States with the best and worst commutes
How dramatically (and permanently) the pandemic shapes workers’ commutes remains to be seen, but initial research shows a decreased use of public transit, a higher reliance on bicycles, scooters, and e-bikes, and decreased travel overall as more people work from home. Overall that could spell good news for the 50% of commuters who characterize their trip to work as stressful, according to a 2019 survey from staffing firm Robert Half.
Multiple studies have found that commuters traveling more than 90 minutes one way have a significantly higher rate of psychosomatic disorders than those with shorter commutes. The problem has only gotten worse, with the number of commuters with 90-minute, one-way trips to work doubling in one decade from 1990 to 2000. In addition to the mental stress, commuting contributes to climate change, traffic jams, and overall vehicle congestion.
Coverage.com used data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to rank the states and Washington D.C. according to their average one-way commute time to work, with ties broken by the percentage of U.S. workers age 16+ who do not work at home and commute 60 minutes or more. Each slide includes the average commute time for different modes of transportation, as well as how many people commute outside their county or state of residence to get to work. Finally, the cities with the longest and shortest commute times are included in the slides for each state except Washington D.C. (as it is a city itself). Please note that average commute time was not available for the state of Wyoming, so it is the last entry on this list.
