How Much Time Remote Workers Saved Not Commuting During The Pandemic

Commute Time Saved By Remote Workers Research Summary

New Yorkers saved the most time on their commutes during the Pandemic, at an average of 291 hours per year.

Workers in South Dakota must not have a lot of traffic, as they only saved 149 hours.

Workers in New York City, NY saved a whopping 360 hours on their commute times.

While workers in Lubbock, TX only saved an average of 144 hours.

In March of 2020, the unexpected and unprecedented American Work-From-Home experiment began.

Many workers found not only could they work from- they were just as productive and saving time and money to boot.

In fact, as the pandemic enters the final stage, many workers are mourning the time they gained- and will soon lose- from cutting out their daily commute.

Instead of a morning spent calmly with a cup of coffee or having breakfast with their children, they will now once again be on a congested freeway being reminded of just how much they dislike other people.

We hit the data to understand the average time saved by workers working remotely in the past year–and the time they will lose commuting when they return to the office.

First, we will examine the time saved by state, and then the time saved by city.

The States That Saved The Most Time

Rank	State	Hours Saved
1	New York	291
2	Maryland	288
3	New Jersey	279
4	Massachusetts	262
5	California	258
6	Illinois	253
7	Georgia	250
8	Virginia	249
9	Washington	242
10	Florida	240

Unsurprisingly, densely crowded and highly urban states saved the most time by not commuting. As you can see below, western states with spare populations saved significantly fewer hours. Although even South Dakota saved 149 hours– the equivalent of over 3 and a half work weeks.

The States That Saved The Least Time

Rank	State	Hours Saved
1	South Dakota	149
2	North Dakota	150
3	Wyoming	155
4	Montana	159
5	Nebraska	163
6	Alaska	165
7	Iowa	167
8	Kansas	168
9	Idaho	183
10	Arkansas	188

While states are great at providing a big-picture look at commutes, city-level data can provide a more accurate look for an individual’s commute. After all workers in New York City are dealing with far greater traffic for example than those in Albany, New York.

While some cities more or less time, they still saved valuable hours for workers to spend doing things they probably prefer to rush hour. You can see a more in-depth breakdown for the full 150 cities, in addition to our methodology, below.

How We Determined This

For simplicity’s sake, we assumed one year of work from home. While some remote workers may have worked slightly more or slightly less, in general, it’s a good benchmark.

From there, we turned to US 5-year American Community Survey, to find the average commute in each state and the 150 cities with the most workers. We then doubled the number (since commuting typically requires you to go to and from work), giving us the average round-trip commute.

That number was then multiplied by 260, assuming a standard Monday-to-Friday work schedule, which gave us the average early commute in minutes. We simply divided that by 60 to get the number of hours saved by commuting in each geography.

The Cat’s In The Cradle And Silver Spoon

Many workers struggle to achieve a work-life balance. To put that less politely, many workers flat out spend too much time working and not enough time living.

A long commute can contribute to a lopsided work-life balance and decrease worker satisfaction.

Many workers, in particular younger workers, cite flexibility and remote work as some of their most desired job benefits.

In fact, for many workers, the pandemic and resulting time working from home may have only increased their desire to have a more flexible work environment.

Regardless, remote work was becoming more common prior to the pandemic and Covid seems to have ramped up the trend. Maybe for some, quiet morning coffee instead of road rage is here to stay after all.

How much time was saved by working remotely in each city, from most to least

Rank	City	Hours Saved
1	New York City, New York	360
2	Jersey City city, New Jersey	322
3	Santa Clarita city, California	319
4	Moreno Valley city, California	309
5	Fremont city, California	307
6	Newark city, New Jersey	305
7	Chicago city, Illinois	304
8	Yonkers city, New York	303
9	San Francisco city, California	293
10	Fontana city, California	293
11	Philadelphia city, Pennsylvania	291
12	Oakland city, California	289
13	Rancho Cucamonga city, California	278
14	Los Angeles city, California	277
15	Alexandria city, Virginia	276
16	Ontario city, California	274
17	Baltimore City, Maryland	272
17	Riverside city, California	272
19	Stockton city, California	270
20	Long Beach city, California	269
21	San Jose city, California	268
21	Boston city, Massachusetts	268
23	Washington city, District of Columbia	267
24	Tacoma city, Washington	261
24	Huntington Beach city, California	261
26	Chula Vista city, California	260
27	Oceanside city, California	259
28	Frisco city, Texas	258
29	Aurora city, Colorado	256
29	Garland city, Texas	256
31	Miami city, Florida	254
31	McKinney city, Texas	254
33	Arlington CDP, Virginia	253
33	Aurora city, Illinois	253
35	Grand Prairie city, Texas	252
36	Anaheim city, California	250
36	Garden Grove city, California	250
38	Hialeah city, Florida	250
38	Port St. Lucie city, Florida	250
40	Glendale city, Arizona	249
41	Glendale city, California	248
42	Modesto city, California	245
43	Gilbert town, Arizona	244
44	Seattle city, Washington	242
45	Houston city, Texas	240
45	North Las Vegas city, Nevada	240
47	Arlington city, Texas	237
48	Fort Worth city, Texas	236
48	Atlanta city, Georgia	236
48	Lakewood city, Colorado	236
51	Dallas city, Texas	235
52	Fort Lauderdale city, Florida	234
53	Plano city, Texas	232
54	Chesapeake city, Virginia	231
55	Portland city, Oregon	230
56	Oxnard city, California	229
57	Phoenix city, Arizona	227
57	Sacramento city, California	227
59	Las Vegas city, Nevada	226
59	Orlando city, Florida	226
61	Charlotte city, North Carolina	224
61	Denver city, Colorado	224
61	Detroit city, Michigan	224
61	San Juan zona urbana, Puerto Rico	224
65	Santa Ana city, California	221
65	Irvine city, California	221
67	Mesa city, Arizona	220
67	Vancouver city, Washington	220
69	Jacksonville city, Florida	218
70	Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance), Tennessee	217
71	Worcester city, Massachusetts	215
72	San Antonio city, Texas	214
72	Chandler city, Arizona	214
74	Tampa city, Florida	213
75	San Diego city, California	212
75	Austin city, Texas	212
77	St. Louis city, Missouri	211
78	St. Paul city, Minnesota	211
78	Pittsburgh city, Pennsylvania	211
80	New Orleans city, Louisiana	210
80	Irving city, Texas	210
82	Raleigh city, North Carolina	208
82	Cleveland city, Ohio	208
84	Urban Honolulu CDP, Hawaii	205
84	St. Petersburg city, Florida	205
86	Indianapolis city (balance), Indiana	205
86	Virginia Beach city, Virginia	205
88	Henderson city, Nevada	204
89	Newport News city, Virginia	202
89	Cary town, North Carolina	202
91	El Paso city, Texas	201
91	Minneapolis city, Minnesota	201
91	Cincinnati city, Ohio	201
91	Santa Rosa city, California	201
95	Bakersfield city, California	199
96	Spring Valley CDP, Nevada	198
97	Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance), Kentucky	198
97	Paradise CDP, Nevada	198
97	Enterprise CDP, Nevada	198
100	Colorado Springs city, Colorado	197
100	Durham city, North Carolina	197
102	Tucson city, Arizona	195
103	Scottsdale city, Arizona	193
104	Milwaukee city, Wisconsin	192
104	Fresno city, California	192
106	Columbus city, Ohio	191
106	Kansas City city, Missouri	191
108	Birmingham city, Alabama	190
109	Albuquerque city, New Mexico	189
109	Richmond city, Virginia	189
111	Memphis city, Tennessee	188
111	Akron city, Ohio	188
113	Oklahoma City city, Oklahoma	185
114	Norfolk city, Virginia	185
114	Baton Rouge city, Louisiana	185
116	Greensboro city, North Carolina	184
116	Fort Wayne city, Indiana	184
118	Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government (balance), Georgia	183
119	Lexington-Fayette urban county, Kentucky	182
119	Buffalo city, New York	182
119	Tempe city, Arizona	182
119	Spokane city, Washington	182
123	Winston-Salem city, North Carolina	181
124	Laredo city, Texas	179
125	Knoxville city, Tennessee	178
125	Fort Collins city, Colorado	178
127	Reno city, Nevada	176
128	Toledo city, Ohio	175
128	Rochester city, New York	175
130	Overland Park city, Kansas	174
131	Montgomery city, Alabama	172
132	Madison city, Wisconsin	170
133	Salt Lake City city, Utah	169
134	Corpus Christi city, Texas	168
134	Chattanooga city, Tennessee	168
136	Fayetteville city, North Carolina	167
137	Omaha city, Nebraska	166
137	Huntsville city, Alabama	166
139	Grand Rapids city, Michigan	166
140	Anchorage municipality, Alaska	164
140	Des Moines city, Iowa	164
142	Lincoln city, Nebraska	162
142	Tallahassee city, Florida	162
144	Tulsa city, Oklahoma	161
144	Wichita city, Kansas	161
144	Little Rock city, Arkansas	161
147	Boise City city, Idaho	160
148	Amarillo city, Texas	158
149	Sioux Falls city, South Dakota	146
150	Lubbock city, Texas	144

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.

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