Unless you work from home odds are that you have to commute to your place of employment on a daily basis. A recent survey of average commuter times across the country by WNYC shows that the typical American worker spends 25.4 minutes commuting to their job each day. How does that stack up in the major metro areas of Massachusetts?
In the Greater Boston area the typical commuter will spend approximately 5-10 minutes more going to work each day. Contrary to popular belief living closer to Boston or even in it did not always guarantee a faster than average commute. Residents in leafy Boston neighborhoods like West Roxbury and Roslindale have longer commutes that workers in Milton, for example. Parts of Dorchester, even with its extensive access to the MBTA, have longer than average commute times. Residents of the South Shore have some of the longest commute times in the state, particularly on the coasts.
In the immediate area around Worcester things slightly better for commuters as their travel times are more in line with national average commuting time of roughly 25 minutes each way. Residents of towns like Hardwick though see a staggering 44 minute daily commute to work.
The Springfield metro area has commuter times that are significantly lower than the Boston and Worcester areas as well as the national average. The typical commuter in the Greater Springfield area spend approximately 20 minutes a day commuting to work according to WNYC’s analysis. This trend extends most pronounced in a north-south direction from Longmeadow to Deerfield and less so from Westfield to Ludlow.
Punch in your ZIP code in the map below and see what the typical commute time is in your neighborhood.
Massachusetts commuters overwhelmingly use cars to travel to and from work according to an analysis by Boston Magazine. Commuters that walk and use public transportation as their primary method is largely confined to the Greater Boston. Walking is popular in a number of western towns like South Hadley, Northampton, North Adams, and Deerfield.
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