A recent study by the Chamber of Commerce has revealed that the return to in-person work could be expensive for many employees in the Bay Area. The study found that the two cities with the most costly commutes in the United States are located in this region.
On average, San Francisco commuters spend $12,650.56 annually to commute to and from work, making it the priciest city for commuting in the nation. Not far behind is Fremont, where commuters spend an average of $12,048.32 each year.
The study suggests that the average daily round-trip commute for a San Francisco resident is 58.4 minutes, while in Fremont, it’s 55.2 minutes. Given the median hourly wage in these cities, it costs San Francisco commuters $48.66 per day to commute, and $46.34 for those in Fremont.
Washington D.C., Jersey City and New York City also rank in the top five for the most expensive commutes. Other Bay Area cities making the list include Sunnyvale (No. 8, $10,354.08), Oakland (No. 17, $8,415.01), San Jose (No. 18, $8,394.62), and Hayward (No. 22, $7,827.61).
The Chamber of Commerce noted that “commuters in nine out of the top 10 cities lose an average of $10,000 worth of wages or more per year on commuting.” This amount is almost double the national average commuting cost of $5,748 per year or $22.11 per day.
If shorter commute times are a priority, Lubbock, TX, might be appealing. With an average round-trip commute time of 31.6 minutes, it’s the shortest among the 170 cities measured in the study. In terms of cost, Lubbock has the second-cheapest commute, just behind Jackson, MS.
To calculate the cost of each commute, the Chamber of Commerce multiplied the median wage per minute by the average round-trip commute time for each city. Full-time, year-round workers were defined as individuals aged 16 years or older who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50-52 weeks per year.