Seattle has 10th-worst commute in the US

SEATTLE - If you’ve been feeling like your Seattle commute has gotten stupendously long, a new international study says you’re absolutely correct.

Kirkland-based analytics company INRIX released their latest Global Traffic Scorecard, which found that Seattle ranks the 10th-worst commute in the U.S., and even ranks the 27th-worst commute in the world. The Emerald City ranks ahead of major cities like Warsaw, Auckland, Berlin, Sydney and Amsterdam.

As you’d expect, New York City has the worst traffic in the world, followed by Mexico City, London, Paris and Chicago. In the U.S., The Big Apple is followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Miami.

In New York City, commuters lost an average of 101 hours in 2023 to their commute, costing the city some $9.1 billion.

Take a look at the full study below:

INRIX says midday is the new rush hour. Data shows that more people are hitting the road at 12:00 p.m. than they are between 6:00–10:00 a.m., and morning average hourly commutes are down about 12% since 2019.

Seattle’s booming tech industry has actually lowered the amount of commuters on the road compared to pre-pandemic levels — roughly by 11% — which INRIX attributes to a slow return from pandemic at-home work. The city still lost roughly $1.6 billion on account of the commutes, and the folks stuck in their cars on I-5 and I-90 have wasted about 58 hours sitting in their cars.

In comparison, massive cities like New York and Chicago have seen a boom in commuters hitting the road, rising 11% and 18%, respectively.