New Yorkers, famously, are walking here. But just about 25% of them are driving too.
Commuting undergirds New York’s economy, and shapes the daily lives of its workers. New York’s robust public transit system carries around six million passengers daily, and around 1.6 million people drive into Manhattan’s Central Business District daily.
But not all commutes are created equal. As politicians like Zohran Mamdani eye affordability measures, proposals like free and fast buses have taken the spotlight. Longer commutes can have real health impacts, lower worker satisfaction, and dent productivity. In New York City, bus riders, and those in further-flung, historically more working-class neighborhoods experience that more acutely.
“Most New Yorkers are traveling much farther in their daily commutes than people would be if they were living in a less expensive city, a smaller city,” said Lauren Melodia, the director of fiscal and economic policy at the Center for New York City Affairs.
To understand how commutes affect New Yorkers across transit methods, income bands, and occupations, we analyzed 2024 American Community Survey data compiled by the University of Minnesota’s IPUMS programs. We looked at survey results in the New York metro area, which includes suburban New Jersey and Westchester counties. From priests to Rockaway residents, here’s what it’s like for different New Yorkers to get around.
How New Yorkers commute
In New York City, the subway is king.
Driving is the second-most prevalent way of getting to work and back. A solid chunk of New Yorkers work from home, and a decent share take the bus or walk. A rarified few take taxis or ride shares.
Workers using long-distance or commuter trains, unsurprisingly, have the longest commutes. Subway riders still spend a decent amount of time in transit.
And while New York’s reliance on public transit is anomalous for the US, it has challenges.
“It’s another variable that you need to account for for your workday, basically,” said Ege Aksu, a NYC-based economist for Revelio Labs. “You need to plan accordingly because there will be delays on your commute. The subway is going to be a little messed up, maybe.” That can have its own trickle-down effects on productivity, Aksu said; long commutes can feel like “another hustle.”
How long different workers spend commuting
To understand what commuting looks like across professions, we looked at occupations in the New York City metro area with at least 100 survey respondents.
Some of the longest commutes belong to lower-paid or hourly workers: The median annual wage for baggage porters and bellhops in the New York metro area is $48,610, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Similarly, the annual median wage for cleaners of vehicles and equipment is $41,540. Both of those are well below the New York City metro area’s median household income of $99,852.
Higher-paid workers tend to have easier, although not necessarily shorter, commutes.
“If you have more flexibility in your job, then you can have a more pleasant commute with a seat on a train, compared to if you need to work a job where you’re required to be there for a specific shift that kind of coincides with rush hour traffic,” Melodia said.
Commutes are quite consistent across income bands. Workers in middle-income roles face longer commutes than their lower-paid counterparts. Some workers in more WFH-friendly knowledge industries may choose to trade a longer commute for fewer days in the office, said Randall Reback, an economics professor at Barnard College: if you move out to Long Island, you may spend more time commuting, but go in less often.
A slew of occupations have their own commute advantages. Tutors, who likely often work from home or Zoom into class with their pupils, had the shortest commutes. They were followed closely by clergy, who often live at or near their parishes.
Father Chris Lawton, a priest with the Paulist Fathers at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City, lives around the corner from his office at the Paulist Fathers’ Motherhouse. He finds his stroll-next-door commute convenient and reflective of his ministry, as the priesthood is more encompassing than just a job.
“Sometimes it’s a little too close, and sometimes I long for a little more distance just to kind of create a separation in my head and heart of work and home,” Fr. Lawton said. His boss has a rule: Out of the office once a day, out of the neighborhood once a week, and out of the city once a month.
Transit is still top of mind for many clergy and parishioners. Last fall, Lawton hosted a commuting-focused community talk called “mass transit.”
“What we talked about was how stressful commutes can be, and how stressful our daily routines can be,” Lawton said, “And where do we find God amidst that?” Attendees left with tools like prayer rituals and stress-reducing breathing techniques, as well as an appreciation for who they’re commuting with.
“In New York City, even whether someone has a short or long commute, there’s so much richness,” Lawton said. “A real blessing of living in the city is that no matter who you are, unless you’re taking private cars everywhere, we have the unique privilege of being in proximity to all kinds of people regularly.”
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