Large cities are also often expensive cities. As people flock to live close to culture and opportunity that is often synonymous with large cities, the population influx can quickly become a strain. As populations grow larger, the boundaries of the city do not. As density increases, often times, so does commute time.
According to Redfin, the average commute time across the country is 25.7 minutes. After comparing data from the 12 most and least expensive cities where Redfin collects housing data, it was determined that the cost of living in a city has a correlation to the length of the daily commute.
Redfin found that the majority of people who live in an expensive city are not only paying more for a house or apartment, but also spend more time getting to and from work. Not only does a typical San Francisco resident have to spend $1 million for a house in the city, but they also have to put up with a rough commute of almost 27 minutes. Whereas a resident of buffalo, N.Y. can buy a home for $110,000 and get to work in a quick 20.5 minutes.
Los Angeles has a commute time of 28.1 minutes and the average commute in Long Island is 31.4 minutes. These two places have median home values of $530,000 and $375,000 respectively. Meanwhile, Greensboro, N.C. has a median home value of $150,000 and a commute time of 21.3 minutes and Rochester, N.Y., with a commute median home value of $125,000 has an average commute time of just 20.2 minutes.
As working remotely becomes more common, many people are leaving expensive cities and their long commutes behind and are opting for cheaper, less populated areas. For example, many Chicago residents are leaving the large cities and heading to nearby places like Grand Rapids, Mich.
