Commuting in Fort Bend County, Texas: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 1:04 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Fort Bend County?
Map AI9/24/26, 1:04 PM
Commute Time Burden in Fort Bend County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Fort Bend County spend about 63 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 262 hours, about 10.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 38% more time on the road than the Texas average of 22.8 minutes each way, a difference of 8.6 minutes.
Fort Bend County holds about 3.0% of Texas's population but accounts for roughly 4.1% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Fort Bend County would save about 105 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,246 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)
Fort Bend County
31.4 min
62.8 min
262 hrs/yr
$8,114
3,164
Texas
22.8 min
45.6 min
190 hrs/yr
$5,888
1,441
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
31.4
minutes to get to work in
Fort Bend County.
That's 40% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 17.7% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Fort Bend County
Car:
79.6%
Worked at Home:
17.7%
Other:
1.1%
Walked:
0.6%
Public Transportation:
0.6%
Taxi:
0.1%
Bicycle:
< 0.1%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%
Commute Mode Trends in Fort Bend County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Fort Bend 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
Public Transportation
Walked
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
92.7%
3.7%
0.8%
1.7%
0.8%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
92.6%
3.9%
0.9%
1.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
92.5%
4.1%
0.7%
1.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2012
92.5%
4.2%
0.8%
1.8%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2013
92.1%
4.5%
1.0%
1.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
92.0%
4.4%
1.1%
1.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
2015
92.0%
4.5%
1.0%
1.7%
0.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
2016
92.0%
4.5%
1.0%
1.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2017
91.7%
4.9%
1.0%
1.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2018
91.5%
5.3%
0.8%
1.6%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2019
90.9%
6.1%
0.7%
1.6%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2020
87.7%
9.4%
0.8%
1.3%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2021
84.9%
12.3%
0.9%
1.1%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2022
83.3%
14.0%
0.9%
1.0%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
81.5%
15.9%
1.0%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2024
79.6%
17.7%
1.1%
0.6%
0.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 92.7% in 2009 to 79.6% in 2024, down 13.1 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 8 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Fort Bend County: its share of workers rose from 3.7% in 2009 to 17.7% in 2024, up 14.0 percentage points. Most of that increase, 11.6 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.7% to 0.6% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Fort Bend County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Fort Bend County?
The bars show when commuters in Fort Bend 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 Texas for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMFort Bend County4.6%Texas5.5%
4.6%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMFort Bend County3.7%Texas4.4%
3.7%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMFort Bend County5.1%Texas5.1%
5.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMFort Bend County10.0%Texas9.3%
10.0%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMFort Bend County10.1%Texas9.3%
10.1%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMFort Bend County15.1%Texas15.3%
15.1%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMFort Bend County10.5%Texas11.8%
10.5%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMFort Bend County13.2%Texas11.5%
13.2%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMFort Bend County5.5%Texas4.8%
5.5%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMFort Bend County8.1%Texas6.7%
8.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMFort Bend County2.9%Texas3.1%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMFort Bend County1.2%Texas1.3%
1.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMFort Bend County4.3%Texas5.8%
4.3%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMFort Bend County5.7%Texas6.2%
5.7%
Fort Bend CountyTexasSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Fort Bend County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 15.1% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Texas. Early starts are less common than in Texas: 13.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush looks much like Texas's: 48.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.9% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (22.2%) 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 Fort Bend 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 Fort Bend 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 Fort Bend County next to Texas 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
Fort Bend County
Texas
United States
2009
7:21 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:20 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:22 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:22 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:21 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:21 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:22 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:24 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:26 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:28 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:28 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:34 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Fort Bend County were on the road by 7:34 AM, 13 minutes later than in 2009 (7:21 AM). The shift is sharper than across Texas, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in Fort Bend County now leave 4 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 Fort Bend County has moved 10 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Fort Bend County in the whole series.
How does Fort Bend County's commute time compare?
Metric
Fort Bend County
Texas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
31.4 min
22.8 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
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
17.7%
14.4%
15.0%
Walked
0.6%
1.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.6%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Fort Bend County is 31.4 minutes, longer than the 22.8 minutes in Texas.
0.6% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.9% in Texas. 0.6% commute by walking, lower than the 1.5% in Texas.
Fort Bend County, TX Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Fort Bend County, TX is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 893,669 residents against a local median of 61,552. Where Fort Bend County, TX breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 64% above the local median of 10.8% at 17.7%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 31.4 min against a local median of 27.3 min, 15% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 15% above the local median it puts Fort Bend County, TX at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 7.7% on work from home, so Fort Bend County, TX sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Fort Bend County, TX has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Fort Bend County, Texas.
Is commuting expensive in Fort Bend County, Texas?
Commuters here spend an estimated 262 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $8,114 at a typical national wage. That's 38% more than the typical Texas commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Fort Bend County, Texas?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Fort Bend County, Texas. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Which counties in Texas have the fastest and slowest commutes?
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).