Hamilton County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Hamilton 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, 2:22 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in Hamilton County?

Map AI 9/24/26, 2:22 PM

Commute Time Burden in Hamilton County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Hamilton County spend about 42 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 173 hours, about 7.2 full days, spent commuting. That is 7% less time on the road than the Tennessee average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 1.6 minutes.

Hamilton County holds about 5.3% of Tennessee's population but accounts for roughly 4.9% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Hamilton County would save about 69 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,145 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)
Hamilton County	20.8 min	41.5 min	173 hrs/yr	$5,364	2,050
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

Dyer County (15.9 min)
Henry County (16.7 min)
Obion County (17.1 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Tennessee

Cannon County (33.3 min)
Union County (33.2 min)
Fayette County (33.1 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Hamilton County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 20.8 minutes to get to work in Hamilton County. That's 7% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 78% of counties in Tennessee

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 14.3% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Hamilton County

Commute Mode Trends in Hamilton County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Hamilton 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	Public Transportation	Other	Taxi	Bicycle	Motorcycle
2009	93.1%	2.6%	2.2%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%
2010	93.3%	2.8%	2.0%	1.0%	0.4%	0.1%	0.2%	0.3%
2011	92.8%	3.0%	2.2%	1.0%	0.5%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%
2012	92.5%	3.2%	2.1%	1.0%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%	0.2%
2013	92.1%	3.8%	2.2%	0.8%	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%
2014	91.7%	4.2%	2.0%	0.8%	0.8%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
2015	91.5%	4.2%	2.1%	1.0%	0.8%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%
2016	91.0%	4.5%	2.1%	1.1%	0.8%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%
2017	90.8%	5.0%	2.2%	1.0%	0.6%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
2018	90.5%	5.3%	1.9%	1.1%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%
2019	90.3%	5.7%	1.8%	1.1%	0.6%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%
2020	89.3%	6.9%	1.7%	1.0%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
2021	87.1%	9.3%	1.7%	0.9%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
2022	85.2%	11.3%	1.7%	0.8%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
2023	83.7%	12.9%	1.6%	0.7%	0.7%	0.1%	0.2%	0.0%
2024	82.6%	14.3%	1.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2010 at 93.3%. Overall it fell from 93.1% in 2009 to 82.6% in 2024, down 10.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 14 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Hamilton County: its share of workers rose from 2.6% in 2009 to 14.3% in 2024, up 11.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 8.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.2% to 1.6% of workers (down 0.6 percentage points).

Commute Start Times in Hamilton County

Night OwlThe 3rd-latest start among Tennessee's 95 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 7:49 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Hamilton County?

The bars show when commuters in Hamilton 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		4.0%
5:00-5:29 AM		2.5%
5:30-5:59 AM		4.5%
6:00-6:29 AM		7.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		9.2%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.5%
7:30-7:59 AM		13.7%
8:00-8:29 AM		11.8%
8:30-8:59 AM		6.3%
9:00-9:59 AM		6.8%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.2%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM		7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM		8.0%

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

The busiest time to head out in Hamilton County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 13.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.5% across Tennessee. Early starts are less common than in Tennessee: 11.0% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 15.7% there. The morning rush looks much like Tennessee's: 48.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 46.4% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.9%) 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton 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	Hamilton County	Tennessee	United States
2009	7:45 AM	7:30 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:47 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:47 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:48 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:48 AM	7:30 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:46 AM	7:30 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:45 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:45 AM	7:30 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:44 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:43 AM	7:29 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:44 AM	7:28 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:45 AM	7:29 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:46 AM	7:29 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:48 AM	7:29 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:49 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:49 AM	7:29 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Hamilton County were on the road by 7:49 AM, 4 minutes later than in 2009 (7:45 AM). Across Tennessee, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Hamilton County now leave 11 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 Hamilton County has moved 5 minutes later.

How does Hamilton County's commute time compare?

Metric	Hamilton County	Tennessee	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	20.8 min	22.4 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	14.3%	12.9%	15.0%
Walked	1.6%	1.2%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.6%	0.4%	3.2%

The average commute time in Hamilton County is 20.8 minutes, shorter than the 22.4 minutes in Tennessee.

0.6% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.4% in Tennessee. 1.6% commute by walking, higher than the 1.2% in Tennessee.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Hamilton County, TN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Hamilton County, TN is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 375,392 residents against a local median of 68,548. Hamilton County, TN's work from home, at 14.3%, runs 58% above the 9.1% typical of the counties around it.

The counties themselves spread 11.7% on work from home, so Hamilton County, TN sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Hamilton County, TN has the 2nd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Hamilton County, TN	375,392	20.8 min #2/6	14.3% #2/6	7:49 AM #6/6
Catoosa County, GA	68,548	23.3 min	9.6%	7:27 AM
Bradley County, TN	110,691	18.9 min	9.1%	7:34 AM
Sequatchie County, TN	16,809	30.9 min	15.9%	6:40 AM
Bledsoe County, TN	15,032	31.2 min	4.1%	7:14 AM
Whitfield County, GA	103,598	20.8 min	4.6%	7:27 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Is living in Hamilton County, Tennessee good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 173 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,364 at a typical national wage. That's 7% less than the typical Tennessee commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Hamilton County, Tennessee?

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Hamilton County, Tennessee. 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.

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).