Mean one-way travel time to work from the American Community Survey, shortest first, city and state.
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Rankings · Shortest Commutes by State
Shortest Commutes by State, South Dakota Leads (2026)
South Dakota has the shortest commutes of the 50 states we rank, at 17.8 minutes one way (Census ACS, 2020-2024). North Dakota is next, at 17.9 minutes one way.
By The Honest Local · 50 states · every value links to its public source
17.8 minSouth Dakota leads on the list, the lowest reading of all 50 states
The top five states
No. 1South Dakota17.8 minone-way commute
No. 2North Dakota17.9 minone-way commute
No. 3Wyoming18.8 minone-way commute
No. 4Montana19.1 minone-way commute
No. 5Nebraska19.2 minone-way commute
Shortest Commutes by State on the map
Shortest commutes by city and state, states
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Shortest Commutes by State, all 50
The full ranking
| Place | one-way commute | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 17.8 min |
| 2 | North Dakota | 17.9 min |
| 3 | Wyoming | 18.8 min |
| 4 | Montana | 19.1 min |
| 5 | Nebraska | 19.2 min |
| 6 | Alaska | 19.4 min |
| 7 | Kansas | 19.7 min |
| 8 | Iowa | 19.8 min |
| 9 | Idaho | 21.6 min |
| 10 | Utah | 22.1 min |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 22.2 min |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 22.4 min |
| 13 | Arkansas | 22.5 min |
| 14 | Minnesota | 22.7 min |
| 15 | Oregon | 23 min |
| 16 | Ohio | 23.4 min |
| 17 | Missouri | 23.5 min |
| 17 | New Mexico | 23.5 min |
| 17 | Vermont | 23.5 min |
| 20 | Kentucky | 24 min |
| 21 | Indiana | 24.1 min |
| 22 | Michigan | 24.2 min |
| 23 | Maine | 24.6 min |
| 24 | Nevada | 24.8 min |
| 25 | North Carolina | 25.1 min |
| 26 | Colorado | 25.2 min |
| 27 | Arizona | 25.4 min |
| 28 | Alabama | 25.5 min |
| 28 | Rhode Island | 25.5 min |
| 30 | Mississippi | 25.6 min |
| 30 | South Carolina | 25.6 min |
| 32 | Louisiana | 25.7 min |
| 32 | Tennessee | 25.7 min |
| 34 | Delaware | 26 min |
| 35 | Hawaii | 26.2 min |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | 26.3 min |
| 37 | Connecticut | 26.5 min |
| 38 | Washington | 26.6 min |
| 38 | West Virginia | 26.6 min |
| 40 | New Hampshire | 26.7 min |
| 40 | Texas | 26.7 min |
| 42 | Virginia | 27.3 min |
| 43 | Illinois | 27.8 min |
| 44 | Florida | 28 min |
| 45 | Georgia | 28.3 min |
| 46 | California | 28.7 min |
| 47 | Massachusetts | 29.1 min |
| 48 | New Jersey | 30.5 min |
| 49 | Maryland | 31.1 min |
| 50 | New York | 32.6 min |
Sources and method
- American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, tables B08013 and B08303 (via tape_readings) · 2020-2024
How we got this. Commute time comes from tape_readings, which src/tape/acs-more.ts reads from the Census Bureau's ACS 5-year table-based Summary File: aggregate travel time to work (table B08013) divided by the workers who did not work from home (B08303), the mean one-way commute in minutes. Cities and states each rank on their own list, shortest first. Places tied at the same tenth of a minute share a rank. The US Virgin Islands has no ACS coverage. It refreshes annual.
Rankings by The Honest Local from public data, one page per list, refreshed on each source’s own cycle. Places with no reading are left out rather than estimated. Every value on this page carries its source in the page’s structured data.
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