15 Cities That Lose the Most Time in Rush Hour Traffic

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on CoPilot.

As millions of workers transitioned to working from home during the pandemic, traffic conditions improved considerably.

As a result, the average commute time decreased for those people who did continue commuting for the first time in recent history.

After rising steadily since 2010, the average commute time dipped to 26.9 minutes in 2020 and then dropped again to 25.6 minutes in 2021.

In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the average commute time was 27.6 minutes. Over the course of a year, on average, workers saved nearly 17 hours in commute time due to this decline.

Despite these improvements, workers in certain locations continue to face crippling traffic delays during certain times of the day.

To determine the metropolitan areas that lose the most time in rush hour traffic, researchers at CoPilot analyzed the latest data from TomTom’s Traffic Index and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Researchers ranked metros according to the extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic. Find details on our methodology at the end.

Here are the U.S. metros that lose the most time in rush hour traffic.

15. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +19.4 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +7.2 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.2 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +80.9 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 95.3%

14. Charleston-North Charleston, SC

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +20.4 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +7.8 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.6 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +85.2 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 95.6%

13. New Orleans-Metairie, LA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +20.5 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +8.1 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.4 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +85.3 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 93.5%

12. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +20.5 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +7.2 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +13.3 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +85.4 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 95.3%

11. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +20.9 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +8.1 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.8 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +87.1 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 88.8%

10. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +21.3 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +7.5 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +13.7 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +88.7 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 96.2%

9. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +21.8 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +8.0 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +13.9 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +91.0 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 87.6%

8. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +22.0 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +8.0 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +14.0 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +91.6 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 94.1%

7. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +22.6 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +9.3 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +13.3 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +94.4 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 83.2%

6. Birmingham-Hoover, AL

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +23.7 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +10.2 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +13.5 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +98.7 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 97.3%

5. Baton Rouge, LA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +26.5 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +8.7 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +17.7 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +110.2 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 97.6%

4. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +27.5 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +11.8 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +15.8 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +114.7 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 93.0%

3. Urban Honolulu, HI

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +28.0 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.6 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +15.5 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +116.8 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 86.9%

2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +29.6 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +11.7 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +18.0 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +123.5 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 91.0%

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic: +31.7 minutes
• Extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic: +12.6 minutes
• Extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic: +19.1 minutes
• Extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic: +132.0 hours
• Percentage of commuters that use private transportation: 64.8%

Methodology

To determine the metropolitan areas that lose the most time in rush hour traffic, researchers at CoPilot analyzed the latest data from TomTom’s Traffic Index and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.

The researchers ranked metros according to the extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic. In the event of a tie, the metro with the larger percentage of commuters that use private transportation — calculated using the ACS data — was ranked higher.

Researchers also calculated the extra morning commute time due to rush hour traffic, the extra evening commute time due to rush hour traffic, and the extra annual commute time due to rush hour traffic.

Extra commute time was calculated using TomTom’s congestion level percentages, applied to a standard 30-minute commute.

For example, a 53% morning congestion level means that a commute will take 53% longer than in uncongested conditions. Thus, a hypothetical morning commute that would have taken 30 minutes without traffic would take 15.9 extra minutes due to traffic with a congestion level of 53%.

Extra daily commute time due to rush hour traffic was calculated as the sum of extra morning and extra evening commute times, and extra annual commute time assumes that people commute 250 days per year.