Mapping America's Longest and Shortest Commutes

Where are America’s longest, most butt-numbing commutes? Where do people coast right into the office as if they’ve never even heard of traffic before?

Statistician Chase Sawyer has the answer with a wonderfully detailed visualization of typical commute times for every U.S. county. Based on 2011–2015 data from the U.S. Census, the interactive map reveals that people in Pike County, Pennsylvania, have the most grinding journeys at an average time of 44 minutes. The top 10 quickest commutes are found in Alaska, meanwhile, with the Aleutians East Borough snagging the country’s speediest mean transit time of 4.9 minutes. If you’re not familiar with that locale, it’s a sea lion-dotted island chain sticking deep into the sea; presumably commuters only need to travel a few blocks in these small towns to get where they’re going.