Skip to main content

StreetLight Data reveals longest commutes to work across US

Commuters in the US state of Maine travel 9.8 miles to work on a daily basis, a 72% longer journey than the 5.7-mile median commute in Wyoming, according to the latest report by StreetLight Data. The transportation analytics company conducted its study on nearly 30,000 ZIP codes in areas with over 1,000 residents as part of a strategy to help encourage businesses and governments to start fixing the accessibility gap. The inquiry also highlighted the longest and shortest commutes in each state by ZIP cod
March 12, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Commuters in the US state of Maine travel 9.8 miles to work on a daily basis, a 72% longer journey than the 5.7-mile median commute in Wyoming, according to the latest report by StreetLight Data. The transportation analytics company conducted its study on nearly 30,000 ZIP codes in areas with over 1,000 residents as part of a strategy to help encourage businesses and governments to start fixing the accessibility gap.


The inquiry also highlighted the longest and shortest commutes in each state by ZIP code. California's ZIP 92309 showed the worst median commute of 115.4 miles while North Carolina’s ZIP 28575 had the shortest commute of 0.2 miles.

City by City results revealed that Bishop, California, is the Metropolitan area with the longest one-way commute of 70.2 miles. However, the 4,787-low population core-based statistical area (CBSA) may be over-influenced by a few extreme commuters. Ocean Pines, Maryland-Delaware’s population of 50,375 came second with a median commute distance of 29.2 miles.

Laramie, Wyoming, is the CBSA with the shortest commute of 1.7 miles with a population of 35,221. It is followed by Kansas’ population of 25,292 who travel 2.1 miles to work. The report noted that some of the rural CBSA's may be influenced by people who work on farms located close to their homes.

Additionally, cities such as Oxford, Mississippi, has students that attend Universities as their place of work and who often live nearby. It has a population of 43,250 and a median commute distance of 3.2 miles.

A full copy of the report is available %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/519045/Commutes%20Across%20America_180201_LR.pdf false false%>.

Related Content

  • Flir webinar – how to detect bicycles in mixed traffic
    May 27, 2015
    Flir Traficon Academy’s latest webinar, How to Detect and Count Bicycles in Mixed Traffic, takes place on 28 May at 0730 CEST, 1330 CEST and 1830 CEST. The webinar will demonstrate the power of thermal imaging technology in making a distinction between cycles and other vehicles and explains in detail the functions and features of the detector.
  • Register now for 2nd European SUMP Conference
    May 22, 2015
    The second European Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) takes place in Bucharest, Romania, at Politehnica University of Bucharest on 16 and 27 June 12015. It is the principal annual event for the international community of practitioners, policy makers and academics from across Europe to come together to debate key issues, highlight developments in mobility planning and exchange ideas and experience. Under the overall theme of the conference, ‘Sustainable mobility for everyone’, nine
  • Populus and Lime enter vehicle data partnership in Seattle
    December 11, 2018
    A partnership between data and car-share providers has been formed in the US city of Seattle to help improve parking utilisation. Data solutions company Populus will receive real-time GPS data from Lime’s free-floating car-share fleet, LimePod, which launched last month in the city. The Populus platform will then deliver reports to the Seattle Department of Transportation in a bid to evaluate the use of curb space and develop parking strategies that will help reduce vehicle ownership. Populus says its
  • Associations News around Europe
    April 30, 2015
    ERTICO ITS-Europe’s director of partnership services Rasmus Lindholm has met directors of Hungary’s National Mobile Payment scheme to explore opportunities for future cooperation. The event took place against the backdrop of the two organisations’ shared aim of putting ITS at the heart of the country’s Intermodal Transport Roadmap.