The Cost of the American Commute
James Webb
Business Consultant | Forward Thinking Leadership | Marketing, Skill Development, Manufacturing and Process Improvement
Average Spending and Percentage of People Who Drive Alone by State
- On average, Americans are spending anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000 on transportation each year.
- North Dakota has the highest average commuting costs in the United States.
- Washington, D.C. is the only area in the United States in which the majority of residents utilize environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.
- While most Americans drive to work, many workers utilize other means of transportation to complete their daily commutes.
To demonstrate, the average commuting costs in the United States, we used data from The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Census Bureau, which demonstrates how much adults spend on transportation in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. By analyzing this data, not only can we see how much commuters are spending on transportation, but also which types of transportation workers are utilizing to get to work.
States With Most Expensive Yearly Commutes
1. North Dakota: $5,059.11
2. Wyoming: $4,393.4
3. New York: $3,710.71
4. Minnesota: $3,660.54
5. Michigan: $3,631.39
States With Least Expensive Yearly Commutes
1. West Virginia: $2,003.81
2. Mississippi: $2,141.44
3. Alabama: $2,178.2
4. Kentucky: $2,200.03
5. Tennessee: $2,222.31
Adults in the U.S. are spending thousands of dollars on transportation every year. While the type of transportation is a major factor in the overall cost of commuting, there are other factors to consider. Commute time, in particular, seems to be a major contributor to the overall cost of transportation.
Washington, D.C., for example, has, by far, the largest number of workers who choose environmentally-friendly transportation options. Yet, it is number 33 in transportation spending. This may be due to D.C. having the second-longest commute time in the country. New York also seems to support this trend. Despite nearly 47% of residents choosing environmentally-friendly transportation, the Big Apple has the third-highest average commute cost — likely due to the city having the longest average commute in the U.S.
As the graphic demonstrates, the average American is spending quite a bit on transportation every year. But these costs seem to be impacted by more than method of transportation. Some transportation methods allow commuters to reduce costs per-person by spreading out the cost of each ride to multiple people.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economics Analysis and U.S. Census Bureau
Communicator and agricultural advocate (my comments are my own)
5 年All the more reason why telecommuting or working at home is necessary. It cuts costs, helps reduce environmental damage and reduces the stress of "getting to and from work" (which from what I'm told about getting in and out of Toronto, has to be the cause of a LOT of stress). The biggest impediment to working from home? The lack of trust by managers and executives who believe their workers would be off doing anything else but the jobs they're paid to do. People who work at home don't have to put up with the politics and the gossip and the bullying, all of which detract from people doing their jobs in the first place! It's time for the business world to Wake Up!
Retired Sales Territory Manager
5 年You get the best maps