Winnetka Earns Spot on List of State's Worst Commuter Cities

WINNETKA, IL—Recently, the Village of Winnetka earned the nice distinction of being named one of the safest cities in the state by a personal finance website.

But as anyone with bogus knowledge of Newton's Third Law of Internet Physics can tell you, for every positive mention on a viral, social media friendly, online list, there is an equal and negative mention on a different viral, social media friendly, online list.

That's why it shouldn't be surprising to see the village pop up on a dubious list: the 40 worst commuter cities in Illinois.

With its average commute time of 38.4 minutes, Winnetka was ranked 17th on the list, which was compiled by online insurance guide Obrella. The state's No. 1 worst commuter city was Riverdale, with an average commute time of 43.3 minutes.

New Trier Township (37) and Wilmette (39) also made the list, with average commute times of 36.1 minutes and 36 minutes, respectively.

“Whether it’s because they live far from their workplace, face heavy traffic congestion, or a combination of the two, the average resident of the state’s worst commuter cities spends 20 more minutes getting to work than the typical resident of the best commuter cities in Illinois,” an explanation of Obrella's 2015 study stated on its website. “But, there are several reasons why people choose to endure a long commute, like affordable housing and good schools, so we bet living in one of these communities offers its share of perks.”

To determine the rankings, Obrella identified cities that have at least 10,000 residents and then looked at traffic data from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey. The result is the 40 worst commuter cities in Illinois.

Patch editor Scott Viau contributed to this article.

Like What You're Reading? Stay Patched In!

• Get News Alerts, Join Facebook Pages and Learn About Patch
• Learn how to create a Patch user account
• Like our Crime page on Facebook
• Live Traffic and Transit Updates