The 210 Freeway in Pasadena (photo: Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times)
The three most onerous work commutes in the country, depending on how you measure them, are in California, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with demographic, social, economic and housing data, reported this week that nearly 600,000 Americans have mega-commutes to work—at least 90 minutes and 50 miles one way—and, not surprisingly, many of them are toiling away in California.
If you measure the trek by the highest mean distance traveled, the Top Three in the country are San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (2.06), San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (1.90) and Salinas (1.23). (The numbers in parentheses are the percentage of full-time workers who mega-commute.)
If you measure the commuting by highest mean travel time, the San Francisco area is still #1, with Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana being the only other California metropolitan area sneaking into the Top 10, at #5.
If you measure just the number of participants in a mega-commuter flow, commuters heading from San Bernardino County to Los Angeles County top the national list. They average 1 hour, 44 minutes traveling 68 miles one way. The Riverside County-to-L.A. County commute is second, averaging 1 hour, 49 minutes traveling 77.4 miles. Riverside County to San Diego County checks in at #7 (1 hour, 42 minutes, 75.5 miles) and San Joaquin County to Alameda County is #9 (1, hour 44 minutes, 61.5 miles).
The survey identified 587,000 people who qualified as mega-commuters by studying results for five years, from 2006-2010. On average, mega-commuters spend two hours traveling one-way to work, covering 166 miles. Some of the commuters travel by rail or carpool, but two-thirds drive alone.
Mega-commuters make up 1% of all full-time workers. Three-fourths of them are male,
The Top 10 California mega-commuter routes, based on frequency and place of work, are:
| Commute Route | Mega-Commuters |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana | 75,800 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | 46,234 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | 19,820 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | 15,816 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos | 14,036 |
| Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville | 8,044 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | 4,502 |
| Bakersfield-Delano | 2,758 |
| Stockton | 2,360 |
The Top 10 non-California mega-commuter routes, using the same criteria, are:
| Commute Route | Mega-Commuters |
| New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY | 183,278 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 69,158 |
| Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI | 40,096 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | 30,042 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 24,102 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 23,992 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 22,770 |
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 22,328 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 15,486 |
| Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI | 14,186 |
–Ken Broder
To Learn More:
Bay Area Tops New “Mega-Commuter” Census List Defining the Worst Trips to Work (by Mike Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News)
San Francisco Commute: Bay Area, California Home to Many "Megacommuters" (by Ian Simpson, Reuters)
Megacommuters: 600,000 in U.S. Travel 90 Minutes and 50 Miles to Work, and 10.8 Million Travel an Hour Each Way (U.S. Census Bureau)
Mega Commuters in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau) (pdf)