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Highland County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Highland County, 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, 8:38 PM
How much time do drivers in Highland County spend on the road daily?
Map AI 9/24/26, 8:38 PM

Commute Time Burden in Highland County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Highland County spend about 41 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 170 hours, about 7.1 full days, spent commuting. That is 12% less time on the road than the Virginia average of 23.2 minutes each way, a difference of 2.8 minutes.

Highland County holds about 0.0% of Virginia's population and accounts for roughly 0.0% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Highland County would save about 68 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,109 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)
Highland County 20.4 min 40.8 min 170 hrs/yr $5,272 91
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

Fastest commutes among counties in Virginia
  1. Lexington city (10.6 min)
  2. Covington city (12.2 min)
  3. Norton city (13.1 min)
Slowest commutes among counties in Virginia
  1. Amelia County (43.7 min)
  2. Craig County (41.3 min)
  3. Buckingham County (41.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Highland County
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Average commute time

On average, it takes 20.4 minutes to get to work in Highland County. That's 9% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Faster than 77% of counties in Virginia

The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 21.1% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Highland County

  • Car: 75.7%
  • Worked at Home: 21.1%
  • Walked: 2.9%
  • Other: 0.3%
  • Motorcycle: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Public Transportation: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Taxi: < 0.1% unusually low
  • Bicycle: < 0.1% unusually low

Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Highland County, versus 0.1% in Virginia.

Public transit is essentially absent in Highland County, versus 2.3% in Virginia.

Taking a taxi is essentially absent in Highland County, versus 0.2% in Virginia.

Biking is essentially absent in Highland County, versus 0.3% in Virginia.

Commute Mode Trends in Highland County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Highland 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 79.7% 12.4% 6.4% 0.3% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2010 83.0% 10.5% 6.1% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2011 80.7% 11.8% 7.2% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2012 79.7% 7.8% 10.9% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0%
2013 79.8% 4.1% 14.1% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 0.0%
2014 78.2% 6.2% 14.5% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.6% 0.0%
2015 80.6% 5.0% 13.4% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0%
2016 81.6% 3.8% 13.5% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0%
2017 83.0% 4.2% 12.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2018 87.4% 4.5% 8.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2019 88.6% 2.8% 7.5% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2020 78.4% 12.8% 8.0% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2021 79.9% 12.2% 7.3% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2022 80.2% 15.3% 3.9% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 73.5% 22.5% 3.4% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2024 75.7% 21.1% 2.9% 0.3% 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 was highest in 2019 at 88.6% and lowest in 2023 at 73.5%. Overall it fell from 79.7% in 2009 to 75.7% in 2024, down 4.0 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Highland County: its share of workers rose from 12.4% in 2009 to 21.1% in 2024, up 8.7 percentage points. Most of that increase, 18.3 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Walking lost the most ground, falling from 6.4% to 2.9% of workers (down 3.5 percentage points).

Working from home peaked at 22.5% in 2023 and has since fallen back to 21.1%.

Commute Start Times in Highland County

  • Rush-Hour RegularsThe 2nd-highest share of rush-hour departures among Virginia's 133 counties: 61.1% of commuters leave between 6:30 and 8:29 AM.

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Highland County?

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

12:00-4:59 AM
6.5%
5:00-5:29 AM
1.0%
5:30-5:59 AM
3.7%
6:00-6:29 AM
7.5%
6:30-6:59 AM
3.5%
7:00-7:29 AM
17.0%
7:30-7:59 AM
20.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
20.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
3.3%
9:00-9:59 AM
9.1%
10:00-10:59 AM
1.0%
11:00-11:59 AM
0.0%
12:00-3:59 PM
2.8%
4:00-11:59 PM
4.0%

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

The busiest time to head out in Highland County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 20.4% of commuters leave home, compared with 12.1% across Virginia. Early starts are less common than in Virginia: 11.2% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Virginia: 61.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.5% there. About 1 in 6 commuters (16.9%) 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 Highland 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 Highland 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 Highland County 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 Highland County Virginia United States
2009 7:37 AM 7:37 AM 7:37 AM
2010 7:28 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2011 7:35 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM
2012 7:44 AM 7:38 AM 7:38 AM
2013 7:55 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2014 7:54 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM
2015 8:00 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2016 7:57 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2017 7:58 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2018 7:51 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2019 7:47 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2020 7:40 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2021 7:37 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM
2022 7:33 AM 7:39 AM 7:37 AM
2023 7:33 AM 7:39 AM 7:38 AM
2024 7:46 AM 7:40 AM 7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Highland County were on the road by 7:46 AM, 9 minutes later than in 2009 (7:37 AM). The shift is sharper than across Virginia, where the typical start moved 3 minutes later. Commuters in Highland County now leave 8 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).

How does Highland County's commute time compare?

Metric Highland County Virginia US Average
Avg. Commute Time 20.4 min 23.2 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 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home 21.1% 18.3% 15.0%
Walked 2.9% 2.1% 2.4%
Public Transit < 0.1% 2.3% 3.2%

The average commute time in Highland County is 20.4 minutes, shorter than the 23.2 minutes in Virginia.

0.0% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.3% in Virginia. 2.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.1% in Virginia.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Highland County, VA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Highland County, VA is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 2,296 residents against a local median of 7,784. The measure that sets Highland County, VA apart most is work from home: 21.1%, 159% above the local median of 8.1%.

One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 20.4 min against a local median of 17.2 min, 19% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 19% above the local median it puts Highland County, VA at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves sit within 6.1% of each other on work from home, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Highland County, VA, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Highland County, VA has the highest work from home of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population One-way commute Work from home Typical departure
Highland County, VA 2,296 20.4 min #4/6 21.1% #1/6 7:46 AM #6/6
Bath County, VA 4,100 13.2 min 3.6% 7:42 AM
Pendleton County, WV 6,043 23.6 min 9.7% 7:11 AM
Pocahontas County, WV 7,784 17.2 min 9.1% 7:25 AM
Augusta County, VA 78,033 22.1 min 7.3% 7:29 AM
Randolph County, WV 27,576 16.4 min 8.1% 7:36 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Highland County, Virginia.

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

Commuters here spend an estimated 170 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,272 at a typical national wage. That's 12% less than the typical Virginia commuter spends.

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

Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Highland County, Virginia. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

Is public transportation a realistic commute option in Highland County, Virginia?

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.0% of commuters use it versus 2.3% in Virginia, meaning a personal vehicle is essential for most workers.

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).