Commuting in Nueces 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, 6:29 PM
How many minutes is the average drive to work in Nueces County?
Map AI9/24/26, 6:29 PM
Commute Time Burden in Nueces County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Nueces County spend about 36 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 151 hours, about 6.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 21% less time on the road than the Texas average of 22.8 minutes each way, a difference of 4.7 minutes.
Nueces County holds about 1.2% of Texas's population but accounts for roughly 0.9% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Nueces County would save about 60 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,867 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)
Nueces County
18.1 min
36.1 min
151 hrs/yr
$4,668
1,561
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
18.1
minutes to get to work in
Nueces County.
That's 19% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
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 5.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Nueces County
Car:
90.5%
Worked at Home:
5.4%
Walked:
1.4%
Other:
1.2%
Public Transportation:
1.1%
Bicycle:
0.2%
Motorcycle:
0.2%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Nueces County: 4.8 times less than the Texas average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Nueces County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Nueces 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
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Taxi
2009
91.7%
2.7%
1.7%
1.6%
1.6%
0.4%
0.4%
0.0%
2010
90.7%
2.6%
1.9%
2.2%
1.8%
0.4%
0.4%
0.0%
2011
90.4%
2.7%
1.8%
2.5%
1.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
2012
89.9%
2.8%
1.9%
2.4%
1.9%
0.6%
0.4%
0.0%
2013
90.8%
2.6%
1.9%
2.0%
1.9%
0.5%
0.3%
0.0%
2014
91.3%
2.3%
2.1%
1.7%
1.9%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
2015
92.0%
2.2%
2.1%
1.5%
1.6%
0.4%
0.3%
0.0%
2016
92.8%
2.2%
1.8%
1.0%
1.6%
0.3%
0.2%
0.0%
2017
93.1%
2.3%
1.7%
1.0%
1.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2018
93.2%
2.4%
1.7%
0.8%
1.3%
0.1%
0.2%
0.1%
2019
92.9%
3.0%
1.6%
0.8%
1.2%
0.2%
0.3%
0.1%
2020
92.1%
3.7%
1.5%
0.8%
1.5%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2021
91.9%
4.3%
1.2%
0.8%
1.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
2022
91.6%
4.6%
1.4%
0.9%
1.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
90.9%
5.0%
1.4%
1.1%
1.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
2024
90.5%
5.4%
1.4%
1.2%
1.1%
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 was highest in 2018 at 93.2% and lowest in 2012 at 89.9%. Overall it fell from 91.7% in 2009 to 90.5% in 2024, down 1.2 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Nueces County: its share of workers rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 5.4% in 2024, up 2.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 2.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 1.6% to 1.1% of workers (down 0.5 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Nueces County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Nueces County?
The bars show when commuters in Nueces 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 AMNueces County5.2%Texas5.5%
5.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMNueces County4.0%Texas4.4%
4.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMNueces County4.9%Texas5.1%
4.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMNueces County7.6%Texas9.3%
7.6%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMNueces County8.6%Texas9.3%
8.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMNueces County15.6%Texas15.3%
15.6%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMNueces County16.2%Texas11.8%
16.2%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMNueces County12.1%Texas11.5%
12.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMNueces County5.1%Texas4.8%
5.1%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMNueces County6.6%Texas6.7%
6.6%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMNueces County2.9%Texas3.1%
2.9%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMNueces County1.6%Texas1.3%
1.6%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMNueces County4.8%Texas5.8%
4.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMNueces County4.8%Texas6.2%
4.8%
Nueces CountyTexasSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Nueces County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 16.2% of commuters leave home, compared with 11.8% across Texas. Early starts are about as common as in Texas: 14.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.9% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Texas: 52.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.9% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (20.8%) 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 Nueces 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 Nueces 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 Nueces 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
Nueces County
Texas
United States
2009
7:41 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:42 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:44 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:43 AM
7:32 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:43 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:43 AM
7:32 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:41 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:40 AM
7:31 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:39 AM
7:30 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:38 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:39 AM
7:30 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:37 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:36 AM
7:31 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:36 AM
7:32 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:40 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:38 AM
7:33 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Nueces County were on the road by 7:38 AM, 3 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:41 AM). That goes against the trend across Texas, where the typical commuter now leaves 1 minute later than in 2009. Commuters in Nueces County now leave at about the same time as the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).
How does Nueces County's commute time compare?
Metric
Nueces County
Texas
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
18.1 min
22.8 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
5.4%
14.4%
15.0%
Walked
1.4%
1.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Nueces County is 18.1 minutes, shorter than the 22.8 minutes in Texas.
1.1% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.9% in Texas. 1.4% commute by walking, lower than the 1.5% in Texas.
Nueces County, TX Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Nueces County, TX is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 351,782 residents against a local median of 30,579. The measure that sets Nueces County, TX apart most is one-way commute: 18.1 min, 31% above the local median of 13.8 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 5.4% against a local median of 6.8%, 20% below it. The counties themselves spread 7.9 min on one-way commute, so Nueces County, TX sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Nueces County, TX has the 5th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Nueces County, Texas.
Is living in Nueces County, Texas good for avoiding long commute costs?
Commuters here spend an estimated 151 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,668 at a typical national wage. That's 21% less than the typical Texas commuter spends.
When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Nueces County, Texas?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Nueces County, Texas. 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.
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).