Compare Worst and Best Commutes in America

My wife grew up where hour-long commutes are normal. Her dad used to leave at 4:00am to beat the morning rush and then nap in the parking lot until work started. On the other hand, I thought my dad’s 15-minute drive to work was a long time. My mom’s work was only five minutes away. It’s all about point of reference.

When all you have is crappy commute to refer to, anything less seems pretty great. The same goes for short commutes. Now you can compare who has it worse and better off than your county. Isn’t that what it’s all about at the end of the day?

In the animation below, with a bit of inspiration from the New York Times, each lane represents a county. The shorter the commute the faster a car moves across the screen.

Aleutians East Borough in Alaska whizzes by. Park county in Colorado creeks along.

Interested in comparing a specific county? Select one in the map above. Counties colored green have a lower average commute time, and brown means a longer average commute time. Gray means about the same.

See also: when people leave for work and mode of transportation used to get there.