Traveling to and from work is no fun – it may even be the worst part of one’s day. While people taking the train or the bus may have some entertainment options because they are allowed to use their phones, this is not the case for drivers. And, unfortunately for them, commute times are getting longer.
The average American spent nearly 27 minutes behind the wheel commuting to work each day in 2017, only a slight increase over the year before, but one that equaled an additional two and a half hours on the road over the course of a year.
Half an hour of driving every morning and evening may seem like a blessing to drivers in certain metropolitan areas. Those in D.C. commute for more than 43 minutes each way. And the nation’s capital is not even the city with the worst travel time.
Residents of some big cities in the country spend the equivalent of about a week a year just sitting in slow-moving traffic. That’s seven days that could be spent on far more pleasant activities — and a big enough number to maybe make people consider biking or even walking to work.
Click here to see the cities with the worst commutes in the U.S.
Click here to see the cities with the best commutes in the U.S.
To identify the American cities with the 15 best and 15 worst commutes, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2018 data from INRIX Research, a global transportation intelligence company. The ranking is based on the average number of hours drivers sat in traffic in 2018. The report examined traffic and mobility trends in more than 200 cities across 38 countries, including over 60 major cities in the United States. Data on congestion improvement and cost of traffic jams per driver also came from INRIX. Population numbers, as well as the number of vehicles registered per workers aged 16 and over, came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey. Population data also came from the ACS.
America’s cities with the worst commutes:
15. Charlotte, North Carolina
> Time lost in congestion: 95 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,332
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 365,973
> Total population: 826,060
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14. Houston, Texas
> Time lost in congestion: 98 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,365
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 958,219
> Total population: 2,267,336
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13. Austin, Texas
> Time lost in congestion: 104 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,452
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 425,012
> Total population: 916,906
12. Miami, Florida
> Time lost in congestion: 105 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,470
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 162,693
> Total population: 443,007
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11. Atlanta, Georgia
> Time lost in congestion: 108 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,505
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 170,609
> Total population: 465,230
10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
> Time lost in congestion: 112 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 6 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,568
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 386,057
> Total population: 1,569,657
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9. Portland, Oregon
> Time lost in congestion: 116 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,625
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 223,047
> Total population: 630,331
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8. San Francisco, California
> Time lost in congestion: 116 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 6 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,624
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 203,789
> Total population: 864,263
7. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
> Time lost in congestion: 127 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,776
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 96,637
> Total population: 305,012
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6. Los Angeles, California
> Time lost in congestion: 128 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,788
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 1,481,710
> Total population: 3,949,776
5. New York City, New York
> Time lost in congestion: 133 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 7 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,859
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 1,057,885
> Total population: 8,560,072
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4. Seattle, Washington
> Time lost in congestion: 138 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 6 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,932
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 227,229
> Total population: 688,245
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3. Chicago, Illinois
> Time lost in congestion: 138 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $1,920
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 735,291
> Total population: 2,722,586
2. Washington, District of Columbia
> Time lost in congestion: 155 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 5 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $2,161
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 139,766
> Total population: 672,391
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1. Boston, Massachusetts
> Time lost in congestion: 164 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 6 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $2,291
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 160,002
> Total population: 669,158
America’s cities with the best commutes:
15. Tucson, Arizona
> Time lost in congestion: 52 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $731
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 199,024
> Total population: 530,905
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14. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
> Time lost in congestion: 51 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $716
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 281,054
> Total population: 629,191
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13. Colorado Springs, Colorado
> Time lost in congestion: 50 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $696
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 195,954
> Total population: 450,000
12. Bakersfield, California
> Time lost in congestion: 50 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $700
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 142,351
> Total population: 372,680
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11. Lincoln, Nebraska
> Time lost in congestion: 48 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $664
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 134,702
> Total population: 277,315
10. Kansas City, Missouri
> Time lost in congestion: 47 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $659
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 211,931
> Total population: 476,974
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9. St Louis, Missouri
> Time lost in congestion: 46 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $638
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 119,921
> Total population: 314,867
8. Fresno, California
> Time lost in congestion: 43 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $594
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 182,644
> Total population: 519,037
7. Greensboro, North Carolina
> Time lost in congestion: 43 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $598
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 121,529
> Total population: 284,816
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6. Stockton, California
> Time lost in congestion: 38 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 4 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $525
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 105,737
> Total population: 304,358
5. Memphis, Tennessee
> Time lost in congestion: 38 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $530
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 260,420
> Total population: 654,723
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4. Toledo, Ohio
> Time lost in congestion: 36 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $507
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 107,300
> Total population: 279,455
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3. Omaha, Nebraska
> Time lost in congestion: 35 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $494
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 215,032
> Total population: 463,081
2. Tulsa, Oklahoma
> Time lost in congestion: 33 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $456
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 171,375
> Total population: 401,352
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1. Wichita, Kansas
> Time lost in congestion: 22 hours
> Time it takes to drive a mile downtown: 3 min.
> Cost of congestion per driver: $304
> Private vehicles per person (16+): 171,395
> Total population: 389,054
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