Top 20 commuter cities in the USA

The U.S. city with the longest average commute is New York City, according to results of a study carried out by international telematics company Geotab deemed “Time to Commute” which analyzed commuter sprawls across 20 major cities in the country.

Besides commuting into the city taking 43 minutes on average, commuters also face the longest commute by transit (53 minutes).

According to the study, 28% of NYC commuters can access the city within 30 minutes by car and only 6% of public transit users can access the city within this time. As such, NYC was identified as America’s least reachable city with just 4% of commuters being able to travel into the city in half an hour or less.
 

New York commute map (source: Geotab)

On the opposite side of the spectrum, San Diego was named as the U.S. city with the shortest average commute time (26 minutes). While 77% of San Diego commuters travelling by car can travel to the city within 30 minutes, approximately 17% of public transit users can commute into the city within that time.

Overall, 72% of commuters can access the city within a half an hour, making the coastal Californian city the most reachable city on the list.

San Diego commute map (source: Geotab)

As for the most reachable city for public transit users, the title goes to Minneapolis, of which 31% of its travelers make it into the city within 30 minutes.

Besides mapping out the situation in the cities, the findings also highlights the need for ongoing investment in transportation infrastructure across the country, according to Geotab VP of Marketing Maria Sotra.

“The stark contrast between how many cities are easily reachable by car versus those that are easily reachable by public transit suggests that there is still some way to go in ensuring that these cities can be accessed in a reasonable amount of time regardless of your mode of transport,” says the executive.

The Study

Utilizing the 2012-2016 CTPP tabulation of the American Community Survey, Geotab examined data from more than 14 million commuters, calculating mean commute times from census tract areas across the U.S. travelling into 20 of the biggest cities in America.

The company then used this data to create detailed maps visualizing these complex travel patterns, highlighting the true commuter boundaries of each of these cities.

“These maps provide us with an alternative way of thinking about cities. A city doesn’t necessarily stop at the official city boundaries…they continue to sprawl much further thanks to the commuters that travel in and out of these areas,” says Sotra.

Top 20 commuter cities (from most to least reachable)
1. San Diego, CA
2. Phoenix, AZ
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Portland, OR
5. Orlando, FL
6. Detroit, MI
7. Denver, CO
8. Cleveland, OH
9. Dallas, TX
10. Houston, TX
11. Los Angeles, CA
12. Seattle, WA
13. Miami, FL
14. Philadelphia, PA

15. Atlanta, GA
16. San Francisco, CA
17. Chicago, IL

18. Boston, MA
19. Washington, D.C.

20. New York, NY