One sign of how much U.S. labor market conditions vary from community to community is U.S. Census Bureau data on commutes from hell.
In 2024, only about 2.6% of adults who worked outside the home in that U.S. House district that includes Rochester, New York, spent an hour or more commuting from home to work.
In 10 other House districts, more than 25% of adults needed an hour or more to get to work.
Throughout the country as a whole, the typical commuting time ranged from 10 to 29 minutes, but commutes of 30 minutes or more were much more common than commutes under 10 minutes.
For a look at the 10 U.S. House districts where the most workers have one-way commuting times of an hour or more, see the gallery accompanying this article.
What it means: The Census Bureau commuting table shows how a concern that has almost no effect on people in one congressional district can have a huge effect on people in another congressional district.
The commuting-time data have something to do with how eager some members of Congress are to hear about transportation programs and subsidies.
The numbers also show why employers and benefits advisors who go on "fly-ins" need to work hard to understand the perspectives of the lawmakers and aides they visit.
The data: The Census Bureau publishes several sets of tables related to employment and working conditions.
For the table showing commuting times, the bureau now has data available down to the metropolitan and micropolitan area level for 2024.
Users can also use the filters in the sidebar to see state or county data as well as figures for each U.S. House district.
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