Looking At The Average Commute In Portland

People moving to the Portland area often have questions concerning commute times. Residents may want to know commute times to plan or scrap driving around town. This article explores what the average commute is in Portland investigated by Stacker.

The most important data to be investigated is how much time workers spend commuting. In doing this, researchers in Portland use data from the U.S. Census Bureau. American commutes are getting longer, with a U.S. Census Bureau report released in 2021 revealing the average one-way commute in 2019 reached a record high of 27.6 minutes.

Stacker compiled statistics about the average commute in Portland. Statistics are calculated based on 2020 5-year estimates. Combined with record-high gas prices, workers’ daily commutes are increasingly time-consuming and expensive—so much so that some are calling for commutes to count as part of the workday.

The longest commute times in the country can predictably be found around East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, the New York City metro area, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia, and the Bay Area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey.

Data certainly will make people feel for “super commuters”—the 10% of Americans traveling more than one hour each way to punch a clock.

Data is as follows:

– Average commute: 26.9 minutes

— Workers with a 1+ hour commute: 7.6%

– Workers who drive to work: 77.4%

— Workers who carpool to work: 8.8%

– Workers who take public transportation to work: 5.8%

– Workers who work from home: 10.4%

– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 14.7%

– Worked outside county of residence: 48.87%

Metros with the worst average commute

#1. East Stroudsburg, PA: 40 minutes

#2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: 37 minutes

#3. Stockton, CA: 35.2 minutes

#4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: 34.8 minutes

#5. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA: 34.1 minutes

Metros with the best average commute

#1. Grand Forks, ND-MN: 15.7 minutes

#2. Walla Walla, WA: 15.8 minutes

#3. Dubuque, IA: 16.4 minutes

#4. Cheyenne, WY: 16.4 minutes

#5. Great Falls, MT: 16.5 minutes