Returning to the workplace after months of working remotely — if you were lucky enough — will add that commute you probably didn’t miss in the least.
The online lending platform LendingTree exactly how much time you lose on average a day while commuting by automobile, as well as the “opportunity cost” of the lost time. It was a more conservative estimate, in that it didn’t include other expenses like gasoline and wear and tear on the car.
Full-time workers across the 100 largest U.S. cities lose nearly an hour daily to commuting by auto: The average round-trip commute is 52 minutes, which equates to an average annual opportunity cost of $5,679 per year.
Denver-area workers had two extra minutes added to their average round-trip for a commute of 54 minutes. Given prevailing wages, that works out to an annual opportunity cost of $6,659 for workers — about $1,000 more than the U.S. average.
“During the months of remote work, workers weren’t necessarily pocketing thousands of dollars by not commuting,” said Jacob Channel, a senior economic analyst with Lending Tree. “Instead, they were getting thousands of dollars worth of time back.”
Avoiding that drive to work not only lowers stress levels, he said, but it also allows workers to spend more time on activities that boost well-being, such as entertainment, sleeping more, spending time with the family or exercising.
Some workers used the time to take on side gigs, shoring up their finances, while others poured that extra time back into the main job. That might explain why some studies have found remote workers were as productive, if not more so, than workers in a traditional setting.
“As a result, businesses could lose money due to lower productivity if they expect their employees to commute,” Channel said.
So what is lost if long commutes and incessant traffic jams become the norm again? The first thing to go away for some will be peace of mind.
“Commuting is often a hassle, and it can be hard on employees, especially those who have long commutes,” Channel said.
Beyond that, he thinks that the leisure and entertainment industries, which suffered during the pandemic, will probably see less of a rebound due to the time lost to long commutes.
“If a worker has to spend more time commuting then they’ll likely have less time to spend doing things like hiking, camping or patronizing local art and culture attractions,” he said.
