Think your commute is long? If you do, you’re right.
Commuting takes a heavier toll on New Yorkers than on other Americans – gobbling up an average 38.3 minutes to get to and from work each day, U.S. Census data shows.
The new figures reveal that of the 231 counties with populations of 250,000 or more, Queens commuters had it the worst, with an average one-way travel time of 41.7 minutes.
Then come Staten Island at 41.3 minutes, The Bronx at 40.8 minutes and Brooklyn with 39.7 minutes.
City residents as a whole don’t fare much better compared to those in other places.
In a ranking of large cities, New York leads the pack with an average commute of 38.3 minutes, followed by Chicago at 33.2 minutes, Newark, N.J., at 31.5 minutes and Riverside, Calif., with 31.2 minutes.
Among the 10 cities with the highest average commuting times, New York and Baltimore are tied with the highest percentage of people who have “extreme commutes” – with 5.6 percent of their commuters spending 90 or more minutes getting to work.
In a ranking of the top 10 counties with the highest average commuting times, a majority of “extreme commuters” were found in the five boroughs and outlying counties.
On Staten Island, 11.8 percent of people face a long ride, followed by 10 percent of people in Orange County, and 7.1 percent of Queens commuters.
Census data shows that the number of Americans across the country who embark on long commutes has grown steadily to more than 19 million or one in six commuters – up from one in eight in 1990.
“This annual information on commuters and their work trips and other transportation-related data will help local, regional and state agencies maintain, improve, plan and develop the nation’s transportation systems,” said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon.
Want a shorter commute? Move to a small rural city.
The data shows that people who have the shortest commutes live in Corpus Christi, Texas with an average of 16.1 minutes.
—-
The long road to work (map)
Brooklyn: 39.7 min.
The Bronx: 40.8 min.
Queens: 41.7 min.
Staten Island: 41.3 min.
The nation’s worst commuting times:
Large cities:
New York – 38.3 min.
Chicago – 33.2 min.
Newark, N.J. – 31.5 min.
Riverside, Calif. – 31.2 min.
Philadelphia – 29.4 min.
States:
New York – 30.4 min.
Maryland – 30.2 min.
New Jersey – 28.5 min.
Illinois – 27.0 min.
California – 26.5 min.