Just how bad (or good) is Sacramento’s commute? Here’s how it stacks up to other cities

While commuting in Sacramento might not be the best, at least it’s not the worst, according to a new study.

Clever, a real estate service, recently released a list for “The Best and Worst Cities for Commuters in 2022,” featuring six California cities, including Sacramento.

The group created a weighted ranking for 50 of the most populated metro areas in the U.S., using data from organizations, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, Census and the American Automobile Association.

The service evaluated nine annual factors, including average income spent on commuting, money spent on fuel, car maintenance cost and hours lost to traffic.

Sacramento landed at 30 on the list with an annual cost of commute of $9,082. According to the study, an average commuter spends 19% of their income on driving to work, $1,039 annually on fuel and $374 on maintenance.

San Jose was one of the better California commuter cities, ranking at 25, despite having an annual commute cost of $11,541. Residents in the city spend 17% of their income per year to commute.

Following Sacramento at 31 is San Diego. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Riverside ranked as one of the top worst commuter cities at 45, 46 and 47, respectively.

Detroit finished off the list as the worst city to drive to work with an annual cost of $12,801.

The best city to commute in, according to the data, is Buffalo, New York, where it costs $6,427 annually to drive to work and residents spend the least amount of their annual income — 15%.

Return-to-work and the rising gas prices

The release of this study comes at time where some companies are beginning to open their doors back to employees who worked remotely during the rise of the pandemic.

While some companies, such as AirBnB, have adopted more flexibility, allowing employees to work from anywhere, others are urging for a return or a hybrid environment where workers can be remote and also come into the office.

In March, California state departments began requiring and planning for most workers to return to the office a few days a week. State employees had been working from home for two years due to the coronavirus.

And just as more cars are hitting the roads, prices at the pump — as well as in other sectors, as inflation heightens and interest rates spike — wallets are feeling the pinch.

In California, average prices for regular fuel are teetering at $5.76 per gallon as of Thursday, according to AAA. Nationally, average commuters are spending $867 annually on gas but some cities, like Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Francisco are expensing upwards of $1,000.

This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 9:49 AM.