The time between home and work
For many people the commute is the single biggest block of time in a working life that belongs neither to work nor to themselves. An average American round trip of close to an hour a day adds up to more than 200 hours a year, about five full working weeks, and over a career it comes to many thousands of hours. The picture above lays that commute out as one continuous journey, measured against the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
Change the minutes, the days a week and the way you travel. If you work from home some days, lowering the number of commuting days shows how much time that gives back over the whole span.
How we calculate it
We double your one-way time for the round trip, multiply by your commuting days a week, and by 46 working weeks a year, allowing for holidays and leave. That gives a yearly total, which we multiply by the number of years between the start and stop ages you choose. The split between hours already commuted and hours still ahead depends on your age today. Distance uses typical door-to-door average speeds for each way of travelling.
| One-way time | Hours a year | Over 45 years | Full days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 115 | 5,175 | 216 |
| 27 minutes | 207 | 9,315 | 388 |
| 45 minutes | 345 | 15,525 | 647 |
| 1 hour | 460 | 20,700 | 863 |
Worked example. Someone who drives 27 minutes each way, five days a week, from 22 to 67 spends about 9,315 hours commuting, which is 388 full days, or more than a year of waking hours. At an average 40 km/h, that is about 373,000 km, almost the whole way to the Moon.
Making the time count
Studies of wellbeing regularly find the commute among the least enjoyed parts of the day, but it does not have to be wasted time. Audiobooks, language lessons and podcasts can turn it into some of the most productive learning time in a week. And a single home-working day can give back weeks of life over a career.
Questions people ask
How long is the average commute?
In the United States the average one-way journey to work has been about 26 to 28 minutes in recent years, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. That is close to an hour a day for a round trip.
What do the working ages mean?
They are the span you want to add up, from the age you started or will start commuting to the age you choose to stop. They are your own choices, not predictions.
How is the distance estimated?
From typical door-to-door average speeds including waiting and traffic: about 40 km/h by car, 25 km/h by bus or train, 15 km/h by bike and 5 km/h on foot. Your own route may be faster or slower.
Does working from home count?
Lower the number of commuting days a week. The page shows how much time each home-working day saves over the whole span.
Sources. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (mean travel time to work); typical door-to-door speeds by mode from transport surveys. Calculations run in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.