With the COVID-19 pandemic in our collective rearview mirrors, and employees – however begrudgingly – settled back into a daily trek to and from the workplace, crippling traffic jams are once again a way of life for commuters in the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
According to the just-released 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard compiled by the transportation analytics provider INRIX, the average driver in the U.S. loses 49 hours annually sitting in traffic. That’s an increase of six hours per commuter over the past year, and amounts to $894 in what could otherwise be productivity and/or leisure time wasted behind the wheel. All told that comes out and an estimated 4.7 billion hours of lost time due to roadway delays.
INRIX’s report found that those living in or near Chicago, where the average commuter loses the most time in the nation – 112 hours – sitting in traffic, which is about two weeks’ worth of eight-hour workdays and represents an estimated $2,063 in lost time.
The only global metro area that beats the Windy City in this regard is Istanbul, Turkey, with an average 118 hours lost in traffic, which is a whopping 30% increase over the last two years. In fact, the company’s analysis of 942 cities over 36 countries, found that 62% of urban areas suffer longer travel delayed than were recorded in 2024, led in the U.S. by Baltimore and Philadelphia with 21% increases.
We’re listing the 12 U.S. metro areas in which INRIX says motorists face the worst traffic delays per year, and the busiest byways that register the nation’s most onerous tie-ups below.
Not surprisingly, those having the quickest average commutes tend to live in and around smaller burgs, with motorists in Cumberland, MD losing little more than one hour per year backed up in traffic. It’s followed by Butte, MT at two hours; Harlingen, TX at three hours; Youngstown, OH at four hours; with Lufkin, Wichita Falls and Abilene, TX and Cedar Rapids, IA at a still-easygoing five hours lost.
Outside the U.S., the worst congestion can be found in Istanbul (118 hours lost to traffic), followed by Mexico City (108 hours), Cape Town (96 hours), London (91 hours) and Paris (90 hours).
And while the report doesn’t measure the impact, INRIX suggests that longer travel times also have an adverse effect on the nation’s quality of life via extended freight delays, longer bus and taxi rides and additional tailpipe emissions befouling the environment.
The 12 U.S. Cities Having The Worst Traffic Congestion
- Chicago, IL: 118 hours lost to congestion
- New York City, NY: 112 hours lost
- Philadelphia, PA: 101 hours lost
- Los Angeles, CA: 87 hours lost
- Boston, MA: 83 hours lost
- Miami, FL: 75 hours lost
- Atlanta, GA: 75 hours lost
- Houston, TX: 70 hours lost
- Washington, DC: 70 hours lost
- Seattle, WA: 68 hours lost
- Nashville, TN: 65 hours lost
- Baltimore, MD: 63 hours lost
The 12 Busiest Traffic Corridors In The U.S.
- Stamford, CT: I-75 SB at 133 hours lost
- Stamford, CT: I-75 NB at 94 hours lost
- New York, NY: I-278 WB at 93 hours lost
- Orlando, FL: I-4 EB at 91 hours lost
- San Francisco, CA: I-680 EB at 90 hours lost
- Bridgeport, CT: I-95 EB at 89 hours lost
- Chicago, IL: I-55 SB at 87 hours lost
- Boston, MA: I-93 SB at 81 hours lost
- Miami, FL: Dolphin Expy at 81 hours lost
- Norfolk, VA: I-664 WB at 77 hours lost
- Baton Rouge, LA: I-10 EB at 74 hours lost
- Los Angeles, CA: US-101 SB at 73 hours lost
Source: INRIX 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard; rankings for all 942 cities studied and access to the full report can be found here.