Carolina, the shortest average commutes are in Greenwood County (16.5 min), Sumter County (18.2 min), Florence County (18.3 min). The longest are in McCormick County (33.9 min), Fairfield County (30.8 min), Chester County (30.6 min).