Chicago.Bob Krist/Getty Images
- These US cities have the costliest commutes, according to a new analysis from LendingTree.
- Workers in 6 of these cities lose more than $10,000 a year from their commutes, the analysis says.
- The new findings come as many companies weigh plans to bring workers back to the office again.
Many companies are working on plans to bring their employees back to the office. When they do, some workers will once again be paying a hefty price for their commutes.
Millions of Americans, in fact, will lose more than $10,000 a year getting to and from work, according to a new analysis from LendingTree.
Read more: Employers are waging a war over work from home. WFH is winning.
Researchers gathered commute times for the 100 biggest US cities by total workers from the Census Bureau's 2019 1-year American Community Survey, the latest available federal data.
The analysts then used Census Bureau data to estimate the average hourly earnings in these cities. When they multiplied this by the commute time, they were able to calculate these commutes' opportunity costs, which is the value of the alternative activities for which people could have used the time instead, such as sleeping in or being on the clock.
Here are the cities where American workers have the highest yearly opportunity costs for their commutes:
1. Fremont, California
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Median full-time earnings: $95,221
Average round-trip commute time: 73 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $60
Annual cost of commute: $15,065
2. San Francisco
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Median full-time earnings: $90,475
Average round-trip commute time: 69 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $52
Annual cost of commute: $13,067
3. Jersey City, New Jersey
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Median full-time earnings: $67,146
Average round-trip commute time: 76 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $42
Annual cost of commute: $10,645
4. Washington, D.C.
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Median full-time earnings: $80,445
Average round-trip commute time: 63 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $42
Annual cost of commute: $10,642
5. Arlington, Virginia
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Median full-time earnings: $86,640
Average round-trip commute time: 59 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $42
Annual cost of commute: $10,427
6. New York
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Median full-time earnings: $57,224
Average round-trip commute time: 83 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $41
Annual cost of commute: $10,319
7. San Jose, California
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Median full-time earnings: $71,323
Average round-trip commute time: 63 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $39
Annual cost of commute: $9,852
8. Seattle
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Median full-time earnings: $81,290
Average round-trip commute time: 57 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $39
Annual cost of commute: $9,829
9. Irvine, California
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Median full-time earnings: $90,979
Average round-trip commute time: 48 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $38
Annual cost of commute: $9,566
10. Oakland, California
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Median full-time earnings: $62,101
Average round-trip commute time: 69 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $37
Annual cost of commute: $9,214
11. Boston
A view of downtown Boston from the Evelyn Moakley Bridge, Thursday, May 19, 2016, in Boston.
Associated Press/Elise Amendola
Median full-time earnings: $65,038
Average round-trip commute time: 62 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $35
Annual cost of commute: $8,865
12. Chicago
Chicago.
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Median full-time earnings: $53,348
Average round-trip commute time: 71 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $32
Annual cost of commute: $8,060
13. Gilbert, Arizona
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Median full-time earnings: $61,833
Average round-trip commute time: 58 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $30
Annual cost of commute: $7,640
14. Plano, Texas
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Median full-time earnings: $65,554
Average round-trip commute time: 53 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $29
Annual cost of commute: $7,249
15. Atlanta
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Median full-time earnings: $62,221
Average round-trip commute time: 56 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $29
Annual cost of commute: $7,164
16. Portland, Oregon
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Median full-time earnings: $60,043
Average round-trip commute time: 53 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $28
Annual cost of commute: $6,953
17. Philadelphia
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Median full-time earnings: $45,844
Average round-trip commute time: 69 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $27
Annual cost of commute: $6,870
18. Baltimore
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Median full-time earnings: $49,945
Average round-trip commute time: 63 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $27
Annual cost of commute: $6,802
19. Los Angeles
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Median full-time earnings: $46,154
Average round-trip commute time: 66 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $27
Annual cost of commute: $6,689
20. Denver
Denver, Colorado.
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Median full-time earnings: $58,886
Average round-trip commute time: 54 minutes
Daily cost of commute: $27
Annual cost of commute: $6,659