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Marion County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/24/26, 8:21 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Marion County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:21 PM

Commute Time Burden in Marion County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Marion County spend about 57 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 238 hours, about 9.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 28% more time on the road than the South Carolina average of 22.3 minutes each way, a difference of 6.2 minutes.

Marion County holds about 0.5% of South Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 0.7% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Marion County would save about 95 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,947 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)
Marion County 28.5 min 57.0 min 238 hrs/yr $7,367 677
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.

Commute Time Map: South Carolina Counties

Fastest commutes among counties in South Carolina
  1. Greenwood County (16.5 min)
  2. Sumter County (18.2 min)
  3. Florence County (18.3 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in South Carolina
  1. McCormick County (33.9 min)
  2. Fairfield County (30.8 min)
  3. Chester County (30.6 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Marion County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 28.5 minutes to get to work in Marion County. That's 27% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Slower than 78% of counties in South Carolina

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 5.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Marion County

  • Car: 93.4%
  • Worked at Home: 5.2%
  • Other: 0.8%
  • Walked: 0.5%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1%
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Public transit is essentially absent in Marion County, versus 0.4% in South Carolina.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Marion County, versus 0.2% in South Carolina.

Biking is essentially absent in Marion County, versus 0.2% in South Carolina.

Few people walk or bike to work in Marion County: just 0.5%, 3.3 times below the South Carolina average of 1.8%.

Commute Mode Trends in Marion County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Marion 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 Other Walked Motorcycle Public Transportation Taxi Bicycle
2009 91.3% 4.3% 0.9% 1.6% 0.3% 1.4% 0.0% 0.1%
2010 90.7% 4.9% 1.0% 1.5% 0.3% 1.3% 0.1% 0.1%
2011 91.5% 4.7% 1.0% 1.4% 0.3% 1.0% 0.1% 0.1%
2012 92.8% 4.0% 0.8% 1.0% 0.3% 0.8% 0.1% 0.1%
2013 93.8% 3.6% 0.6% 0.9% 0.0% 1.0% 0.1% 0.1%
2014 94.4% 3.3% 0.7% 1.0% 0.0% 0.6% 0.1% 0.0%
2015 96.1% 2.2% 0.6% 0.8% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
2016 95.3% 2.9% 0.5% 1.0% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2017 96.0% 1.9% 0.4% 0.7% 0.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2018 96.3% 1.9% 0.4% 0.5% 0.0% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0%
2019 95.8% 1.9% 0.7% 0.8% 0.0% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 95.3% 2.4% 0.7% 0.5% 0.0% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 96.1% 1.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 96.4% 1.9% 1.1% 0.4% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 93.3% 4.5% 1.2% 1.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 93.4% 5.2% 0.8% 0.5% 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 2022 at 96.4% and lowest in 2010 at 90.7%. Overall it rose from 91.3% in 2009 to 93.4% in 2024, up 2.1 percentage points.

Working from home gained the most ground in Marion County: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 5.2% in 2024, up 0.9 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.4% to 0.0% of workers (down 1.4 percentage points).

Commute Start Times in Marion County

  • Hitting SnoozeThe biggest shift to later mornings among South Carolina's 46 counties: the typical start is 19 minutes later than in 2009.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Marion County?

The bars show when commuters in Marion 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.

12:00-4:59 AM
7.9%
5:00-5:29 AM
1.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
2.3%
6:00-6:29 AM
12.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
15.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
10.6%
8:00-8:29 AM
14.8%
8:30-8:59 AM
4.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
7.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
0.8%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.8%
12:00-3:59 PM
7.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
7.9%

Marion County South Carolina Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Marion County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across South Carolina. Early starts are less common than in South Carolina: 12.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.2% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in South Carolina: 47.0% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.6%) 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 Marion 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 Marion 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 Marion 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 Marion County South Carolina United States
2009 7:24 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:25 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:22 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:21 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:23 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:25 AM 7:37 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:29 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:32 AM 7:36 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:27 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:25 AM 7:34 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:20 AM 7:33 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:15 AM 7:32 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:14 AM 7:33 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:26 AM 7:34 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:29 AM 7:34 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:42 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Marion County were on the road by 7:42 AM, 19 minutes later than in 2009 (7:24 AM). That goes against the trend across South Carolina, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Marion County now leave 4 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 Marion County has moved 22 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Marion County in the whole series.

How does Marion County's commute time compare?

Metric Marion County South Carolina US Average
Avg. Commute Time 28.5 min 22.3 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 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 5.2% 11.5% 15.0%
Walked 0.5% 1.6% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.4% 3.2%

The average commute time in Marion County is 28.5 minutes, longer than the 22.3 minutes in South Carolina.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.4% in South Carolina. 0.5% commute by walking, lower than the 1.6% in South Carolina.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Marion County, SC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Marion County, SC is typical in size for this group, 28,664 residents against a local median of 30,282, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Marion County, SC breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 35% above the local median of 21.1 min at 28.5 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 5.2% against a local median of 6.8%, 23% below it. The counties themselves spread 11.7 min on one-way commute, so Marion County, SC sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Marion County, SC has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Marion County, SC 28,664 28.5 min #5/6 5.2% #4/6 7:42 AM #4/6
Dillon County, SC 27,862 21.1 min 4.0% 7:36 AM
Florence County, SC 137,115 18.3 min 9.1% 7:41 AM
Horry County, SC 382,931 20.9 min 11.0% 7:57 AM
Williamsburg County, SC 30,282 30.0 min 6.8% 7:08 AM
Marlboro County, SC 25,963 22.3 min 3.2% 7:45 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Marion County, South Carolina.

Is living in Marion County, South Carolina good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 238 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,367 at a typical national wage. That's 28% more than the typical South Carolina commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Marion County, South Carolina?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Marion County, South Carolina. 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 Marion County, South Carolina?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.4% in South Carolina, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

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).