4 FL Cities Ranked Among Worst Areas For Traffic In Nation

MIAMI, FL — Washington, D.C. has unseated Los Angeles as the city with the country's worst traffic, according to a new analysis. But right behind those two cities for driver misery is Miami, which is ranked No. 3 overall, up from No. 12 a year ago.

To find out which U.S. cities have the worst traffic, the research team at ConsumerAffairs analyzed data including average commute times, daily hours of congestion and the rate of fatal car crashes in the nation’s 50 most populous metropolitan areas.

These Florida cities were ranked for worst traffic:

• Miami: No. 3, average commute time of 29.2 minutes
• Orlando: No. 12, average commute time of 30.2 minutes
• Tampa: No. 13, average commute time of 28.3 minutes
• Jacksonville: No. 23, average commute time of 26.5 minutes

The average daily commute in Miami is just over 29 minutes, while the duration of congestion in Miami is even worse: more than 6.5 hours on the average weekday. That’s the equivalent of 70 full days each year, the third-worst total for congestion in the country, ConsumerAffairs said.

Studies indicate that, generally, traffic congestion tends to decrease the likelihood of fatal crashes during peak morning and evening times. (More congestion tends to force vehicles to travel at lower speeds, which makes crashes less likely to be fatal.)

However, the analysts at ConsumerAffairs said there is a more complex relationship in Miami: The city ranks 11th worst for the rate of fatal car crashes. Among the 10 cities with the worst traffic overall, Miami is the only city that scores worse than the national average for this metric.

Fatal crashes can be a cause of increased traffic congestion, as officials block off streets or close highway lanes to respond to or investigate collisions.

Compared with the publication's 2024 analysis, this year’s ranking saw some significant shuffling, as some cities scored better and worse in various traffic metrics.

The following 10 cities had the worst traffic in the country, according to ConsumerAffairs:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Miami, Florida
4. San Francisco, California
5. Atlanta, Georgia
6. New York City
7. Houston, Texas
8. Seattle, Washington
9. Baltimore, Maryland
10. San Jose, California

The 10 metros had the least traffic:

1. Rochester, New York
2. Salt Lake City, Utah
3. Cleveland, Ohio
4. Hartford, Connecticut
5. St. Louis, Missouri
6. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. Fresno, California
9. Kansas City, Missouri
10. Buffalo, New York

While each city faces unique challenges when it comes to rush-hour congestion, what causes traffic in the first place?

It’s multifactorial, said Michael Manville, an urban planning professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. But ultimately, it comes down to the sheer volume of cars on the road.

“Congestion is oftentimes a sign of economic prosperity,” he told ConsumerAffairs. A region with a growing economy provides a lot of opportunity, so people want to work there, or when they grow up there, they don’t have reason to leave, he explained. Those economic and job opportunities bring population growth, which means more households and more cars.

See the full ConsumerAffairs ranking.

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