One-Way Commute to Work Hit a Record High in 2019

The time it takes Americans to commute to work hit a record high in 2019, just before start of the coronavirus pandemic. The average one-way commute climbed to 27.6 minutes, up from 25.0 minutes in 2006. Since 2006, commuting time has increased in every year except 2009. Lest you think the pandemic is going to burst this bubble because so many are working from home, the data on commuting time is collected only from workers who do not work from home. 

Only 12 percent of workers report a one-way commute time of less than 10 minutes, down from 15 percent who said so in 2006. Another 10 percent of workers say their commute time is 60 minutes or more, up from 8 percent in 2006. 

The longest one-way commute is experienced by those who ride a long-distance train, commuter rail, or ferry—71.2 minutes. The shortest commute is for those who walk. Here are one-way commute times in 2019 by mode of transportation...

71.2 minutes: long-distance train, commuter rail, or ferry

48.8 minutes: subway or elevated rail

46.6 minutes: bus

27.6 minutes: average time

26.4 minutes: drove alone

21.2 minutes: bicycle

12.6 minutes: walk

Since 2006, the average length of the one-way commute has increased for workers in every type of geography—central cities, suburbs, and nonmetro areas. Commutes are shortest for those who live in the principal cities of micropolitan areas (18.3 minutes). Commutes are longest for those who live in the suburbs of metropolitan areas (29.1 minutes).

Among metropolitan areas with populations of 1 million or more, the share of workers whose commute is 60 minutes or more is greatest in the New York metro area (23 percent). The share of workers whose commute is less than 10 minutes is highest in Rochester, NY (15 percent). 

Source: Census Bureau, Travel Time to Work in the United States: 2019

Median Age of People Who Walk To Work: 33

American workers have a median age of 42, according to the Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey. But the median age of workers varies by how they get to work—a matter of importance to transportation planners and businesses that market to commuters. Here are the median ages of workers by their primary means of transportation to work, from oldest to youngest...

Age 47: work at home
Age 43: drive alone
Age 39: carpool
Age 38: public transportation
Age 38: taxi, motorcycle, bicycle
Age 33: walk

Source: Census Bureau, American Factfinder, American Community Survey

Driving Alone to Work: Top and Bottom Metros

Most Americans drive alone to work, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Nationwide, the percentage of workers aged 16 or older who commute alone in an automobile stood at 76 percent in 2017. The figure varies by metropolitan area.

The five metros with the most lone drivers
The five metropolitan areas with the largest share of lone drivers are all in the South: Dothan, AL (89 percent); Wheeling, WV (89 percent); Owensboro, KY (88 percent); Huntsville, AL (88 percent); and Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL (88 percent). One reason for these above-average figures is a lack of public transportation. The percentage of workers in these metros who use public transportation to get to work ranges from 0.0 to 0.5 percent.

The five metros with the fewest lone drivers
All five metropolitan areas with the smallest share of lone drivers are in the Northeast or West: New York (50 percent); San Francisco (57 percent); Ithaca, NY (58 percent); Boulder, CO (64 percent); and Corvallis, OR (66 percent). In New York and San Francisco, the availability and popularity of public transportation is the biggest factor reducing the percentage of workers who drive alone. In the New York metro, 31 percent of workers commute on public transportation. In San Francisco, the figure is 17 percent. Among metropolitan areas, New York and San Francisco are the ones with the highest use of public transportation.

Driving to work alone is relatively low in the other three metropolitan areas for different reasons.

• Ithaca, NY, distinguishes itself as the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who walk to work—12.5 percent did so in 2017. Additionally, a relatively large 10 percent of Ithaca workers work at home. 
• Boulder, CO, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who work at home—13.6 percent. Also, Boulder ranks second among metropolitan areas in the percentage of workers who commute to work by bicycle (4.6 percent). 
• Corvallis, OR, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who bicycle to work—6.8 percent in 2017. Additionally, it has a relatively large share of workers who walk to work (7.6 percent) or who work at home (8.7 percent). 

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2017 American Community Survey

How Commuting Has Changed (or not), 2006 to 2016

Americans are moving to the cities. Bicycling is growing in popularity. Working at home is increasingly common. These seemingly big trends have made only small cracks in the well-paved journey to work, which has long been dominated by solo trips in automobiles. This is how we got to work in 2016...

76.3% drove alone in a car, truck, or van: While the 76.3 percent figure of 2016 is slightly below the all-time high of 76.6 percent in 2015 (and 2010), it is slightly above the 76.0 percent of 2006. The percentage of workers who drive alone to work has bobbled within a few tenths of 76 percent for more than 10 years. During the past decade, no other mode of transportation to work has gained more adherents. The number of workers who drive to work alone expanded by nearly 10 million between 2006 and 2016, a 9 percent increase.

9.0% carpooled: The percentage of workers who carpool was a larger 10.7 percent in 2006.

5.1% used public transportation: The percentage of workers who took public transportation to work in 2016, was greater than the 4.8 percent of 2006. But buses accounted for a shrinking share of commuters (2.5 percent, down from 2.7 percent in 2006). More commuting on trains, streetcars, ferries, and especially subways, made up the difference.

5.0% worked at home: In 2006, a smaller 3.9 percent worked from home.

2.7% walked to work: This was smaller than the 2.9 percent who walked to work in 2006.

0.6% bicycled to work: The number of people who bicycle to work climbed 39 percent between 2006 and 2016. But the percentage who bicycle rose from only 0.5 to 0.6 percent.

1.2% used "other" to get to work: This catch-all category includes taxis, motorcycles, and other means of transportation (skateboards, maybe?). The percentage using "other" was stable between 2006 and 2016, despite the rise of Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing services.

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Automobile Alternatives

The five metropolitan areas with the lowest rate of commuting to work by automobile and their second most common mode of commute...

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Automobile: 56.9%
Subway or elevated rail: 18.9%

2. Ithaca, NY
Automobile: 68.7%
Walk: 17.5%

3. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Automobile: 69.8%
Bus or trolly bus: 7.6%

4. Boulder, CO
Automobile: 71.9%
Work at home: 11.1%

5. Corvallis, OR
Automobile: 72.6%
Bicycle: 8.8%

Source: Census Bureau, Who Drives to Work? Commuting by Automobile in the United States: 2013

A Decline in Commuting to Work by Automobile

The percentage of American workers who commute by automobile is on the decline, peaking at 87.9 percent in 2000 and falling to 85.8 percent by 2013, reports the Census Bureau. Much of the decline in automobile commuting is due to less carpooling. The percentage of workers who carpool fell to its lowest point in 2013—9.4 percent, and less than half of the 19.7 percent of 1980. But the percentage of workers who drive alone to work alone has also fallen (very) slightly in recent years—from the all-time high of 76.6 percent in 2010 to 76.4 percent in 2013.

Percentage of workers who drive alone to work
2013: 76.4%
2010: 76.6%
2000: 75.7%
1990: 73.2%
1980: 64.4%

Source: Census Bureau, Who Drives to Work? Commuting by Automobile in the United States: 2013

Commuting Less by Private Vehicle

The use of private vehicles for commuting to work has declined among younger Americans, according to a Brookings analysis of American Community Survey data. Workers under age 25, in particular, were less likely to commute to work by private vehicle in 2013 than in 2007.

In 2013, 82.4 percent of workers under age 25 commuted to work by car—1.3 percentage points less than in 2007. Workers aged 25 to 54 were 0.9 percentage points less likely to commute by private vehicle, while workers aged 55 or older were driving more.

Source: The Brookings Institution, Millennials and Generation X Commuting Less by Car, But Will the Trends Hold?