Charleston / North Charleston, SC ranked as the 14th worst city to commute in the United States in latest study
By Mark A. Leon
MoneyGeek has recently completed a study on the 20 cities in the United States with the worst commute. The study was based on the following factors:
- Average one-way commute time in minutes
- Average rush-hour speed (MPH)
- Morning commute crash rate
- Annual gas cost
Based on the results, Charleston/North Charleston, SC came in as the 14th worst city to commute in the United States. Aside from our region, 6 other Southeast cities made the list: Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL (#3), Lakeland / Winter Haven, FL (#9), Jacksonville, FL (#10), Birmingham / Hoover, AL (#12), Baton Rouge, LA (#13) and Port St. Lucie (#20).
Below are the results of the top 20 starting with the worst at the top (Vallejo-Fairfield, CA).
| Rank | Metro area | Score | Avg. 1-way commute (minutes) | Avg. rush-hour speed (mph) | Morning commute crash rate | Annual gas cost |
| 1. | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 0.0 | 34 | 28 | 0.31 | $1,792 |
| 2. | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 5.2 | 35 | 28 | 0.20 | $1,791 |
| 3. | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 14.3 | 32 | 27 | 0.32 | $1,099 |
| 4. | Modesto, CA | 15.0 | 31 | 28 | 0.18 | $1,582 |
| 5. | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 15.5 | 35 | 31 | 0.12 | $1,931 |
| 6. | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 19.5 | 28 | 26 | 0.27 | $1,367 |
| 7. | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 20.1 | 32 | 18 | 0.16 | $1,042 |
| 8. | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 21.3 | 28 | 31 | 0.35 | $1,243 |
| 9. | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 21.6 | 33 | 27 | 0.15 | $1,133 |
| 10. | Jacksonville, FL | 23.0 | 28 | 34 | 0.54 | $1,202 |
| 11. | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 24.9 | 29 | 30 | 0.45 | $1,015 |
| 12. | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 25.1 | 29 | 32 | 0.25 | $1,161 |
| 13. | Baton Rouge, LA | 25.3 | 29 | 29 | 0.48 | $1,028 |
| 14. | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 25.6 | 30 | 26 | 0.36 | $941 |
| 15. | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 27.5 | 33 | 23 | 0.21 | $918 |
| 16. | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 28.1 | 33 | 30 | 0.06 | $1,492 |
| 17. | Albuquerque, NM | 28.4 | 27 | 34 | 0.45 | $1,167 |
| 18. | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 28.5 | 31 | 20 | 0.10 | $1,066 |
| 19. | Worcester, MA-CT | 28.8 | 31 | 29 | 0.10 | $1,239 |
| 20. | Port St. Lucie, FL | 29.1 | 31 | 27 | 0.15 | $1,078 |
(Source: MoneyGeek)
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