Carter County Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Carter County, Tennessee: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Carter County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Carter County spend about 44 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 182 hours, about 7.6 full days, spent commuting. That is 3% less time on the road than the Tennessee average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 0.6 minutes.
Carter County holds about 0.8% of Tennessee's population and accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Carter County would save about 73 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,255 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter County | 21.8 min | 43.6 min | 182 hrs/yr | $5,638 | 1,102 |
| Tennessee | 22.4 min | 44.8 min | 187 hrs/yr | $5,785 | 1,225 |
| 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: Tennessee Counties
- Dyer County (15.9 min)
- Henry County (16.7 min)
- Obion County (17.1 min)
- Cannon County (33.3 min)
- Union County (33.2 min)
- Fayette County (33.1 min)
Compare commute times among different counties
On average, it takes 21.8 minutes to get to work in Carter County. That's 3% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 7.2% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Carter County
- Car: 90.1%
- Worked at Home: 7.2%
- Walked: 1.2%
- Other: 1.0%
- Public Transportation: 0.4%
- Motorcycle: 0.1% unusually high
- Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
- Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is unusually common in Carter County: 3.4 times more than the Tennessee average (0.1% vs 0.0%).
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Carter County, versus 0.1% in Tennessee.
Biking is essentially absent in Carter County, versus 0.1% in Tennessee.
Commute Mode Trends in Carter County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Carter 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Other | Public Transportation | Motorcycle | Taxi | Bicycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 92.9% | 3.9% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 92.3% | 4.7% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 92.3% | 4.5% | 1.4% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2012 | 92.4% | 4.4% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 91.5% | 5.0% | 1.2% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 92.4% | 4.7% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 92.7% | 4.1% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 92.2% | 4.7% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 92.9% | 4.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 92.7% | 4.1% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 93.1% | 4.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 93.1% | 4.6% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 92.7% | 4.9% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 91.1% | 6.2% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 91.0% | 6.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 90.1% | 7.2% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 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 2019 at 93.1%. Overall it fell from 92.9% in 2009 to 90.1% in 2024, down 2.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 4 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Carter County: its share of workers rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 7.2% in 2024, up 3.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 1.7% to 1.2% of workers (down 0.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Carter County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Carter County?
The bars show when commuters in Carter 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 Tennessee for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
| 12:00-4:59 AM |
12:00-4:59 AM
Carter County5.6%
Tennessee5.8%
|
5.6% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Carter County3.8%
Tennessee4.4%
|
3.8% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Carter County4.3%
Tennessee5.5%
|
4.3% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Carter County11.0%
Tennessee9.9%
|
11.0% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Carter County9.6%
Tennessee10.1%
|
9.6% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Carter County17.1%
Tennessee14.7%
|
17.1% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Carter County11.8%
Tennessee11.5%
|
11.8% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Carter County9.2%
Tennessee10.1%
|
9.2% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Carter County5.3%
Tennessee4.5%
|
5.3% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Carter County4.9%
Tennessee5.7%
|
4.9% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Carter County3.9%
Tennessee2.5%
|
3.9% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Carter County0.8%
Tennessee1.2%
|
0.8% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Carter County4.7%
Tennessee6.8%
|
4.7% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Carter County8.0%
Tennessee7.4%
|
8.0% |
Carter County Tennessee Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Carter County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.7% across Tennessee. Early starts are less common than in Tennessee: 13.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Tennessee's: 47.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.4% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (22.3%) 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 Carter 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 Carter 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 Carter County next to Tennessee 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Carter County | Tennessee | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7:32 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 7:33 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 7:35 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 7:35 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 7:38 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 7:38 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 7:39 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 7:37 AM | 7:30 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 7:35 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 7:37 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 7:30 AM | 7:28 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 7:27 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 7:29 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 7:27 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 7:27 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 7:28 AM | 7:29 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Carter County were on the road by 7:28 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:32 AM). Across Tennessee, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Carter County now leave 10 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 Carter County has moved 3 minutes earlier.
How does Carter County's commute time compare?
| Metric | Carter County | Tennessee | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 21.8 min | 22.4 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 | 7.2% | 12.9% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 1.2% | 1.2% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 0.4% | 0.4% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Carter County is about the same as in Tennessee.
The share of commuters using public transit is about the same as Tennessee. The share of commuters using walking is about the same as Tennessee.
Carter County, TN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Carter County, TN is the 2nd largest of the 5 counties compared here, 56,703 residents against a local median of 17,934. Where Carter County, TN breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 24% below the local median of 9.4% at 7.2%.
The counties themselves spread 3.4% on work from home, so Carter County, TN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Carter County, TN has the 5th highest work from home of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter County, TN | 56,703 | 21.8 min #5/5 | 7.2% #5/5 | 7:28 AM #3/5 |
| Mitchell County, NC | 14,959 | 21.2 min | 7.2% | 7:25 AM |
| Sullivan County, TN | 160,624 | 18.9 min | 10.6% | 7:44 AM |
| Avery County, NC | 17,672 | 21.8 min | 9.2% | 7:43 AM |
| Johnson County, TN | 18,196 | 18.4 min | 9.7% | 7:25 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Carter County, Tennessee.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Carter County, Tennessee?
Commuters here spend an estimated 182 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,638 at a typical national wage. That's 3% less than the typical Tennessee commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Carter County, Tennessee?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Carter County, Tennessee. 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.
How do commute times compare across counties in Tennessee?
Among counties in Tennessee, the shortest average commutes are in Dyer County (15.9 min), Henry County (16.7 min), Obion County (17.1 min). The longest are in Cannon County (33.3 min), Union County (33.2 min), Fayette County (33.1 min).