If you live in Chicago, chances are your commute to and from work is probably the worst part of your day. Rightfully so. Chicago has the longest average commute time of any of the 50 most-populated cities in the U.S., according to a new study.
Online auto parts retailer AutoAccessoriesGarage.com compiled U.S. Census Bureau data from major cities across the country and found that Chicagoans spend 32.4 minutes commuting one way between work and home. Double that, and the average person in Chicago spends more than an hour each work day either behind the wheel or on a crowded CTA train or bus. If you spread that out over the course of a year, Chicagoans who work five days a week spend just over 280 hours commuting to and from work annually.
Compared with other U.S. cities, Chicago finished just ahead of Philadelphia (31.2 minutes) and New York (29.5 minutes). Miami and Los Angeles rounded out the top five with average one-way commute times of 29.5 minutes and 28.9 minutes, respectively. Nationwide, the average commute takes 25.5 minutes, according to the report.
And if you're suddenly having second thoughts about renewing your lease here in Chicago, these are the five most populous cities with the shortest average commute times:
1. Omaha, Nebraska (18.4 minutes)
2. Wichita, Kansas (18.5 minutes)
3. Tulsa, Oklahoma (18.6 minutes)
4. Nashville (19.6 minutes)
5. Oklahoma City (19.7 minutes)
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