Cities Where Drivers Waste the Most Time and Money in Traffic

If it seems like traffic is worse than it was during the recession, it’s not your imagination. Job growth in the U.S. has averaged an additional 180,000 a month in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, and in 2018 the average was 223,000 new jobs a month. That’s a lot of people trying to get to work.

A study by Texas A&M Transportation Institute links a strong economy to more traffic jams. Commuters today spend about 54 hours a year in traffic, wasting more than 3.3 billion gallons of gas and costing the nation $179 billion annually.

The average freeway traveler has to allow almost twice the expected trip duration to arrive on time, according to the report.

How much time and money do you waste sitting in traffic? Based on the Texas A&M Urban Mobility Report, these are the U.S. metropolitan areas where the traffic is the worst, and how much it costs us.

Cities Where Drivers Waste the Most Time and Money in Traffic 

1. Los Angeles

• Yearly delay per commuter: 119 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 35 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $2,440

It may come as no surprise that Los Angeles tops the list, where commuters spend 119 hours of extra travel time during the year. 

2. San Francisco

• Yearly delay per commuter: 103 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 45 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $2,390

3. Washington, D.C.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 102 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 38 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,840

4. New York

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• Yearly delay per commuter: 92 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 38 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,780

5. San Jose, Calif.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 81 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 32 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,500

San Jose is a smaller metro area than the four cities listed above, which are all more than 3 million people, while San Jose’s metro area has about 2 million people. Above, a vehicle from Apple's fleet testing self-driving cars is seen in Silicon Valley.

6. Boston

• Yearly delay per commuter: 80 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 31 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,440

7. Seattle

• Yearly delay per commuter: 78 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 31 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,410

8. Atlanta

• Yearly delay per commuter: 77 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 31 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,510

9. Houston

• Yearly delay per commuter: 75 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 31 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,380

10. Chicago

• Yearly delay per commuter: 73 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 30 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,310

11. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 70 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 20 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,180

12. Miami

• Yearly delay per commuter: 69 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 34 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,289

13. Dallas

• Yearly delay per commuter: 67 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 25 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,160

14. Austin, Texas

• Yearly delay per commuter: 66 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 25 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,270

15. Portland, Ore.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 66 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 31 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,190

16. Honolulu

• Yearly delay per commuter: 64 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 29 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,260

17. San Diego

• Yearly delay per commuter: 16 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 24 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,440

18. Philadelphia

• Yearly delay per commuter: 62 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 26 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,100

19. Phoenix

• Yearly delay per commuter: 62 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 26 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $990

20. Denver

• Yearly delay per commuter: 61 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 25 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,060

21. Detroit

• Yearly delay per commuter: 61 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 25 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,030

22. Sacramento, Calif.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 59 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 24 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,020

• 23. Baltimore

• Yearly delay per commuter: 59 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 22 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $960

24. Nashville

• Yearly delay per commuter: 58 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 26 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,110

25. New Orleans

• Yearly delay per commuter: 58 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 26 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,100

26. Baton Rouge, La.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 58 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 25 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,010

27. Charlotte, N.C.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 57 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 22 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,160

28. Orlando

• Yearly delay per commuter: 57 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 22 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $1,010

29. Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.-N.Y.

• Yearly delay per commuter: 57 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 22 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $910

30. Minneapolis

• Yearly delay per commuter: 56 hours
• Extra fuel needed: 18 gallons
• Cost per commuter: $890

For dozens of ways to address freeway congestion, see the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's interactive on How to Fix Congestion.