Charlottesville city Commute Time Map & Patterns
HelpCommuting in Charlottesville city, Virginia: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
Commute Time Burden in Charlottesville city: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Charlottesville city spend about 30 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 127 hours, about 5.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 34% less time on the road than the Virginia average of 23.2 minutes each way, a difference of 7.9 minutes.
Charlottesville city holds about 0.5% of Virginia's population but accounts for roughly 0.3% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Charlottesville city would save about 51 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,576 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlottesville city | 15.2 min | 30.5 min | 127 hrs/yr | $3,939 | 1,458 |
| 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.
Commute Time Map: Virginia Counties
- Lexington city (10.6 min)
- Covington city (12.2 min)
- Norton city (13.1 min)
- Amelia County (43.7 min)
- Craig County (41.3 min)
- Buckingham County (41.3 min)
Compare commute times among different counties
On average, it takes 15.2 minutes to get to work in Charlottesville city. That's 32% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Faster than 95% of counties in Virginia
The most common departure window is 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM, followed by 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 21.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Charlottesville city
- Car: 57.4% unusually low
- Worked at Home: 21.4%
- Walked: 11.3% unusually high
- Public Transportation: 5.6%
- Bicycle: 3.3% unusually high
- Other: 0.7%
- Motorcycle: 0.2%
- Taxi: < 0.1%
Driving is 24% less common in Charlottesville city than the Virginia average (57.4% vs 75.6%).
Walking is unusually common in Charlottesville city: 5.5 times more than the Virginia average (11.3% vs 2.1%).
Biking is unusually common in Charlottesville city: 11.5 times more than the Virginia average (3.3% vs 0.3%).
Charlottesville city stands out for active commuting: 14.6% of workers walk or bike to work, 6.2 times the Virginia average of 2.3%.
Commute Mode Trends in Charlottesville city, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Charlottesville city 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.
Show commute mode data by year
| Year | Car | Worked at Home | Walked | Public Transportation | Bicycle | Other | Motorcycle | Taxi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 69.2% | 5.3% | 14.7% | 7.2% | 2.1% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2010 | 69.3% | 5.3% | 14.6% | 7.3% | 2.3% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 2011 | 67.5% | 5.9% | 13.8% | 8.1% | 3.3% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2012 | 68.1% | 5.7% | 12.5% | 8.7% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 2013 | 69.5% | 5.9% | 11.7% | 8.3% | 3.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| 2014 | 68.8% | 6.1% | 11.5% | 8.5% | 3.0% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 67.5% | 6.1% | 12.5% | 8.6% | 3.2% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| 2016 | 68.2% | 6.8% | 11.8% | 8.1% | 3.1% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| 2017 | 68.3% | 6.5% | 12.5% | 7.7% | 3.1% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| 2018 | 68.5% | 6.4% | 12.6% | 7.3% | 3.1% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| 2019 | 67.9% | 7.0% | 13.5% | 7.2% | 3.0% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.3% |
| 2020 | 66.8% | 9.8% | 13.1% | 5.9% | 3.1% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.3% |
| 2021 | 64.9% | 12.7% | 12.7% | 6.1% | 2.5% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| 2022 | 60.2% | 18.1% | 12.8% | 5.0% | 2.9% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| 2023 | 58.7% | 19.3% | 12.8% | 5.5% | 3.0% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2024 | 57.4% | 21.4% | 11.3% | 5.6% | 3.3% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 69.5%. Overall it fell from 69.2% in 2009 to 57.4% in 2024, down 11.8 percentage points. It has fallen in each of the last 6 releases.
Working from home gained the most ground in Charlottesville city: its share of workers rose from 5.3% in 2009 to 21.4% in 2024, up 16.1 percentage points. Most of that increase, 14.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 14.7% to 11.3% of workers (down 3.4 percentage points).
Working from home overtook walking to become the 2nd most common choice in the 2022 release and has stayed ahead since.
Public transit peaked at 8.7% in 2012 and has since fallen back to 5.6%.
Commute Start Times in Charlottesville city
- 🦉 Night OwlThe latest start among Virginia's 133 counties: half of commuters are still at home at 8:26 AM.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Charlottesville city?
The bars show when commuters in Charlottesville city 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 |
12:00-4:59 AM
Charlottesville city2.0%
Virginia5.0%
|
2.0% |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00-5:29 AM |
5:00-5:29 AM
Charlottesville city0.9%
Virginia4.0%
|
0.9% |
| 5:30-5:59 AM |
5:30-5:59 AM
Charlottesville city1.8%
Virginia5.0%
|
1.8% |
| 6:00-6:29 AM |
6:00-6:29 AM
Charlottesville city2.7%
Virginia8.7%
|
2.7% |
| 6:30-6:59 AM |
6:30-6:59 AM
Charlottesville city7.0%
Virginia9.2%
|
7.0% |
| 7:00-7:29 AM |
7:00-7:29 AM
Charlottesville city9.9%
Virginia14.2%
|
9.9% |
| 7:30-7:59 AM |
7:30-7:59 AM
Charlottesville city11.5%
Virginia12.1%
|
11.5% |
| 8:00-8:29 AM |
8:00-8:29 AM
Charlottesville city16.6%
Virginia12.1%
|
16.6% |
| 8:30-8:59 AM |
8:30-8:59 AM
Charlottesville city15.3%
Virginia6.4%
|
15.3% |
| 9:00-9:59 AM |
9:00-9:59 AM
Charlottesville city13.9%
Virginia7.2%
|
13.9% |
| 10:00-10:59 AM |
10:00-10:59 AM
Charlottesville city5.4%
Virginia3.0%
|
5.4% |
| 11:00-11:59 AM |
11:00-11:59 AM
Charlottesville city1.2%
Virginia1.4%
|
1.2% |
| 12:00-3:59 PM |
12:00-3:59 PM
Charlottesville city6.2%
Virginia6.0%
|
6.2% |
| 4:00-11:59 PM |
4:00-11:59 PM
Charlottesville city5.6%
Virginia5.7%
|
5.6% |
Charlottesville city Virginia Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Charlottesville city is 8:00-8:29 AM, when 16.6% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.1% across Virginia. Early starts are less common than in Virginia: 4.7% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Virginia: 44.9% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.5% there. About 1 in 3 commuters (32.4%) 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 Charlottesville city, 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 Charlottesville city 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 Charlottesville city 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.
Show typical departure times by year
| Year | Charlottesville city | Virginia | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8:14 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2010 | 8:17 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2011 | 8:21 AM | 7:37 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2012 | 8:22 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2013 | 8:20 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2014 | 8:18 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:39 AM |
| 2015 | 8:21 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2016 | 8:19 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2017 | 8:20 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2018 | 8:20 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2019 | 8:21 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2020 | 8:18 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2021 | 8:17 AM | 7:38 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2022 | 8:20 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:37 AM |
| 2023 | 8:21 AM | 7:39 AM | 7:38 AM |
| 2024 | 8:26 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:38 AM |
In 2024, half of commuters in Charlottesville city were on the road by 8:26 AM, 12 minutes later than in 2009 (8:14 AM). The shift is sharper than across Virginia, where the typical start moved 3 minutes later. Commuters in Charlottesville city now leave 48 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 Charlottesville city has moved 5 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Charlottesville city in the whole series.
How does Charlottesville city's commute time compare?
| Metric | Charlottesville city | Virginia | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Commute Time | 15.2 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 | 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM | 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM | 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM |
| Work From Home | 21.4% | 18.3% | 15.0% |
| Walked | 11.3% | 2.1% | 2.4% |
| Public Transit | 5.6% | 2.3% | 3.2% |
The average commute time in Charlottesville city is 15.2 minutes, shorter than the 23.2 minutes in Virginia.
5.6% commute by public transit, higher than the 2.3% in Virginia. 11.3% commute by walking, higher than the 2.1% in Virginia.
Charlottesville city, VA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Charlottesville city, VA is the 2nd largest of the 5 counties compared here, 45,435 residents against a local median of 24,617. The measure that sets Charlottesville city, VA apart most is one-way commute: 15.2 min, 43% below the local median of 26.6 min. That is the better end of the local range on this measure.
Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 21.4% against a local median of 17.0%, 26% above it. The counties themselves spread 11.4 min on one-way commute, so Charlottesville city, VA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Charlottesville city, VA has the lowest one-way commute of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | One-way commute | Work from home | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlottesville city, VA | 45,435 | 15.2 min #1/5 | 21.4% #2/5 | 8:26 AM #5/5 |
| Albemarle County, VA | 114,898 | 20.6 min | 21.7% | 8:01 AM |
| Greene County, VA | 21,143 | 30.0 min | 17.5% | 7:25 AM |
| Fluvanna County, VA | 28,092 | 31.9 min | 16.5% | 7:28 AM |
| Madison County, VA | 14,044 | 23.2 min | 11.7% | 7:25 AM |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commuting in Charlottesville city, Virginia.
Is commuting expensive in Charlottesville city, Virginia?
Commuters here spend an estimated 127 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $3,939 at a typical national wage. That's 34% less than the typical Virginia commuter spends.
What time should you leave for work to avoid traffic in Charlottesville city, Virginia?
Traffic peaks between 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM in Charlottesville city, Virginia. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:30 AM – 08:59 AM also sees a secondary bump.
How do commute times compare across counties in Virginia?
Among counties in Virginia, the shortest average commutes are in Lexington city (10.6 min), Covington city (12.2 min), Norton city (13.1 min). The longest are in Amelia County (43.7 min), Craig County (41.3 min), Buckingham County (41.3 min).