Alexandria Commute Time Map & Patterns

Help

Commuting in Alexandria, Virginia: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.

You 9/24/26, 4:26 PM

What does a typical morning commute look like in Alexandria?

Map AI 9/24/26, 4:26 PM

Commute Time Burden in Alexandria: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Alexandria spend about 55 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 228 hours, about 9.5 full days, spent commuting. That is 18% more time on the road than the Virginia average of 23.2 minutes each way, a difference of 4.2 minutes.

Alexandria holds about 1.8% of Virginia's population but accounts for roughly 2.1% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Alexandria would save about 91 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,827 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)
Alexandria	27.4 min	54.7 min	228 hrs/yr	$7,068	4,865
Virginia	23.2 min	46.3 min	193 hrs/yr	$5,986	1,531
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.

Alexandria Commute Map

On average, it takes 27.4 minutes to get to work in Alexandria. That's 22% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 28.9% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Alexandria

Driving is 29% less common in Alexandria than the Virginia average (54.0% vs 75.6%).

Public transit is unusually common in Alexandria: 5.2 times more than the Virginia average (12.1% vs 2.3%).

Taking a taxi is unusually common in Alexandria: 3.6 times more than the Virginia average (0.8% vs 0.2%).

Commute Mode Trends in Alexandria, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Alexandria 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	Walked	Other	Taxi	Bicycle	Motorcycle
2009	70.3%	3.4%	21.6%	2.8%	0.6%	0.3%	0.8%	0.1%
2010	69.3%	3.6%	22.2%	3.1%	0.4%	0.3%	0.9%	0.2%
2011	69.1%	4.3%	21.3%	3.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.9%	0.2%
2012	68.5%	4.8%	21.1%	3.8%	0.3%	0.4%	1.0%	0.2%
2013	67.4%	5.2%	21.4%	3.8%	0.6%	0.4%	1.1%	0.3%
2014	67.1%	5.4%	21.4%	3.7%	0.6%	0.3%	1.1%	0.3%
2015	67.3%	5.0%	21.6%	3.6%	0.7%	0.4%	1.2%	0.3%
2016	66.7%	5.0%	22.1%	3.5%	0.8%	0.5%	1.2%	0.2%
2017	66.6%	5.2%	21.8%	3.4%	1.0%	0.4%	1.3%	0.2%
2018	67.2%	5.4%	20.6%	3.9%	1.0%	0.5%	1.2%	0.2%
2019	67.4%	5.6%	19.9%	4.2%	1.0%	0.7%	1.3%	0.1%
2020	64.2%	10.9%	18.6%	3.5%	0.8%	0.8%	1.1%	0.1%
2021	61.0%	16.7%	16.0%	3.4%	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%	0.2%
2022	58.6%	22.1%	13.4%	3.3%	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%	0.2%
2023	56.8%	25.2%	12.7%	2.5%	1.0%	1.0%	0.8%	0.1%
2024	54.0%	28.9%	12.1%	2.5%	1.0%	0.8%	0.6%	0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Overall its share fell from 70.3% in 2009 to 54.0% in 2024, down 16.3 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 5 releases.

Working from home gained the most ground in Alexandria: its share of workers rose from 3.4% in 2009 to 28.9% in 2024, up 25.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 23.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 21.6% to 12.1% of workers (down 9.5 percentage points).

Working from home overtook public transit to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2021 release and has stayed ahead since.

Walking peaked at 4.2% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 2.5%.

Commute Start Times in Alexandria

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Alexandria?

The bars show when commuters in Alexandria 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 Virginia for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.

12:00-4:59 AM		3.8%
5:00-5:29 AM		2.5%
5:30-5:59 AM		3.0%
6:00-6:29 AM		8.4%
6:30-6:59 AM		6.5%
7:00-7:29 AM		13.5%
7:30-7:59 AM		12.6%
8:00-8:29 AM		16.0%
8:30-8:59 AM		9.2%
9:00-9:59 AM		10.1%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.1%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.5%
12:00-3:59 PM		5.8%
4:00-11:59 PM		4.0%

Alexandria Virginia Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates

The busiest time to head out in Alexandria is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 16.0% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.1% across Virginia. Early starts are less common than in Virginia: 9.3% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush looks much like Virginia's: 48.6% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (24.5%) 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 Alexandria, 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 Alexandria 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 Alexandria next to Virginia 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	Alexandria	Virginia	United States
2009	7:50 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:49 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:49 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:49 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:52 AM	7:38 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:52 AM	7:38 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:51 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:50 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:51 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:49 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:48 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:50 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:50 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:51 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:53 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:59 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Alexandria were on the road by 7:59 AM, 9 minutes later than in 2009 (7:50 AM). The shift is sharper than across Virginia, where the typical start moved 3 minutes later. Commuters in Alexandria now leave 21 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Alexandria has moved 11 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Alexandria in the whole series.

How does Alexandria's commute time compare?

Metric	Alexandria	Virginia	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	27.4 min	23.2 min	22.4 min
Departure Window	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window	07:00 AM – 07:29 AM	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	28.9%	18.3%	15.0%
Walked	2.5%	2.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	12.1%	2.3%	3.2%

The average commute time in Alexandria is 27.4 minutes, longer than the 23.2 minutes in Virginia.

12.1% commute by public transit, higher than the 2.3% in Virginia. 2.5% commute by walking, higher than the 2.1% in Virginia.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Alexandria, VA Commute Compared With Nearby Cities

How Alexandria, VA compares with the 2 cities closest to it.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Alexandria, VA	156,972	27.4 min #2/3	28.9% #2/3	7:59 AM #3/3
Rose Hill, VA	22,696	31.9 min	29.8%	7:38 AM
Bailey's Crossroads, VA	24,625	26.1 min	18.9%	7:43 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Alexandria, Virginia.

Is living in Alexandria, Virginia good for avoiding long commute costs?

Commuters here spend an estimated 228 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $7,068 at a typical national wage. That's 18% more than the typical Virginia commuter spends.

When is peak congestion during the morning commute in Alexandria, Virginia?

Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Alexandria, Virginia. 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.

How common is public transit use in Alexandria, Virginia?

Public transit usage is notably higher here than typical: about 12.1% of commuters use it versus 2.3% in Virginia, making it a realistic option for many workers.

How much time do residents in Alexandria, Virginia save by working from home?

About 28.9% of workers here already work from home. Working from home just 2 days a week in Alexandria would save about 91 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,827 at the same national wage assumption used above.