Commuting in Oconee 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, 8:22 PM
Is the commute in Oconee County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:22 PM
Commute Time Burden in Oconee County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Oconee County spend about 37 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 154 hours, about 6.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 17% less time on the road than the South Carolina average of 22.3 minutes each way, a difference of 3.8 minutes.
Oconee County holds about 1.5% of South Carolina's population but accounts for roughly 1.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Oconee County would save about 62 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,913 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)
Oconee County
18.5 min
37.0 min
154 hrs/yr
$4,784
901
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
18.5
minutes to get to work in
Oconee County.
That's 17% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 5 fastest counties in South Carolina
The most common departure window is 07:00 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 9.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Oconee County
Car:
87.0%
Worked at Home:
9.9%
Walked:
1.3%
Other:
1.3%
Public Transportation:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Oconee County: 6.3 times less than the South Carolina average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Biking is essentially absent in Oconee County, versus 0.2% in South Carolina.
Commute Mode Trends in Oconee County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Oconee 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
Public Transportation
Motorcycle
Taxi
Bicycle
2009
93.5%
2.9%
1.7%
1.0%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.3%
2010
93.2%
3.2%
1.7%
0.9%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
2011
92.8%
3.2%
2.1%
0.8%
0.7%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
2012
92.8%
3.8%
1.5%
0.8%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2013
93.5%
3.6%
1.3%
0.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2014
94.3%
3.1%
1.2%
0.6%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
2015
94.8%
2.9%
1.0%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2016
94.1%
3.3%
0.9%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2017
94.0%
3.4%
1.1%
0.8%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2018
94.3%
3.0%
1.0%
0.7%
0.8%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
94.4%
3.4%
1.0%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
92.1%
5.6%
1.0%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2021
91.4%
6.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
2022
90.4%
6.7%
1.2%
1.1%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
88.4%
8.6%
1.1%
1.4%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
87.0%
9.9%
1.3%
1.3%
0.3%
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 peaked in 2015 at 94.8%. Overall it fell from 93.5% in 2009 to 87.0% in 2024, down 6.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Oconee County: its share of workers rose from 2.9% in 2009 to 9.9% in 2024, up 7.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 6.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Commute Start Times in Oconee County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Oconee County?
The bars show when commuters in Oconee 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
12:00-4:59 AMOconee County2.8%South Carolina5.0%
2.8%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMOconee County3.0%South Carolina3.7%
3.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMOconee County4.9%South Carolina4.6%
4.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMOconee County11.4%South Carolina9.1%
11.4%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMOconee County9.8%South Carolina10.5%
9.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMOconee County13.2%South Carolina15.3%
13.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMOconee County13.2%South Carolina12.6%
13.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMOconee County10.4%South Carolina11.1%
10.4%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMOconee County4.1%South Carolina5.2%
4.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMOconee County6.6%South Carolina6.1%
6.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMOconee County3.0%South Carolina2.7%
3.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMOconee County1.6%South Carolina1.2%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMOconee County8.1%South Carolina6.3%
8.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMOconee County8.1%South Carolina6.6%
8.1%
Oconee CountySouth CarolinaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Oconee County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 13.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across South Carolina. Early starts are less common than in South Carolina: 10.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 13.2% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in South Carolina: 46.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.6% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (27.3%) 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 Oconee 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 Oconee 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 Oconee 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
Oconee County
South Carolina
United States
2009
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:35 AM
7:37 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:35 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:32 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:32 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:33 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:34 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:37 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:41 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Oconee County were on the road by 7:41 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:36 AM). That goes against the trend across South Carolina, where the typical commuter now leaves 2 minutes earlier than in 2009. Commuters in Oconee County now leave 3 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 Oconee County has moved 10 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Oconee County in the whole series.
How does Oconee County's commute time compare?
Metric
Oconee County
South Carolina
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.5 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
9.9%
11.5%
15.0%
Walked
1.3%
1.6%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
0.4%
3.2%
The average commute time in Oconee County is 18.5 minutes, shorter than the 22.3 minutes in South Carolina.
0.3% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.4% in South Carolina. 1.3% commute by walking, lower than the 1.6% in South Carolina.
Oconee County, SC Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Oconee County, SC is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 80,589 residents against a local median of 26,939. Oconee County, SC sits close to the middle of its own neighbourhood. No measure below is more than 15% off the local median, so the choice between these counties turns on things this data does not capture.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 10% below the local median at 18.5 min against 20.5 min. Oconee County, SC has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Oconee County, South Carolina.
Is commuting expensive in Oconee County, South Carolina?
Commuters here spend an estimated 154 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,784 at a typical national wage. That's 17% less than the typical South Carolina commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Oconee County, South Carolina?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Oconee County, South Carolina. 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.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in South Carolina?
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).