Pricing
Map Drive-Time Zone10-min drive time • PDF report

Grainger County Commute Time Map & Patterns

Help

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

You 9/24/26, 8:24 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Grainger County?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:24 PM

Commute Time Burden in Grainger County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Grainger County spend about 62 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 259 hours, about 10.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 39% more time on the road than the Tennessee average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 8.7 minutes.

Grainger County holds about 0.3% of Tennessee's population but accounts for roughly 0.5% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Grainger County would save about 104 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,218 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)
Grainger County 31.1 min 62.3 min 259 hrs/yr $8,044 908
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

Fastest commutes among counties in Tennessee
  1. Dyer County (15.9 min)
  2. Henry County (16.7 min)
  3. Obion County (17.1 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Tennessee
  1. Cannon County (33.3 min)
  2. Union County (33.2 min)
  3. Fayette County (33.1 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Grainger County
Click a county to open it Explore the map →
Average commute time

On average, it takes 31.1 minutes to get to work in Grainger County. That's 39% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Slower than 82% of counties in Tennessee

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 7.6% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Grainger County

  • Car: 90.2%
  • Worked at Home: 7.6%
  • Other: 1.5%
  • Walked: 0.5%
  • Bicycle: 0.2%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Grainger County, versus 0.0% in Tennessee.

Public transit is essentially absent in Grainger County, versus 0.4% in Tennessee.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Grainger County, versus 0.1% in Tennessee.

Commute Mode Trends in Grainger County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Grainger 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 Bicycle Public Transportation Taxi Motorcycle
2009 90.8% 6.1% 1.1% 1.2% 0.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1%
2010 92.2% 4.5% 0.5% 1.7% 0.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.1%
2011 93.8% 3.3% 0.5% 1.7% 0.0% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%
2012 94.7% 2.9% 0.6% 1.4% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
2013 95.2% 2.7% 0.7% 1.0% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0%
2014 96.1% 2.6% 0.5% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1%
2015 95.0% 3.5% 0.8% 0.3% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1%
2016 94.9% 2.7% 0.5% 1.1% 0.0% 0.6% 0.0% 0.2%
2017 92.8% 4.7% 0.5% 1.2% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.2%
2018 91.1% 6.3% 0.6% 1.3% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.2%
2019 91.1% 7.0% 0.3% 1.1% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 0.1%
2020 90.2% 8.4% 0.2% 0.7% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1%
2021 90.8% 8.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 92.0% 7.3% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 91.9% 7.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 90.2% 7.6% 1.5% 0.5% 0.2% 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 peaked in 2014 at 96.1%. Overall it fell from 90.8% in 2009 to 90.2% in 2024, down 0.6 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Grainger County: its share of workers rose from 6.1% in 2009 to 7.6% in 2024, up 1.5 percentage points.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 0.8% to 0.0% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).

Working from home peaked at 8.6% in 2021 and has since fallen back to 7.6%.

Commute Start Times in Grainger County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Grainger County?

The bars show when commuters in Grainger 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
6.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
6.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
7.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
14.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
11.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
17.2%
7:30-7:59 AM
8.9%
8:00-8:29 AM
6.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
3.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
2.4%
10:00-10:59 AM
1.6%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
5.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
9.4%

Grainger County Tennessee Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Grainger County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.7% across Tennessee. Early starts are more common than in Tennessee: 19.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.7% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Tennessee: 43.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.4% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.1%) 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 Grainger 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 Grainger 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 Grainger 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.

Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Show typical departure times by year
Year Grainger County Tennessee United States
2009 7:13 AM 7:30 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:11 AM 7:30 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:11 AM 7:30 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:12 AM 7:30 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:14 AM 7:30 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:16 AM 7:30 AM 7:39 AM
2015 7:15 AM 7:30 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:18 AM 7:30 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:18 AM 7:29 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:15 AM 7:29 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:19 AM 7:28 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:18 AM 7:29 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:14 AM 7:29 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:15 AM 7:29 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:14 AM 7:29 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:08 AM 7:29 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Grainger County were on the road by 7:08 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:13 AM). Across Tennessee, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Grainger County now leave 30 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 Grainger County has moved 11 minutes earlier. The 2024 release is the earliest typical start for Grainger County in the whole series.

How does Grainger County's commute time compare?

Metric Grainger County Tennessee US Average
Avg. Commute Time 31.1 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 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 7.6% 12.9% 15.0%
Walked 0.5% 1.2% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 0.4% 3.2%

The average commute time in Grainger County is 31.1 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in Tennessee.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.4% in Tennessee. 0.5% commute by walking, lower than the 1.2% in Tennessee.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Grainger County, TN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Grainger County, TN is the 4th largest of the 6 counties compared here, 24,266 residents against a local median of 32,466. Where Grainger County, TN breaks from the counties next to it is one-way commute, sitting 41% above the local median of 22.0 min at 31.1 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 15.1 min on one-way commute, so Grainger County, TN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Grainger County, TN has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Grainger County, TN 24,266 31.1 min #5/6 7.6% #3/6 7:08 AM #1/6
Jefferson County, TN 56,834 27.7 min 6.9% 7:28 AM
Hamblen County, TN 65,669 18.1 min 5.4% 7:34 AM
Claiborne County, TN 32,466 20.6 min 10.4% 7:24 AM
Union County, TN 20,431 33.2 min 11.5% 7:13 AM
Hancock County, TN 6,852 22.0 min 4.3% 7:30 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Grainger County, Tennessee.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Grainger County, Tennessee?

Commuters here spend an estimated 259 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $8,044 at a typical national wage. That's 39% more than the typical Tennessee commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Grainger County, Tennessee?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Grainger County, Tennessee. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Grainger County, Tennessee?

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

Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among 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).