Commuting to Work in New York Is More Expensive Than Any Other State
Alex Healey
· 3 min read
Is there anything more soul-destroying than being stuck in gridlock traffic on your way to work? Rubbing salt into the wound, a
study by Jerry
has found that the average American spends $4,358.22 driving to and from work each year, with drivers in New York State
paying more than $7,000!This is a combination of
car insurance
, maintenance costs, and gas. It doesn’t include secondary expenses, like toll roads or parking, and it doesn't factor in the opportunity cost of time spent on the road. Suffice to say, commuting sucks and it's darn expensive too! But if you can bear it, read on to learn more about commuting in New York.
Commuting in New York State
It won’t surprise you to hear that drivers in New York State have the longest average commute time, at 33.3 minutes (one way).
This is almost 10 minutes longer than the national average, and means they spend 289.71 hours behind the wheel each year—over 12 whole days driving to and from work!
The average speed of New York motorists traveling to work is 44.8 mph, a little slower than the national average of 46.7 mph, and the average distance traveled is 22.4 miles each way. This is the second longest commute of any state, just behind Maryland.
And now to the cost. Drivers in New York spend the most on car insurance—$4,545.87 average annual premium—and they spend the second largest amount on gas, only behind drivers from California.
Throw in yearly vehicle maintenance costs, and the average New York State driver pays $7,200.98 commuting to work. Every. Single. Year.
Making matters worse, thousands of New Yorkers who previously relied on public transit bought cars during the pandemic. More cars on the road means even longer commute times, and even higher insurance premiums.
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Working from home and other money-saving tips
MORE: New York Follows California in Banning New Gas Cars by 2035
While it is not possible for everyone, the growing trend of working from home will save many Americans a lot of cash.
In fact, if New Yorkers could give up their cars altogether, and get paid to work the hours they spend commuting, they would gain an additional $10,822.36 each year.
For those who must drive to work, a huge amount of money can be saved by carpooling. It seems many New York commuters are already aware of this, as only 52.92% of drivers in the state travel to work alone (the lowest % of any state).
Additionally, you can save hundreds of dollars by comparing car insurance quotes with
Jerry
. Not only is our app quick and convenient, but the average user saves $879 a year!
