Commuting in Texas: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 11:43 AM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Texas?
Map AI9/24/26, 11:43 AM
Commute Time Burden in Texas: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Texas spend about 46 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 190 hours, about 7.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 2% more time on the road than the US average of 22.4 minutes each way, a difference of 0.4 minutes.
Texas holds about 8.9% of US's population but accounts for roughly 9.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Texas would save about 76 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,355 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)
Texas
22.8 min
45.6 min
190 hrs/yr
$5,888
1,441
US
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
22.8
minutes to get to work in
Texas.
That's 2% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 78% of states in US
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 14.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Texas
Car:
81.5%
Worked at Home:
14.4%
Walked:
1.5%
Other:
1.3%
Public Transportation:
0.9%unusually low
Bicycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Public transit is unusually rare in Texas: 3.7 times less than the US average (0.9% vs 3.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Texas, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Texas 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
Taxi
Bicycle
Motorcycle
2009
91.0%
3.6%
1.8%
1.3%
1.7%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2010
91.0%
3.8%
1.8%
1.3%
1.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2011
90.9%
3.9%
1.7%
1.3%
1.6%
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
2012
90.9%
4.0%
1.7%
1.3%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2013
91.0%
4.0%
1.6%
1.3%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2014
91.0%
4.1%
1.6%
1.2%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2015
91.0%
4.1%
1.6%
1.2%
1.6%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2016
90.9%
4.3%
1.6%
1.2%
1.5%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2017
90.8%
4.5%
1.6%
1.2%
1.5%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2018
90.7%
4.7%
1.5%
1.1%
1.4%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
2019
90.5%
5.0%
1.5%
1.1%
1.4%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2020
88.6%
7.0%
1.5%
1.1%
1.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
86.7%
9.1%
1.5%
1.2%
1.1%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
84.8%
11.0%
1.5%
1.3%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2023
83.0%
12.8%
1.4%
1.3%
1.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2024
81.5%
14.4%
1.5%
1.3%
0.9%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 91.0% in 2009 to 81.5% in 2024, down 9.5 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 9 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Texas: its share of workers rose from 3.6% in 2009 to 14.4% in 2024, up 10.8 percentage points. Most of that increase, 9.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.7% to 0.9% of workers (down 0.8 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Texas
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Texas?
The bars show when commuters in Texas 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 the U.S. for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMTexas5.5%The U.S.5.5%
5.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMTexas4.4%The U.S.4.0%
4.4%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMTexas5.1%The U.S.4.9%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMTexas9.3%The U.S.8.7%
9.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMTexas9.3%The U.S.9.4%
9.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMTexas15.3%The U.S.14.4%
15.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMTexas11.8%The U.S.11.9%
11.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMTexas11.5%The U.S.11.5%
11.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMTexas4.8%The U.S.5.5%
4.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMTexas6.7%The U.S.6.8%
6.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMTexas3.1%The U.S.3.1%
3.1%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMTexas1.3%The U.S.1.5%
1.3%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMTexas5.8%The U.S.6.8%
5.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMTexas6.2%The U.S.6.1%
6.2%
TexasThe U.S.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Texas is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.4% across the U.S.. Early starts are about as common as in the U.S.: 14.9% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.4% there. The morning rush looks much like the U.S.'s: 47.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.1% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.1%) 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 Texas, 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 Texas 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 Texas next to 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
Texas
United States
2009
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Texas were on the road by 7:33 AM, 1 minute later than in 2009 (7:32 AM). Commuters in Texas now leave 5 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 Texas has moved 3 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Texas in the whole series.
How does Texas's commute time compare?
Metric
Texas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
22.8 min
22.4 min
Work From Home
14.4%
15.0%
Walked
1.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Texas is 22.8 minutes, longer than the 22.4 minutes in US.
0.9% commute by public transit, lower than the 3.2% in US. 1.5% commute by walking, lower than the 2.4% in US.
Texas is the largest of the 6 states compared here, 30,160,889 residents against a local median of 3,049,066. Where Texas breaks from the states next to it is work from home, sitting 53% above the local median of 9.4% at 14.4%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 22.8 min against a local median of 18.8 min, 21% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 21% above the local median it puts Texas at the weaker end of the local range. The states themselves spread 4.1% on work from home, so Texas sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Texas has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Commuters here spend an estimated 190 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,888 at a typical national wage. That's 2% more than the typical US commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Texas?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Texas. 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.
Do people use public transit in Texas?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.9% of commuters use it versus 3.2% in the U.S., meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Texas?
Among counties in Texas, the shortest average commutes are in Loving County (3.3 min), King County (5.8 min), Terrell County (6.5 min). The longest are in Bandera County (38.6 min), San Jacinto County (35.9 min), Liberty County (33.6 min).