How Do You Commute?

By: Melissa Maynard - November 13, 2013 12:00 am

Statistics on commuting get a lot more interesting at the state level.

See Stateline Interactive: Commute Times and Methods by State How do you get to work each day and how long does it take?

Nationally, American workers spent an average of 25.4 minutes getting to work in 2008, compared to 25.7 minutes in 2012. The percentage of workers who drive to work alone has grown slightly since 2008, from 75.5 percent to 76.3 percent. Carpooling fell from 10.7 percent to 9.7 percent. More people are working from home, with an increase from 4.1 percent to 4.4 percent.

At the state level: In 2008, New Yorkers had the longest average commutes in the country at 31.6 minutes, while North Dakotans enjoyed the shortest average commutes at 16 minutes.

By 2012, Marylanders logged the longest commutes, taking an average of 31.9 minutes to get to work. South Dakotans now spend less time commuting than their neighbors to the north, with the shortest average commute in the country at 16.7 minutes.

United States

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Melissa Maynard

Melissa Maynard oversees the Pew state fiscal health project’s Fiscal 50 online resource, which helps policymakers understand fiscal, economic, and demographic trends affecting their states by tracking tax revenue, reserves, employment rates, Medicaid spending, and other issues important to long-term fiscal health.