Commuting in the U.S. Facts and Statistics

In 2024, the most recent year that the U.S. Census published data for the American Community Survey (ACS), the average commute time for American workers was 27 minutes.¹

Census data shows that, for the plurality of U.S. commuters, it takes 15 to 19 minutes to get to work. Over half of commuters have commutes less than 30 minutes long.²

You can see the data at a more granular level here:

By State

The most recent 2024 U.S. Census data tell us that the state with the longest travel time to work was New York, which had a mean commute time of 33 minutes. North Dakota had the lowest mean commute time of only 18 minutes.

By City

As New York has the longest commute times of any state, it’s not surprising that New York City has the longest commute of any metropolitan statistical area (MSA) with a population of at least 1 million. NYC residents spent an average of 37 minutes commuting in 2024.

Another New York city, albeit one with a decidedly smaller population than NYC, had the shortest commute of any MSA: Rochester. Rochesterians spent just under 21 minutes commuting in 2024.

By Mode of Transportation

In 2024, the average commute by public transportation (including bus, subway, or long-distance train) was 50 minutes long, while the average driving commute was 27 minutes long. Driving alone took less time on average than carpooling, by only one minute.

After peaking in 2019 with an average commute time of 27.6 minutes, the average commute time in the U.S. in 2024 was almost back to pre-pandemic levels at 27.2 minutes, up less than half a minute from 2023.³

In addition to devastating the health and lives of millions worldwide, one of COVID-19’s largest effects was on the way people work.

In 2019, just 5.7 percent of U.S. workers ages 16 and older worked from home, while 5 percent were commuting via public transit.⁴ Remote work rates peaked at 17.9 percent in 2021, and have decreased to 13.3 percent as of 2024. More people are returning to in-person work, and according to December 2024 data from the Pew Research Center (PRC), 58 percent of U.S. workers are extremely or highly satisfied with their commutes.⁵

Many people who can do their jobs from home go into the office at least some of the time. A separate PRC survey found that, of employed U.S. adults with “teleworkable” jobs, only 32 percent work at home all of the time. Before the pandemic, that percentage was 14 percent.

Meanwhile, 43 percent of workers have a hybrid schedule, working from home at least some of the time. 73 percent of workers say that remote work helps them balance their work and personal lives.⁶ The surveys did not ask the respondents about gas savings, but presumably, many of them could also benefit from pay-per-mile insurance.

Worldwide, 28 percent of workers work from home all or most of the time, a number that has been increasing since 2015, according to PayScale.⁷

While remote work has peaked in the U.S., it’s still on the rise globally.

Although public transportation is a more environmentally friendly option than driving alone, many places in the U.S. aren’t well-equipped with the necessary infrastructure. As a result, the majority of Americans — an estimated 69 percent in 2024 — drive to work solo. That’s down from 2020 estimates of 75 percent, due to the increase in remote work.

By State

Residents of Mississippi drive to work the most. Nine out of 10 people in the Magnolia State drive to work, the majority of them alone. Aside from Washington, D.C., where over a third of all workers are remote, New York has the lowest car commuting rates — only 56 percent.

By City

The MSA with the most drivers is the Riverside metro area, with 85 percent of workers who commute by car, van, or truck. Unsurprisingly, the metro area with the least amount of drivers is New York City, which has the highest percentage of residents taking public transportation for their commute at 27 percent. The city with the second-highest amount of public transit commuters is San Francisco, and it’s far below NYC at only 11 percent.

Dallas had the lowest public transportation rates as only 1 percent of the residents used public transportation to commute in 2024.

Which Mode is Safest?

Technically scheduled airlines are the safest way to travel, according to 2024 data from the National Safety Council, though of course most people don’t take commercial flights to work. Buses and trains are next-safest, with about 0.01 deaths per 100 million passenger miles.

Unfortunately, passenger vehicles are not only the most common form of commuter transportation — 78 percent of U.S. commuters drive — they’re also the most dangerous, with 0.46 deaths per 100 million passenger miles.⁸

Like most things in life, long commutes have both negative and positive effects. However, it’s fair to say that the negatives outweigh the positives here.

Environmental Impact

Long commutes are bad for the environment, particularly if you’re driving (and driving alone is even worse). Driving causes smog, nitrogen oxide and greenhouse gas emissions. The transportation sector contributes 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and 22 percent of this is from personal vehicles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.⁹

Financial Impact

Long commutes are also expensive, not just for drivers but for the companies that employ them. A study published by the Harvard Business School focused on an inventor firm over a five-year period found that the opportunity cost of commuting may exceed the worker’s hourly wage, meaning workers were spending more to commute than they would make at work during the same time period.¹⁰

Another factor for drivers is the price of gas. AAA found that, on average, driving a medium gas-powered sedan costs 66.37 cents per mile, with an average per-gallon cost of $3.15 in 2025. Electric vehicles cost an average of 71.21 per mile.¹¹

Physical Impact

Assuming your commute takes place in a car as it does for the majority of Americans, it could cause negative physical health effects, such as:

• Tightness in hip flexors
• Lower back pain
• Spine damage
• Worse cardiovascular health
• More exposure to pollution
• Less time to exercise
• Difficulty sleeping, which could lead to diabetes/obesity

Mental Health Impact

Long daily commutes can affect your mental health as well as your physical health. They’re known to increase stress, make it less likely you’ll want to drive for social purposes and decrease job satisfaction.¹²

However, an article published in Harvard Business Review noted some positive effects of commuting on one’s mental health.¹³ Commuting is a structured ritual that allows people to separate work from home, share the commuting experience with co-workers and prepare for the day. A drawback of working from home instead of commuting is the lack of separation between work and home life, which can lead to burnout.

Work Impact

Meanwhile, commuting may make people less productive workers. The same Harvard Business School study found that commuting had an inverse relationship with productivity.

For every six miles a commute increased, there was a 5 percent decrease in the number of patents developed and a 7 percent decrease in their quality. The effects were even worse for inventors in the top 10 percent of their field.

While there’s still more research needed on this topic, it’s generally agreed upon that although short commutes can have their benefits, long commutes are bad for the environment and the physical, mental and work health of commuters.

Believe it or not, some people cross country lines to do their jobs. International commuters maintain a permanent residence in their home countries but work abroad on a semi-permanent or permanent basis for two to three years. Often, they travel to their country of work weekly, every other week or every three weeks.

As of June 2026, there are very few studies on international commuters in the U.S. However, the existing research indicates that having commutes this long promotes fatigue, stress and conflict with both work and family.

While commutes have changed a ton in the past few years, they’re still a fundamental part of millions of Americans’ reality. Commute times are almost back to pre-pandemic levels, and companies continue to issue return-to-office mandates despite increased remote work capabilities. It will be interesting to see what the data for 2026 and beyond says. For more information on transportation in the U.S., read our statistics on car ownership.

We used data from the following third parties in this report on commuting in the U.S.:

• AAA
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Harvard Business Review
• Harvard Business School
• Keck Medicine of USC
• National Safety Council
• PayScale
• Pew Research
• U.S. Census