These Are the Best U.S. Cities to Live in for Affordable Commutes

Looking for the cheapest commuting city? Consider moving to Memphis.

With more and more companies mandating a return to the office, many workers are considering their options when it comes to commuting. And that includes moving to all-new destinations and taking on different jobs just to have a better drive to work. Considering doing the same? Lyft has some new data for you to look over. 

In early September, the ride-sharing company released its 2024 Commuting Report, detailing the cities with the best commutes.  

"What makes for a great commute? We surveyed over 1,400 commuters to see what they value most," the service explained. "A full 25 percent said that time was the most important factor, 19 percent called out consistency, and 13 percent pointed to cost."

To find out which cities are top-notch, Lyft analyzed data from millions of rides and supplemented its numbers with public data sources to see where travelers "enjoyed the shortest, cheapest, and greenest commutes." It also detailed the cities with the "most vibrant downtowns to reward their travels" and looked at everything from drive times to fuel and parking costs, traffic congestion, carpool data, and more. To ensure the comparisons were as fair as possible, the company limited the data to 35 cities in the U.S. with populations over 500,000. It then combined the scores for each city to give it a final ranking.

After looking at all the information, there was one clear winner for the most affordable commutes: Memphis, Tennessee.

"Commutes don’t just cost time, they cost money: Tolls and parking can be significant expenses for the 68.7 percent of Americans who commute to work alone in a vehicle each day," Lyft explained in its findings. "And for the small share of Americans who take public transit to work, fares can add up as well. According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, individual households in the U.S. spent $12,295 on transportation — about 17 percent of all household expenditures (second only to housing)."

But you can save on that commute by moving to Memphis, which scored the highest for the best parking, fuel, and public transit costs. It was followed closely by Columbus, Ohio, in second, which also was the No. 1 city for the quickest commute times and the number one overall best commute. "On average, commuters spend about 25 minutes getting to/from work. But some cities, notably Columbus, Memphis, and Milwaukee have some of the fastest commutes, at around 22 minutes. Over the course of a year, this difference adds up to 13 hours," Lyft added.

As for other affordable commutes, there's Albuquerque, New Mexico, which came in third, followed by Houston; Dallas; Baltimore; El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas; and Phoenix, rounding out the top 10.

Ready to see where your city ranked? Check out the full findings at lyft.com.

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