Nelson County Commute Time Map & Patterns

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Commuting in Nelson 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, 8:29 PM

Is the commute in Nelson County longer than the national average?

Map AI 9/24/26, 8:29 PM

Commute Time Burden in Nelson County: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Nelson County spend about 63 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 261 hours, about 10.9 full days, spent commuting. That is 35% more time on the road than the Virginia average of 23.2 minutes each way, a difference of 8.1 minutes.

Nelson County holds about 0.2% of Virginia's population and accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Nelson County would save about 104 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,232 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)
Nelson County	31.3 min	62.6 min	261 hrs/yr	$8,080	737
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

Lexington city (10.6 min)
Covington city (12.2 min)
Norton city (13.1 min)

Slowest commutes among counties in Virginia

Amelia County (43.7 min)
Craig County (41.3 min)
Buckingham County (41.3 min)

Compare commute times among different counties

Nelson County

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 31.3 minutes to get to work in Nelson County. That's 40% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

Slower than 83% of counties in Virginia

The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 19.1% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Nelson County

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

Public transit is unusually rare in Nelson County: 21.3 times less than the Virginia average (0.1% vs 2.3%).

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

Commute Mode Trends in Nelson County, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Nelson 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	Bicycle	Taxi	Motorcycle
2009	86.6%	7.6%	2.0%	3.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2010	87.1%	6.6%	2.3%	4.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2011	85.9%	7.7%	1.8%	4.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2012	87.0%	5.1%	2.0%	5.0%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2013	88.4%	6.3%	1.6%	3.2%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2014	86.8%	7.3%	1.4%	3.8%	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2015	86.5%	8.2%	1.7%	3.1%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2016	86.2%	7.4%	1.6%	4.3%	0.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2017	88.8%	7.0%	1.3%	2.7%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	86.4%	9.3%	1.2%	2.9%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2019	85.6%	11.7%	1.2%	1.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2020	85.1%	11.1%	2.0%	1.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2021	80.4%	16.8%	1.8%	1.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2022	73.3%	22.8%	2.3%	1.4%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2023	73.2%	22.7%	2.6%	1.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%
2024	75.7%	19.1%	3.6%	1.4%	0.1%	0.1%	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 2017 at 88.8% and lowest in 2023 at 73.2%. Overall it fell from 86.6% in 2009 to 75.7% in 2024, down 10.9 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.

Working from home gained the most ground in Nelson County: its share of workers rose from 7.6% in 2009 to 19.1% in 2024, up 11.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 7.4 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.

Working from home peaked at 22.8% in 2022 and has since fallen back to 19.1%.

Commute Start Times in Nelson County

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Nelson County?

The bars show when commuters in Nelson 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		2.8%
5:00-5:29 AM		6.5%
5:30-5:59 AM		4.2%
6:00-6:29 AM		12.2%
6:30-6:59 AM		10.8%
7:00-7:29 AM		17.3%
7:30-7:59 AM		7.3%
8:00-8:29 AM		11.1%
8:30-8:59 AM		6.5%
9:00-9:59 AM		7.3%
10:00-10:59 AM		6.0%
11:00-11:59 AM		1.0%
12:00-3:59 PM		2.5%
4:00-11:59 PM		4.4%

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

The busiest time to head out in Nelson County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.3% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.2% across Virginia. Early starts are about as common as in Virginia: 13.6% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush looks much like Virginia's: 46.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.5% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (21.2%) 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 Nelson 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 Nelson 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 Nelson 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	Nelson County	Virginia	United States
2009	7:27 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:28 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:24 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:27 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:23 AM	7:38 AM	7:39 AM
2014	7:26 AM	7:38 AM	7:39 AM
2015	7:24 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2016	7:27 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:26 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:27 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:23 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:24 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:26 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:23 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:24 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:23 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Nelson County were on the road by 7:23 AM, 4 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:27 AM). That goes against the trend across Virginia, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Nelson County now leave 14 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM).

How does Nelson County's commute time compare?

Metric	Nelson County	Virginia	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	31.3 min	23.2 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	06:00 AM – 06:29 AM	08:00 AM – 08:29 AM	07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home	19.1%	18.3%	15.0%
Walked	3.6%	2.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	0.1%	2.3%	3.2%

The average commute time in Nelson County is 31.3 minutes, longer than the 23.2 minutes in Virginia.

0.1% commute by public transit, lower than the 2.3% in Virginia. 3.6% commute by walking, higher than the 2.1% in Virginia.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Nelson County, VA Commute Compared With Nearby Counties

Nelson County, VA is the smallest of the 4 counties compared here, 14,732 residents against a local median of 31,478. Nelson County, VA's work from home, at 19.1%, runs 90% above the 10.1% typical of the counties around it.

One-way commute tells the same story from another angle: 31.3 min against a local median of 21.9 min, 43% above it. The one measure here that carries a verdict is one-way commute, and at 43% above the local median it puts Nelson County, VA at the weaker end of the local range. The counties themselves spread 13.8% on work from home, so Nelson County, VA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Nelson County, VA has the 2nd highest work from home of the 4 areas compared here.

Area	Population	One-way commute	Work from home	Typical departure
Nelson County, VA	14,732	31.3 min #3/4	19.1% #2/4	7:23 AM #2/4
Amherst County, VA	31,478	21.9 min	10.1%	7:41 AM
Albemarle County, VA	114,898	20.6 min	21.7%	8:01 AM
Buckingham County, VA	16,972	41.3 min	7.9%	6:55 AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Nelson County, Virginia.

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

Commuters here spend an estimated 261 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $8,080 at a typical national wage. That's 35% more than the typical Virginia commuter spends.

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

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Nelson County, Virginia. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 06:00 AM – 06:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.

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

Public transit usage is significantly lower here than typical: about 0.1% 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).