Commuter Times Ranked: Who Has it Worst?

BOSTON, MA — Massachusetts is one of the worst, if not the most terrible, places to be a commuter, according to new U.S. Census survey estimates.

Our competition on travel time is mostly other busy, East Coast states — New York (the worst, with averages of 33 minutes and longer), Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and, finally, Massachusetts.

Nationwide, we're spending more time getting to work. The average travel time was 26.4 minutes in 2015, an increase of more than a minute compared to five years earlier.

Here's how commute times compare in...

• Boston Area/Suffolk County
• Bristol County
• Essex County
• Middlesex County
• Norfolk County
• Plymouth County
• Worcester County

There were 33 states that saw commute times get worse in the past five years. Only one state saw a decrease in the time to work: New Mexico shaved off 30 seconds.

Massachusetts added just under a minute in 2015. But hey, we're still (just barely) under the 30-minute mark, averaging 29.7 minutes per commute. If it continues at this pace, we won't be so lucky next year.

The U.S. Census performs the American Community Survey each year, asking questions about housing, employment and other demographic information. The findings are released for states and major metro areas each September, and complete data on every community is released toward the end of the year.

Here are the worst 10 states for commute times, according to the latest U.S. Census survey data:

United States, 26.4 minutes

1. New York, 33.1
2. Maryland, 32.6
3. New Jersey, 31.3
4. District of Columbia, 29.8
5. Massachusetts, 29.7
6. California, 28.9
7. Illinois, 28.8
8. Virginia, 28.2
9. Georgia, 28.0
10. New Hampshire, 27.6

A study across the pond this summer found workers in England and Wales were damaging their health with long commutes. Those surveyed estimated they added almost 800 calories to their weekly diet as a result of the trip to work, according to a CNN report.

It may not get you to work faster, but researchers suggest getting out of the car — even if only for a portion of your commute.

Walking to a train station or standing in a subway car are better for your health, researcher Ellen Flint told The Huffington Post in the spring. “These all add up to significantly more exertion than driving door-to-door,” she said.

Image by Anthony Citrano via Wikimedia Commons

Story by Greg Hambrick (Patch National Staff). Alison Bauter, Patch staff, contributed to this report.