Who Has the Worst Commute Time? State-by-State Rankings

BALTIMORE, MD — In the competition for "worst commute," the big winners are some of the East Coast's busiest metro areas, according to new U.S. Census survey estimates, with Maryland winning the Baltimore/Washington regional smackdown.

Comparing states based on travel time to work, New York has the worst commute — averaging more than 33 minutes. Not too far behind: Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts.

Maryland drivers, on average, have a commute time 32.1 minutes, roughly two minutes more than DC drivers sit in traffic, and three minutes longer than Virginia commuters white-knuckle their way to and from work.

Nationwide, we're spending longer getting to work. The average travel time was 26.4 minutes in 2015, an increase of more than a minute compared to five years earlier. There were 33 states that saw commute times get worse in the past five years. Only one state saw a decrease in the time to work: New Mexico shaved off 30 seconds.

The U.S. Census performs the American Community Survey each year, asking questions about housing, employment and other demographic information. The findings are released for states and major metro areas each September, and complete data on every community is released toward the end of the year.

Within Maryland commute times are:

• Baltimore/Columbia/Towson metro has a commute time of 30.6 minutes
• Washington, DC, area, 34.4 minutes
• Silver Spring/Frederick/Rockville, 34.5 minutes
• Bel Air/Wilmington, DE area, 26.1 minutes

»SEE ALSO: Maryland's Top 30 Interstate Traffic Bottlenecks

Complete state rankings, according to the latest U.S. Census survey data:

United States, 26.4 minutes

1. New York, 33.1
2. Maryland, 32.6
3. New Jersey, 31.3
4. District of Columbia, 29.8
5. Massachusetts, 29.7
6. California, 28.9
7. Illinois, 28.8
8. Virginia, 28.2
9. Georgia, 28.0
10. New Hampshire, 27.6
11. Hawaii, 27.4
12. Washington, 27.1
13. Florida, 27.0
14. Pennsylvania, 26.8
15. Connecticut, 26.4
16. Texas, 26.3
17. Delaware, 26.0
18. West Virginia, 25.5
19. Colorado, 25.4
20. Louisiana, 25.3
21. Arizona, 25.1
22. Tennessee, 24.8
23. Rhode Island, 24.7
24. Alabama, 24.6
25. Michigan, 24.4
26. Mississippi, 24.3
27. North Carolina, 24.3
28. Nevada, 24.2
29. South Carolina, 24.2
30. Maine, 24.0
31. Missouri, 23.6
32. Oregon, 23.6
33. Minnesota, 23.4
34. Ohio, 23.4
35. Indiana, 23.3
36. Kentucky, 23.3
37. Vermont, 23.0
38. Arkansas, 22.1
39. Wisconsin, 22.0
40. New Mexico, 21.7
41. Oklahoma, 21.4
42. Utah, 21.3
43. Idaho, 20.5
44. Alaska, 19.2
45. Iowa, 19.0
46. Kansas, 19.0
47. Wyoming, 19.0
48. Nebraska, 18.4
49. Montana, 18.0
50. South Dakota, 16.9
51. North Dakota, 16.6

A study across the pond this summer found workers in England and Wales were damaging their health with long commutes. Those surveyed estimated they added almost 800 calories to their weekly diet as a result of the trip to work, according to a CNN report.

It may not get you to work faster, but researchers suggest getting out of the car — even if only for a portion of your commute.

Walking to a train station or standing in a subway car are better for your health, researcher Ellen Flint told The Huffington Post in the spring. “These all add up to significantly more exertion than driving door-to-door,” she said.

Image via Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway Administration