American office workers are losing the equivalent of 23 full working days a year to their commute alone, and the combined financial toll of getting to and from the office now reaches $6,736 annually, according to a new study by resume.io that ranks commuting costs across the 36 largest US metropolitan areas.
The real price tag of showing up
The report analyzed federal wage, commuting, fuel, and price data across the 36 largest US metropolitan areas and surveyed 1,000 full-time office workers about what they actually spend each week on getting to work, parking, eating, and covering childcare.
The study found that the average office worker spends 184 hours a year commuting, the equivalent of 23 full working days. Workers also reported spending an average of 43.4 minutes longer getting ready on an office day than on a day working from home, including showering, dressing, and preparing food, adding another 137 hours, or 17 working days, on top of the commuting total.
Food and coffee bought out when in the office comes to $2,598 a year, according to the report. It is a cost that many workers overlook because it arrives in small increments rather than as a single calculated payment.
Sun Belt cities carry the heaviest burden
Orlando tops the list of US cities with the highest commuting cost relative to salary, with the expense of going to work consuming 11.9% of the average local wage. Riverside, California follows at 11.4%, then San Antonio at 11.1%, with Tampa and Nashville tied at 10.8%.
The study found that eight of the cities with the highest commuting costs relative to salary are in the Sun Belt. Sun Belt metros tend to have limited public transit infrastructure, leaving most workers car-dependent and more exposed to fuel, parking, and maintenance costs.
In New York, commute time jumps to 236 hours, or nearly 30 working days per year. That figure underscores how a city’s transit mix shapes not just how long commuters travel but how much of their working life is effectively donated to the journey.
Rising costs and worker pushback
More than half of workers, 53.2%, say their office costs have risen over the past 12 months, with 19.1% saying they have increased “a lot.”
The report frames this as a structural shift in how compensation is perceived. A worker whose pay has not changed but who has moved from hybrid to five-days-in-office has, in practice, taken a pay cut measured in time and money.
The city-by-city findings dovetail with broader patterns in how American households experience workplace demands. With both parents working full time in more than half of US two-parent households, the weight of a daily commute falls not just on an individual but on an entire household’s schedule.
Commuting as an invisible component of total pay
The resume.io report argues that commuting represents a significant and often overlooked burden on workers subject to return-to-office requirements, and that it should be considered as part of the broader cost of employment.
The researchers contend that employers designing attendance policies need to account for commute cost as a practical element of total compensation. Commuting expands the unpaid portion of the workday, reducing the practical value of take-home pay.
The analysis also highlights regional inequities. In high-wage metros, long commutes translate into substantial time-value losses. Las Vegas ranks among the least costly cities for office workers, at $5,588 a year, helped by the shortest commute distance of any city studied, at 15.6 miles. The study notes that lower-cost cities can still carry significant burdens for workers with limited transit options.
For workers already identifying as working class in rising numbers, an annual commuting bill of nearly $6,736 is not a rounding error. It represents, in many Sun Belt cities, more than one-tenth of total annual earnings before a single bill is paid.
