New York Metro Area Has Longest Commutes, Census Estimates Show

The New York City metropolitan area is home to the three longest commutes among U.S. mainland counties, U.S. Census Bureau estimates show.

Richmond, Queens, and Kings counties recorded one-way commutes of more than 40 minutes, with Richmond County’s 42.5 minutes being the longest. The estimates are a five-year average compiled from 2005-2009, according to the Census Bureau.

King County in Texas recorded the nation’s shortest average commute at 3.4 minutes, the estimates show. The national average for workers 16 years and older was 25.2 minutes.

The commuting times comes from the American Community Survey, which has been used since 2005 to replace the so-called long-form census questionnaire that had asked detailed questions every decade. The new annual survey is designed to complement the decennial count and provide more timely annual data for small geographic areas.

The data released today in Washington covered more than 670,000 distinct geographic areas and can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.

Today’s census data is being released a week ahead of the official national and state counts from the 2010 census that will be used to redistribute seats in Congress and influence how $400 billion in government funds are distributed.