7 Arizona cities rank among Top 100 worst commutes in U.S.

by Scott Graff

By: AZ Big Media

While remote work has boomed in the last three years, the majority of working Americans still commute to work. According to the Census, a one-way commute took workers an average of 25.6 minutes in 2021. Using this estimate, workers in 2023 will average almost 222 hours (or a little over nine days) driving to and from work. And these hours spent in transit cost commuters more than just their time. The price of fuel, public transit passes and other commuter-related costs can add up quickly. And of note to Valley drivers, Glendale is No. 4 among the U.S. cities with the worst commutes, which is the highest ranking among the seven Arizona cities that rank among the Top 100 for the worst commutes.

To uncover where residents have the worst commutes, we compared data from the 100 largest U.S. cities and ranked the worst commutes by six key metrics related to commute time and the cost of commuting. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, read the Data and Methodology section below.

Key Findings

Despite the rise in remote work, the average commute time went down by only one minute in five years. The national average decreased from 26.6 minutes in 2016 to 25.6 minutes in 2021. Comparatively, the percentage of remote workers has tripled in roughly half the time.
Southwestern and Southern cities make up the top of the list. Two California cities take the No. 1 and No. 2 spots (Stockton and Bakersfield, respectively). The next eight spots are claimed by cities in another seven states from the South and Southwest. These top-ranking cities saw higher changes over five years in commute times. There is no city outside of these two regions until No. 15 (New York City).

Cities Where Residents Have the Worst Commutes

1. Stockton, CA

Stockton, California, takes the No. 1 spot as the city where residents have the worst commutes. By car, it is located 90 minutes east of San Francisco. On average, workers in Stockton have a typical commute of roughly 33 minutes, which is an increase of 6.21% between 2016 and 2021. Over 17% of workers, however, have a commute that lasts longer than one hour (second-highest).

2. Bakersfield, CA

Increases in travel time between 2016 and 2021 pushed Bakersfield, California, to the No. 2 spot. While the average commute time is around 24 minutes, this is up by 10.05% since 2016 (the second-highest change). Similarly, just 6.6% of workers commute over one hour, but that volume has increased by 2.4% over the same time period - the highest increase across all 100 cities in this study.

3. Garland, TX

The majority of workers in Garland, Texas, are commuters (86.1%). And they average the seventh-highest commute time (roughly 30 minutes). About 9.1% of commuters, however, experience drives over one hour (12th-highest). Overall, the average commute timehas increased by 2.37% between 2016 and 2021.

4. Glendale, AZ

Roughly 1 in 10 workers commute for more than an hour in Glendale, which ranks 12th-highest for this metric. Between 2016 and 2021, the share of workers with commutes over one hour increased by 1.4% (third-highest). On average, the commute time just exceeds 28 minutes (16th-highest).

5. Orlando, FL

With almost 60 million visitors annually, Orlando, Florida, is known for theme parks like Disney World and Universal Studios. Four-fifths of workers in this city commute to work, typically spending almost 26 minutes on the road. On a more positive note, it takes less than 5% of commuters over an hour to get to work.

6. Las Vegas, NV

Commuters in Sin City make up 86.5% of workers. Their average commute time ranks in the top third of the study (25.7 minutes). But 5% of these commuters experience travel times longer than an hour. And the percentage of workers with commutes over an hour has gone up 0.8% between 2016 and 2021. Las Vegas also ranks in the top 20 for its five-year change in the average commute time (0.78%).

7. El Paso, TX

El Paso, Texas, has roughly 678,000 residents and the majority of its workforce (89.9%) commutes to work (12th-highest). It ranks second overall for transportation costs relative to income, with commuters paying 14.13% of their median household income for transportation in the city and surrounding areas.

8. Baton Rouge, LA

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has the 11th-highest percentage of commuters in the workforce (90.2%). Transportation in the city and surrounding areas makes up 12.24% of a year’s income (seventh-highest). The average travel time is just under 23 minutes, but more than 6% of workers have a commute that is longer than one hour.

9. Aurora, CO

Located 17 miles outside of Denver, Aurora has the 12th-highest average commute time (28.5 minutes). This average has increased by 1.79% between 2016 and 2021, taking the No. 15 spot for this metric. Roughly 6.8% of workers have commutes that last over an hour (23rd-highest).

10. Winston-Salem, NC

The Camel City rounds out the top 10, with almost 85% of workers commuting to work. They typically spend an average of 21.6 minutes on the road, which is nearly 6% higher than in 2016. Additionally, transportation here generally costs 12.63% of a year’s income.