The 50 worst commutes in America, ranked

50. Deltona – Daytona Beach, Florida.

Average trip to work: 25.3 minutes

The City of Deltona took things into its own hands after new developments and increasing traffic caused frustrated drivers to ignore speed limits and take local roads.

The city decided to release a Traffic Calming Handbook outlining how to reduce excessive traffic and speeding.

49. Greater New Haven, Connecticut.

Average trip to work: 25.4 minutes

Despite spending millions of dollars on improving the area, including new train cars, a new rail line, and a completely redesigned highway interchange, the area’s transportation infrastructure is still failing to meet the needs of the city, the New Haven Register reported in October.

48. Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Average trip to work: 25.6 minutes

According to Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Twin Cities metro area has more available jobs than workers, so more than 242,000 people commuted into the Twin Cities from outside the seven-county region in 2014.

Average trip to work: 25.7 minutes

Ridership on trains and buses in the city has dropped by more than 20% since 2013, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fears around security and the low cost of driving to work in a spread-out region have been two major factors for the drop.

45. New Orleans, Louisiana.

Average trip to work: 25.8 minutes

Commuters using public transport dropped from 13% in 2000 to 6% in 2017, according to The Data Center. But the share of bikers in New Orleans rose to 3%, giving the city the fifth-highest share of bike commuting of the largest 70 cities in the United States.

44. Charleston, South Carolina.

Average trip to work: 26.2 minutes

Between 2009 and 2017, pedestrians and cyclists were more likely to die in the Charleston region than anywhere else in South Carolina, especially if they were people of color, The Post and Courier reported.

43. San Diego, California

Average trip to work: 26.3 minutes each way.

San Diego Magazine put together some tips on commutes to avoid in the area.

42. Providence, Rhode Island.

Average trip to work: 26.3 minutes

I-95, which connects Miami to Maine, runs straight through the Rhode Island capital.

Average trip to work: 26.5 minutes

According to the US Census Bureau, 79% of San Antonio drivers commuted to work alone in 2016.

39. Raleigh, North Carolina

Average trip to work: 26.6 minutes

Interestingly, and definitely not helping daily commute times, 52% of city-based jobs are held by non-residents, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

37. Santa Rosa, California

Average trip to work: 26.7 minutes

The city in California’s wine country has a population under 200,000.

Average trip to work: 26.7 minutes

This might seem like a long time every day, but it could be worse. In 2015, Detroit man James Robertson made headlines due to his 21-mile walk to and from work, which no doubt took a lot longer than 27 minutes.

35. Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

33. Greater Austin, Texas.

Average trip to work: 27 minutes

Here are some tips from Austin traffic reporters: Understanding Austin’s toll road system and staying on top of construction could pay dividends.

32. Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

31. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Average trip to work: 27.3 minutes

Pittsburgh had 1,704 bike commuters in 2010 and 2,964 in 2016. But with 77.5 % of commuters driving alone, cars are still by far the most popular transport choice, Pittsburgh City Paper reported in 2018.

30. Charlotte, North Carolina.

Average trip to work: 27.3 minutes

Here’s a list of five of the worst commutes in Charlotte, courtesy of the Charlotte Agenda.

29. Greater Sacramento, California.

Average trip to work: 27.6 minutes

While Sacramento is the state capital, it’s only the sixth-largest city in California.

Average trip to work: 27.7 minutes

In 2016, 70% of commuters drove alone, and 48% of fatal crashes involved walking or biking, according to Oregon Metro.

27. Tampa Bay Area, Florida.

Average trip to work: 27.9 minutes

Between 2017 and 2018 Tampa had the ninth most growth of any city in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. At least there’s sunshine and Gulf Coast beaches.

26. Nashville, Tennessee.

Average trip to work: 27.9 minutes

Commuting 28 minutes each way might be getting to people, because nearly a quarter of Nashville employees said they quit their job over a bad commute, four percentage points higher than the national average.

25. Cape Coral – Fort Myers, Florida.

Average trip to work: 27.9 minutes

Fort Myers is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, with the Census Bureau ranking it No. 7 in April, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.

24. Winter Haven, Florida.

Average trip to work: 28 minutes

Set in the middle of Tampa and Orlando, Winter Haven is home to attractions including LEGOLAND and Cypress Gardens.

23. Thousand Oaks, California.

Average trip to work: 28.1 minutes

The city is 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It was ranked the 3rd-safest city in a nationwide ranking, before a mass shooting left 13 people dead in November 2018.

Average trip to work: 28.1 minutes

Despite 70% of commuters driving alone, Denver’s mayor Michael Hancock has his sights set on getting 30% of commuters out of single-person cars by 2030, unveiling a $2 billion plan to increase the number of people taking public transit, walking, and biking to work.

21. Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas.

Average trip to work: 28.6 minutes

Dallas-Fort Worth grew the most out of any metropolitan area in the country between 2017 and 2018, according to the US Census Bureau.

19. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii.

Average trip to work: 28.8 minutes

Back in 2012, a transportation analytics firm ranked Honolulu the absolute worst city for traffic in the US, so this is at least an improvement.

18. Greater Orlando, Florida.

Average trip to work: 29.4 minutes

Orlando is a booming tourism destination with 68 million visitors every year, which likely doesn’t help the daily commutes of people who live there.

17. Greater Miami, Florida.

Average trip to work: 29.9 minutes

It’s not all cars and buses — the Miami Herald reported that at least one man commutes by paddleboard, among dolphins and pelicans.

16. Greater Houston, Texas.

Average trip to work: 29.9 minutes

At 600 square miles, Houston is a sprawling city, making the daily commute hard to avoid. Houston could fit Manhattan, Chicago, and D.C., and Boston inside its borders.

15. San Jose – Santa Clara, California.

Average trip to work: 30.5 minutes

The commute time in Modesto might be a hard one to swallow for director George Lucas, whose first film “ American Graffiti“, was based on his memories of growing up and cruising around the city.

12. Los Angeles, California.

Average trip to work: 30.8 minutes

While this is based on a daily average, a 2018 University of Southern California study showed commuters spend a lot more time traveling home from work. The study found this was because people clog the roads after work to run errands or go to dinner.

11. Seattle – Tacoma, Washington.

Average trip to work: 31 minutes

Seattle Magazine highlighted Kent, SeaTac, and Issaquah among the best suburbs for a “quick” commute, and they all ranged from 30 minutes to an hour.

10. Greater Boston, Massachusetts.

Average trip to work: 31.4 minutes

There are nearly 500,000 more jobs in Massachusetts than 10 years ago, putting some serious pressure on Boston’s transportation system.

8. Greater Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Average trip to work: 31.6 minutes

A 2018 study from the Connecticut Department of Transportation found commute times could substantially improve if Interstate 95 was widened, Patch Reported.

6. Metro Atlanta, Georgia.

Average trip to work: 32.3 minutes

And most Atlantans are making the trip solo — 73% drive alone, and only 7% take public transit, according to Flowing Data.

4. Stockton – Lodi, California.

3. San Francisco, California.

2. Washington Metropolitan Area, Maryland and Virginia.

Average trip to work: 34.9 minutes

The United States’ capital comes in at No. 2 for the longest commutes in the country. Reason called D.C.’s metro system a “national embarrassment” and the Washington Examiner called it “the worst in the world”.

1. Greater New York, New York.

Average trip to work: 37 minutes

Greater New York has the longest commute in the country, and a huge proportion of commuters don’t live in New York City — over 1.6 million people come to Manhattan from another country every day. With most New Yorkers taking the crumbling subway to work, getting to the office in New York isn’t always a breeze.