No necessary element of our workday is potentially both less productive and more infuriating than the commute to and from the office. For some employees, a long commute may stack the deck against choosing a future with a particular company more than many other more traditionally accepted factors, like benefits and salary. We asked employees, “How Long Is Your Commute To Work?”
The information comes courtesy of the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably. 10,000 employees responded to the question.
For all employees, “less than 15 minutes” and “15-30” minutes tied for most common length one commute, each getting more than one-quarter of responses. Thankfully, those driving more than one hour to and from work represent the smallest piece of the pie.
There’s no disparity in terms of gender. Men and women both chose the “less than 15 minutes” and “15-30 minutes” option with exactly the same frequency. A fraction more men than women drive more than an hour to get to work.
Only Caucasians reported an under 15 minutes commute most frequently, with the “other designation” choosing that number and the “15 to 30 minutes” option at the same rate. Every other ethnicity chose the “15 to 30 minutes” option most frequently.
The youngest Gen Z employees reported having a 15-30 minute commute most often. With age, the “less than 15 minutes” option gets chosen most frequently, with one-third of the 46-50 age bracket reporting a brief commute. So employees have that to look forward to as their careers progress, among other things.
The closer too entry-level an employee is, the longer their commute will likely be. For employees who have been at a company over 10 years, the “less than 15” option is much more often chosen. This implies either that we stay longer at jobs that aren’t too far in terms of the commute, or that we end up moving closer to our jobs the more committed we become to them over time.
Latest reading as of December 6.
