These Cities Have The Most Expensive Commutes

It takes money to make money.

Maybe that’s why so many workers are finding themselves saving money now that they’re working from home. Between over-priced coffee, lunches with coworkers, and professional clothes to look the part, it adds up.

Of course, that’s not counting the biggest area of savings- the commute. According to the US Census, the average American worker drives 27 minutes to work each day. That’s 54 minutes a day stuck in a car. In fuel costs with wear and tear using the IRS standard mileage rate, that’s around $15 a day. That adds up to $75 a work week and a whopping $3,900 a year.

Is it any surprise so many workers want to keep working from home?

However, not all cities are burdened with such steep commutes. We hit the numbers to find where people are spending the biggest chunk of their paychecks just getting to work.

The Cities With The Most Expensive Commutes

1. Palmdale, California
2. New York, New York
3. Moreno Valley, California
4. Hialeah, Florida
5. Stockton, California
6. Pomona, California
7. Newark, New Jersey
8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. Santa Clarita, California
10. San Bernardino, California

Apparently in Cali, they’re California dreaming of shorter commutes. 6 of the top 10 are in California. Keep reading to see where you city landed and how much it costs just to work in these cities.

How We Determined This

We examined over 200 cities with populations over 100,000 to determine the cities where people are burdened by the largest commutes.

We broke the cost of commuting into two categories:

• Time spent commuting
• Wear and tear/Fuel costs

The first factor we examined was time spent commuting. Whether we like it or not, time is money. The hours spent on the freeway to get to work are an unpaid necessity to do your job for most folks. We used the median salary in each city, and broke it down the hourly rate for the typical 40-hour work week, excluding weekends and holidays (so no Christmas or Saturdays, for example.)

We then multiplied that rate by the average commute time from the ACS to determine the lost financial opportunity cost of each city’s commute. Since not everyone works 40 hours a week, this numbers are slightly deflated.

For wear and tear/fuel costs, we took the city’s commute time and assumed an average 1 mile for every 2 minutes spent driving both ways. From there, we used the IRS’ standard mileage rate of 57 cents/per mile.

To determine which city had the most expensive commute, we determined the percent of each city’s median income spent commuting, both on out of pocket commute expenses and in the opportunity cost of time. The greater the number, the higher the city ranked.

1. Palmdale, California

Hourly Wage: $15
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 86
Daily Commute Cost:$24.45

Workers in Palmdale have the most expensive commute in the nation, coming in at an average $6,382.23 yearly in expenses alone. Since Palmdale salaries are on the low-side, paying that much is a big financial burden. Another big burden? Time! Palmdale workers on average drive nearly an hour and a half each day. That adds up to 7 hours a week, nearly an entire extra work day. Over the year, that’s over 300 hours spent just going to and from work. Yikes, is the more spacious and affordable housing worth it?

2. New York, New York

Hourly Wage: $20
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 84
Daily Commute Cost:$23.94

New York, New York, what a wonderful place- unless you’re a commuter. The average New Yorker spends a staggering 84 minutes a day just getting to work. While New Yorkers earn healthy salaries, it’s no match for the daily expense. In fact, commute cost outstrips the hourly pay, meaning New Yorkers are working a whole hour just for the privilege of going to work.

3. Moreno Valley, California

Hourly Wage: $14
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 72
Daily Commute Cost:$20.41

In third place is Moreno Valley, California. If workers got paid for their hours on the road (or could spend that time working extra hours!), they’d make an additional $5,325.97 a year. Instead, they’re stuck spending over an hour day getting to and from work.

4. Hialeah, Florida

Hourly Wage: $12
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 64
Daily Commute Cost:$18.24

A good chunk of Hialeah workers make the trek to Miami daily. That trek adds up, on average Hialeah workers spend a little over an hour commuting. Considering the relatively low median income of $25,096, the lost time and gas costs take a big chunk of Hialeah workers’ paychecks.

5. Stockton, California

Hourly Wage: $15
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 69
Daily Commute Cost:$19.78

Stockton workers spend 69 minutes getting to and from work. The financial costs of gas and keeping their car running averages out to $19.78 a day. That’s more than many of them make in an hour.

6. Pomona, California

Hourly Wage: $12
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 63
Daily Commute Cost:$18.01

Pomona, California has the 6th worst commute in the nation. While Pomona’s commute length isn’t the worst (although, I would argue it’s still pretty bad), the median pay is fairly low. This means Pomona workers feel the financial costs and lost time dearly

7. Newark, New Jersey

Hourly Wage: $14
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 67
Daily Commute Cost:$19.21

In 7th place is Newark, New Jersey, the second east coast city. At a little over an hour a day, Newark-ers are spending a good chunk of their day commuting. Going by the IRS’ standard mileage, they are just spending time- but also $19 a day.

8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hourly Wage: $16
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 69
Daily Commute Cost:$19.61

Philly isn’t a city for those who hate commuting. On average, workers in Philly spend 69 minutes each day getting to and from work. That commute isn’t just robbing them of their precious time, but is expensive in wear and tear.

9. Santa Clarita, California

Hourly Wage: $20
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 77
Daily Commute Cost:$21.89

Santa Clarita has an unpleasantly long commute of 77 minutes, second only to Palmdale in minutes. While the higher wages in Santa Clarita make it somewhat more affordable than the previous 8 cities, it still makes a dent. If time is money, they’re spending a lot of it commuting.

10. San Bernardino, California

Hourly Wage: $13
Average Commute Length (Minutes): 60
Daily Commute Cost:$17.10

The 10th worst commute is in San Bernardino, California. While a Grand Theft Auto game was set there, they probably left out the soul crushing commute and the high costs to keep that car running– because as many San Bernardino workers can attest to, its not fun. Workers spend an hour a day, and more than an hour’s pay, just for the privilege of going to work.

Keep commuting costs in mind when choosing a job!

While that high paying job 40 minutes away may seem like a sweet gig, more of your paycheck (and your time!) might be spent commuting that you anticipate. Not only will you be forking over more money for gas and car repairs, you will have less available free time to spend making money or on activities you enjoy.

What cities should workers eager to spend less of their time and money look towards? We rounded up the 10 cities where workers spend the smallest proportionate of their paychecks in time and money commuting.

Cities Where Workers Spend The Least On Their Commute

1. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2. Overland Park, Kansas
3. Lubbock, Texas
4. Anchorage, Alaska
5. Sunnyvale, California
6. Scottsdale, Arizona
7. Midland, Texas
8. Bellevue, Washington
9. Amarillo, Texas
10. Salt Lake City, Utah

While some of these cities have comparably low traffic compared to others, some have workers who are spending a good amount of time on the road. For example, Bellevue, Washington and Sunnyvale, California. How did these cities make the list? Girthy salaries that more than cover the difference. It goes to show, sometimes the commute might just be worth it after all.

The 50 Cities With The Most Expensive Commutes

Author

Kathy Morris

Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.