- Among U.S. workers who did not work from home, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) puts mean one-way travel time to work at 26.8 minutes in 2023 and 27.2 minutes in 2024, from 25.3 minutes in 2010.
- In the 2022 National Household Travel Survey, home-based work trips by car, van, SUV or pickup average 14.4 miles one way, with a median of 8.9 miles.
- Working from home was 5.7% of workers in 2019, 17.9% in 2021 and 13.3% in 2024; driving alone was 75.9%, 67.8% and 69.2%.
- At 250 workdays a year, a mean-length commute is 7,211 miles, about $1,243 in fuel at the latest EIA price ($4.079) and the 23.7 MPG fleet average.
These are national figures; your actual commute cost depends on your vehicle and route.
Calculate Your Exact Cost01 Commute Time and Distance
The ACS reports that workers who did not work from home spent a mean of 26.8 minutes getting to work one way in 2023 and 27.2 minutes in 2024. The ACS figure is time, not distance, and it covers every means of transportation.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2023 and 2024, United States: mean travel time to work (minutes), asked of workers 16 and over who did not work from homeDistance comes from a different source. In the 2022 National Household Travel Survey trip file, home-based work trips made by car, van, SUV or pickup average 14.4 miles one way, and the median is 8.9 miles. The mean is above the median, which indicates a tail of longer commutes.
FHWA/BTS, 2022 NHTS trip file (tripv2pub.csv): TRIPPURP 01 (home-based work), TRPTRANS 01–04 (car, van, SUV, pickup), TRPMILES, weighted by WTTRDFIN, n=4,592 trips02 What a Commute Costs in Fuel
Annual commute fuel cost is one-way miles × 2 × workdays ÷ MPG × price. The table assumes 250 workdays a year (an assumption for illustration, not a survey figure), the 23.7 MPG average fuel economy of the light-vehicle fleet in 2020, the most recent year in the source, and two gasoline prices: the 2025 average ($3.10) and the latest EIA weekly price ($4.079, week of 2026-08-03).
| Commute | One-Way Miles | Annual Miles | Annual Gallons | Fuel at $3.10 | Fuel at $4.08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median commute | 8.9 | 4,463 | 189 | $584 | $769 |
| Mean commute | 14.4 | 7,211 | 305 | $944 | $1,243 |
Want your exact number instead of a national average? Enter your own vehicle and commute.
Use the Calculator03 Commute Trends Over Time
Mean travel time rose from 25.3 minutes in 2010 to 27.6 minutes in 2019, fell to 25.6 minutes in 2021, and was 26.8 minutes in 2023 and 27.2 minutes in 2024. Over the same years the share of workers who worked from home went from 5.7% in 2019 to 17.9% in 2021 and 13.3% in 2024, while the share who drove alone went from 75.9% to 67.8% and 69.2%. Mean time is measured only for workers who did not work from home, so the 2021 dip and the later recovery describe the workers who still commuted.
| Year | Mean Commute (min) | Drove Alone | Carpooled | Public Transit | Worked From Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 25.3 | 76.6% | 9.7% | 4.9% | 4.3% |
| 2011 | 25.5 | 76.4% | 9.7% | 5.0% | 4.3% |
| 2012 | 25.7 | 76.3% | 9.7% | 5.0% | 4.4% |
| 2013 | 25.8 | 76.4% | 9.4% | 5.2% | 4.4% |
| 2014 | 26.0 | 76.5% | 9.2% | 5.2% | 4.5% |
| 2015 | 26.4 | 76.6% | 9.0% | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| 2016 | 26.6 | 76.3% | 9.0% | 5.1% | 5.0% |
| 2017 | 26.9 | 76.4% | 8.9% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
| 2018 | 27.1 | 76.3% | 9.0% | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| 2019 | 27.6 | 75.9% | 8.9% | 5.0% | 5.7% |
| 2021 | 25.6 | 67.8% | 7.8% | 2.5% | 17.9% |
| 2022 | 26.4 | 68.7% | 8.6% | 3.1% | 15.2% |
| 2023 | 26.8 | 69.2% | 9.0% | 3.5% | 13.8% |
| 2024 | 27.2 | 69.2% | 9.2% | 3.7% | 13.3% |
04 Commute Time by State, 2024
State-level commute times come from the 2024 ACS 1-year estimates. Nationally, the mean one-way commute in 2024 was 27.2 minutes. New York had the longest mean commute at 33.2 minutes and North Dakota the shortest at 17.5 minutes. 12 of the 50 states and D.C. were above the national mean.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2024, "Mean travel time to work (minutes)," workers 16 years and over who did not work from home; national value from the same table.| Rank | State | Mean commute (minutes) | Drove alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | 33.2 | 48.7% |
| 2 | Maryland | 32.3 | 66.4% |
| 3 | New Jersey | 31.9 | 63.3% |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 31.0 | 29.3% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 30.6 | 62.0% |
| 6 | California | 29.7 | 67.3% |
| 7 | Georgia | 29.4 | 71.4% |
| 8 | Florida | 28.9 | 69.0% |
| 9 | Illinois | 28.3 | 66.0% |
| 10 | Virginia | 28.3 | 68.6% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 27.5 | 72.3% |
| 12 | Texas | 27.5 | 71.8% |
| 13 | Washington | 27.2 | 65.1% |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 27.1 | 68.5% |
| 15 | Connecticut | 27.0 | 70.2% |
| 16 | Delaware | 26.8 | 72.2% |
| 17 | Hawaii | 26.7 | 65.1% |
| 18 | Tennessee | 26.5 | 75.0% |
| 19 | West Virginia | 26.5 | 77.6% |
| 20 | Arizona | 26.4 | 67.5% |
| 21 | Mississippi | 26.4 | 81.2% |
| 22 | Rhode Island | 26.3 | 71.3% |
| 23 | South Carolina | 26.3 | 74.9% |
| 24 | Louisiana | 26.2 | 78.3% |
| 25 | Alabama | 26.0 | 80.8% |
| 26 | Colorado | 25.7 | 65.4% |
| 27 | Nevada | 25.7 | 70.0% |
| 28 | North Carolina | 25.7 | 71.6% |
| 29 | Maine | 25.6 | 70.8% |
| 30 | Indiana | 24.6 | 76.8% |
| 31 | Kentucky | 24.5 | 76.4% |
| 32 | Michigan | 24.3 | 75.6% |
| 33 | Missouri | 24.0 | 74.8% |
| 34 | New Mexico | 24.0 | 73.8% |
| 35 | Vermont | 23.9 | 67.9% |
| 36 | Ohio | 23.8 | 75.2% |
| 37 | Oregon | 23.2 | 65.2% |
| 38 | Utah | 23.2 | 67.7% |
| 39 | Arkansas | 22.7 | 78.4% |
| 40 | Minnesota | 22.7 | 70.7% |
| 41 | Oklahoma | 22.7 | 76.8% |
| 42 | Wisconsin | 22.7 | 75.1% |
| 43 | Idaho | 22.2 | 72.9% |
| 44 | Iowa | 20.4 | 76.6% |
| 45 | Kansas | 20.0 | 76.0% |
| 46 | Nebraska | 19.9 | 75.8% |
| 47 | Alaska | 19.8 | 66.8% |
| 48 | Wyoming | 19.7 | 72.6% |
| 49 | Montana | 19.5 | 71.6% |
| 50 | South Dakota | 18.5 | 78.1% |
| 51 | North Dakota | 17.5 | 76.7% |
The table gives commute time, not distance. The ACS does not report commute distance, and this site's national distance figures come from the National Household Travel Survey, whose public files carry no state field. For how mode choice varies by state, see commute mode by state.
05 Data Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, Commuting Characteristics by Sex, United States, 2010–2024. data.census.gov
- FHWA/BTS: 2022 National Household Travel Survey, trip file. nhts.ornl.gov
- DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition 40, Table 4.3, Summary Statistics for Light Vehicles. tedb.ornl.gov
- EIA: Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices, U.S. regular all formulations. eia.gov