Commute times dropped for Richmond workers
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Richmonders' commutes are generally shorter than before the pandemic, according to a new Axios analysis of census data.
Why it matters: Quicker commutes are tied to better mental health, greater job satisfaction and several other personal benefits, Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng report.
- Many people also commute via public transit. And the less time Americans spend in cars, the better for the environment.
By the numbers: The share of Richmond-area workers commuting between 30 and 44 minutes saw the steepest drop, with 22.1% of locals making those commutes last year, compared to 23.9% in 2019.
- The share of workers commuting between 15 and 29 minutes, 45 and 49 minutes and an hour or more fell too.
Yes, but: The share of locals with the shortest commute time — less than 15 minutes — went up between 2019 and 2022, from 19.7% pre-pandemic to 22.2% last year.
Worth noting: The share of Richmonders working remotely fell last year to 18.7% from its 2021 peak of 23%, according to census data (2020 numbers were not tracked).
The big picture: Nationally, commutes under 30 minutes became more commonplace between 2019 and 2022, while those 30 minutes and longer became rarer.
- 36.8% of U.S. workers had a commute of 15-29 minutes in 2022, up from 35.6% in 2019.
- Another 26% had a commute of less than 15 minutes, up from 24.8%.
Of note: These findings don't include employees who work from home, and thus have a commute time of zero — or maybe a minute or two, if you stop to pour a cup of coffee on your way to your home office setup.
Driving the news: There are a handful of potential factors at play here.
- The "Great Reshuffling" led many Americans to move and/or find new jobs, and some of those who enjoyed the benefits of pandemic-era remote work prioritized shorter commutes in favor of more personal or family time.
- Meanwhile, some degree of remote and hybrid work is persisting post-pandemic, leading to fewer cars on the road and so less traffic and faster commutes.
The bottom line: This data may not jive with your personal experience, as construction and other factors can mess with particular routes — but in the broad sense, more Americans are enjoying faster trips to work.