Commuting in Hays 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, 8:10 PM
How long is the round-trip commute in Hays County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:10 PM
Commute Time Burden in Hays County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Hays County spend about 60 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 250 hours, about 10.4 full days, spent commuting. That is 32% more time on the road than the Texas average of 22.8 minutes each way, a difference of 7.2 minutes.
Hays County holds about 0.9% of Texas's population but accounts for roughly 1.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Hays County would save about 100 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,102 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)
Hays County
30.0 min
60.0 min
250 hrs/yr
$7,755
2,402
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
30.0
minutes to get to work in
Hays County.
That's 34% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Slower than 90% of counties in Texas
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 18.1% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Hays County
Car:
78.2%
Worked at Home:
18.1%
Walked:
1.6%
Other:
0.9%
Public Transportation:
0.5%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
0.2%
Commute Mode Trends in Hays County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Hays 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
Other
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
2009
89.4%
5.8%
2.7%
0.3%
1.1%
0.0%
0.4%
0.2%
2010
89.1%
6.9%
2.2%
0.4%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
2011
89.0%
7.4%
1.9%
0.5%
1.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.1%
2012
89.5%
6.7%
1.9%
0.6%
0.8%
0.0%
0.2%
0.2%
2013
89.6%
6.5%
1.8%
0.8%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2014
89.3%
6.5%
1.8%
1.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2015
89.4%
6.0%
1.7%
1.3%
1.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.5%
2016
88.6%
6.3%
2.1%
1.3%
1.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.5%
2017
88.7%
6.4%
2.0%
1.2%
0.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.7%
2018
88.2%
6.8%
2.2%
1.4%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.5%
2019
87.7%
7.3%
2.2%
1.4%
0.6%
0.0%
0.2%
0.6%
2020
86.0%
9.3%
2.2%
1.2%
0.7%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
2021
84.7%
11.4%
2.0%
1.1%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2022
82.6%
13.5%
1.8%
1.3%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
0.3%
2023
80.1%
16.2%
1.7%
1.1%
0.5%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
2024
78.2%
18.1%
1.6%
0.9%
0.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 89.6%. Overall it fell from 89.4% in 2009 to 78.2% in 2024, down 11.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 7 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Hays County: its share of workers rose from 5.8% in 2009 to 18.1% in 2024, up 12.3 percentage points. Most of that increase, 10.8 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 2.7% to 1.6% of workers (down 1.1 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Hays County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Hays County?
The bars show when commuters in Hays 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 AMHays County5.1%Texas5.5%
5.1%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMHays County3.9%Texas4.4%
3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMHays County6.6%Texas5.1%
6.6%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMHays County9.2%Texas9.3%
9.2%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMHays County10.8%Texas9.3%
10.8%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMHays County14.9%Texas15.3%
14.9%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMHays County11.0%Texas11.8%
11.0%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMHays County9.1%Texas11.5%
9.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMHays County4.1%Texas4.8%
4.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMHays County6.0%Texas6.7%
6.0%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMHays County3.4%Texas3.1%
3.4%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMHays County1.2%Texas1.3%
1.2%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMHays County7.1%Texas5.8%
7.1%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMHays County7.7%Texas6.2%
7.7%
Hays CountyTexasSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Hays County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 14.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Texas. Early starts are about as common as in Texas: 15.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Texas: 45.8% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.9% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (25.3%) 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 Hays 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 Hays 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 Hays 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
Hays County
Texas
United States
2009
7:38 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:33 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:29 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:28 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:29 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:30 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:33 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:33 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:34 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:31 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:29 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:30 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:31 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:31 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:29 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Hays County were on the road by 7:29 AM, 9 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:38 AM). That goes against the trend across Texas, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Hays County now leave 9 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Hays County's commute time compare?
Metric
Hays County
Texas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
30.0 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
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
18.1%
14.4%
15.0%
Walked
1.6%
1.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.5%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Hays County is 30.0 minutes, longer than the 22.8 minutes in Texas.
0.5% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.9% in Texas. 1.6% commute by walking, higher than the 1.5% in Texas.
Hays County, TX Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Hays County, TX is the 2nd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 268,638 residents against a local median of 183,641. Hays County, TX's work from home, at 18.1%, runs 15% above the 15.7% typical of the counties around it.
The counties themselves spread 20.3% on work from home, so Hays County, TX sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Hays County, TX has the 3rd highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Hays County, Texas.
Is living in Hays County, Texas good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 250 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,755 at a typical national wage. That's 32% more than the typical Texas commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Hays County, Texas?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Hays County, 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.
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).