Commuting in King 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, 8:33 PM
Is the commute in King County longer than the national average?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:33 PM
Commute Time Burden in King County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in King County spend about 12 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 49 hours, about 2.0 full days, spent commuting. That is 74% less time on the road than the Texas average of 22.8 minutes each way, a difference of 17.0 minutes.
King County holds about 0.0% of Texas's population and accounts for roughly 0.0% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in King County would save about 19 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $604 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)
King County
5.8 min
11.7 min
49 hrs/yr
$1,509
97
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
5.8
minutes to get to work in
King County.
That's 74% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the top 3 fastest counties in Texas
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 05:30 AM – 05:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 14.0% work from home.
How People Get to Work in King County
Car:
86.0%
Worked at Home:
14.0%
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Walked:
< 0.1%unusually low
Public Transportation:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Bicycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Other:
< 0.1%
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in King County, versus 0.1% in Texas.
Walking is essentially absent in King County, versus 1.5% in Texas.
Public transit is essentially absent in King County, versus 0.9% in Texas.
Taking a taxi is essentially absent in King County, versus 0.2% in Texas.
Biking is essentially absent in King County, versus 0.2% in Texas.
Walking or biking to work is essentially absent in King County, versus 1.7% in Texas.
Commute Mode Trends in King County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in King 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
Public Transportation
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Walked
Other
2009
71.2%
23.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
5.5%
0.0%
2010
72.2%
16.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
11.1%
0.0%
2011
78.1%
11.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
10.6%
0.0%
2012
89.1%
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
9.5%
0.0%
2013
89.5%
2.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
7.6%
0.0%
2014
86.7%
3.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
9.4%
0.0%
2015
88.6%
3.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
7.8%
0.0%
2016
92.1%
4.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
3.7%
0.0%
2017
91.3%
4.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
3.5%
1.2%
2018
83.6%
5.7%
4.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
4.1%
2.5%
2019
83.2%
5.3%
5.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
3.5%
2.7%
2020
85.6%
7.2%
5.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2.1%
2021
87.8%
5.1%
5.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2.0%
2022
90.6%
7.1%
2.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2023
92.4%
7.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2024
86.0%
14.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
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 2023 at 92.4%. Overall it rose from 71.2% in 2009 to 86.0% in 2024, up 14.8 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home lost the most ground, falling from 23.3% to 14.0% of workers (down 9.3 percentage points).
Walking peaked at 11.1% in 2010 and has since fallen back to 0.0%.
Commute Start Times in King County
🚦Rush-Hour RegularsThe highest share of rush-hour departures among Texas's 254 counties: 75.6% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in King County?
The bars show when commuters in King 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 AMKing County0.0%Texas5.5%
0.0%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMKing County2.3%Texas4.4%
2.3%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMKing County15.1%Texas5.1%
15.1%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMKing County2.3%Texas9.3%
2.3%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMKing County9.3%Texas9.3%
9.3%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMKing County50.0%Texas15.3%
50.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMKing County5.8%Texas11.8%
5.8%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMKing County10.5%Texas11.5%
10.5%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMKing County0.0%Texas4.8%
0.0%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMKing County4.7%Texas6.7%
4.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMKing County0.0%Texas3.1%
0.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMKing County0.0%Texas1.3%
0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMKing County0.0%Texas5.8%
0.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMKing County0.0%Texas6.2%
0.0%
King CountyTexasSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in King County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 50.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 15.3% across Texas. Early starts are more common than in Texas: 17.4% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Texas: 75.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.9% there. About 1 in 21 commuters (4.7%) 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 King 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 King 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 King 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
King County
Texas
United States
2009
7:08 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:04 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:13 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:23 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:17 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:16 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:04 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:09 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:09 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:18 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2019
6:55 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2020
6:58 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
6:53 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
6:51 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:01 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:13 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in King County were on the road by 7:13 AM, 5 minutes later than in 2009 (7:08 AM). The shift is sharper than across Texas, where the typical start moved 1 minute later. Commuters in King County now leave 25 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 King County has moved 18 minutes later.
How does King County's commute time compare?
Metric
King County
Texas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
5.8 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
05:30 AM – 05:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
14.0%
14.4%
15.0%
Walked
< 0.1%
1.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
< 0.1%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in King County is 5.8 minutes, shorter than the 22.8 minutes in Texas.
0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 0.9% in Texas. 0.0% commute by walking, lower than the 1.5% in Texas.
King County, TX Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
King County, TX is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 211 residents against a local median of 1,368. Where King County, TX breaks from the counties next to it is work from home, sitting 296% above the local median of 3.5% at 14.0%.
One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 5.8 min against a local median of 10.6 min, 45% below it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 45% below the local median it puts King County, TX at the better end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 11.9% on work from home, so King County, TX sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. King County, TX has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in King County, Texas.
Is living in King County, Texas good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 49 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $1,509 at a typical national wage. That's 74% less than the typical Texas commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in King County, Texas?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in King County, Texas. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 05:30 AM – 05:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How common is public transit use in King County, Texas?
Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 0.9% in Texas, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.
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).