Norfolk city Commute Time Map & Patterns

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

You 9/25/26, 3:53 AM

Is the commute in Norfolk city longer than the national average?

Map AI 9/25/26, 3:53 AM

Commute Time Burden in Norfolk city: Annual Hours and Cost

Commuters in Norfolk city spend about 42 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 174 hours, about 7.3 full days, spent commuting. That is 10% less time on the road than the Virginia average of 23.2 minutes each way, a difference of 2.3 minutes.

Norfolk city holds about 2.7% of Virginia's population but accounts for roughly 2.4% of its total commuting time.

Working from home just 2 days a week in Norfolk city would save about 70 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $2,158 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)
Norfolk city	20.9 min	41.8 min	174 hrs/yr	$5,396	2,689
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

Norfolk city

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Average commute time

On average, it takes 20.9 minutes to get to work in Norfolk city. That's 7% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.

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 10.2% work from home.

How People Get to Work in Norfolk city

Commute Mode Trends in Norfolk city, 2009-2024

This chart shows how workers in Norfolk 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.

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	Public Transportation	Other	Bicycle	Motorcycle	Taxi
2009	79.8%	9.9%	4.3%	4.2%	1.1%	0.4%	0.2%	0.1%
2010	81.2%	7.8%	4.7%	4.2%	1.2%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%
2011	80.2%	8.6%	5.2%	4.0%	1.0%	0.5%	0.2%	0.2%
2012	80.8%	8.6%	4.3%	4.5%	0.8%	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%
2013	80.9%	7.7%	5.5%	3.9%	0.9%	0.6%	0.2%	0.3%
2014	80.8%	6.9%	6.5%	3.9%	0.8%	0.6%	0.2%	0.3%
2015	82.8%	6.1%	5.2%	4.0%	0.8%	0.7%	0.2%	0.2%
2016	83.1%	4.3%	6.6%	3.9%	0.9%	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%
2017	81.9%	3.0%	9.2%	3.6%	1.0%	0.8%	0.3%	0.2%
2018	81.6%	2.8%	9.8%	3.5%	1.0%	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%
2019	81.2%	2.9%	9.9%	3.6%	1.2%	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%
2020	79.9%	4.6%	9.9%	3.3%	1.1%	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%
2021	79.6%	6.1%	9.1%	3.0%	1.1%	0.5%	0.3%	0.2%
2022	81.7%	7.3%	5.7%	3.0%	1.2%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
2023	81.0%	8.6%	5.2%	2.8%	1.2%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
2024	80.1%	10.2%	5.0%	2.6%	1.1%	0.6%	0.3%	0.1%

Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2016 at 83.1% and lowest in 2021 at 79.6%. Overall it held roughly steady, at 79.8% in 2009 and 80.1% in 2024. It has fallen in each of the last 2 releases.

Walking gained the most ground in Norfolk city: its share of workers rose from 4.3% in 2009 to 5.0% in 2024, up 0.7 percentage points.

Public transit lost the most ground, falling from 4.2% to 2.6% of workers (down 1.6 percentage points).

Walking peaked at 9.9% in 2019 and has since fallen back to 5.0%.

Commute Start Times in Norfolk city

What Time Do People Leave for Work in Norfolk city?

The bars show when commuters in Norfolk 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		5.6%
5:00-5:29 AM		4.9%
5:30-5:59 AM		7.3%
6:00-6:29 AM		11.7%
6:30-6:59 AM		8.9%
7:00-7:29 AM		11.9%
7:30-7:59 AM		11.1%
8:00-8:29 AM		9.6%
8:30-8:59 AM		5.7%
9:00-9:59 AM		5.9%
10:00-10:59 AM		3.0%
11:00-11:59 AM		2.0%
12:00-3:59 PM		7.2%
4:00-11:59 PM		5.4%

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

The busiest time to head out in Norfolk city is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 11.9% of commuters leave home, compared with 14.2% across Virginia. Early starts are more common than in Virginia: 17.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more spread out than in Virginia: 41.4% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 47.5% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (23.4%) 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 Norfolk 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 Norfolk 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 Norfolk 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.

Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Show typical departure times by year

Year	Norfolk city	Virginia	United States
2009	7:30 AM	7:37 AM	7:37 AM
2010	7:28 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2011	7:31 AM	7:37 AM	7:38 AM
2012	7:29 AM	7:38 AM	7:38 AM
2013	7:27 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	7:22 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2017	7:21 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2018	7:19 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2019	7:20 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2020	7:21 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2021	7:19 AM	7:38 AM	7:37 AM
2022	7:25 AM	7:39 AM	7:37 AM
2023	7:29 AM	7:39 AM	7:38 AM
2024	7:29 AM	7:40 AM	7:38 AM

In 2024, half of commuters in Norfolk city were on the road by 7:29 AM, 1 minute earlier than in 2009 (7:30 AM). That goes against the trend across Virginia, where the typical commuter now leaves 3 minutes later than in 2009. Commuters in Norfolk city now leave 9 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Norfolk city has moved 9 minutes later.

How does Norfolk city's commute time compare?

Metric	Norfolk city	Virginia	US Average
Avg. Commute Time	20.9 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	10.2%	18.3%	15.0%
Walked	5.0%	2.1%	2.4%
Public Transit	2.6%	2.3%	3.2%

The average commute time in Norfolk city is 20.9 minutes, shorter than the 23.2 minutes in Virginia.

2.6% commute by public transit, higher than the 2.3% in Virginia. 5.0% commute by walking, higher than the 2.1% in Virginia.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about commuting in Norfolk city, Virginia.

How much does the average commute cost workers in Norfolk city, Virginia?

Commuters here spend an estimated 174 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $5,396 at a typical national wage. That's 10% less than the typical Virginia commuter spends.

When is rush hour worst in Norfolk city, Virginia?

Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Norfolk city, 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.

Which counties in Virginia have the fastest and slowest commutes?

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).