Ranked: Worst U.S. Cities For Rush Hour Traffic

Every year, drivers in the U.S. lose hours to sitting in traffic congestion.

This article was written by Kayla Zhu and originally published by Visual Capitalist.

In 2023, the typical U.S. driver lost an average of 42 hours to traffic congestion—the equivalent to a full work week, according to the 2023 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard.

This chart shows the 15 worst U.S. cities for traffic congestion in 2023, using data from INRIX.

The figures represent the average number of hours lost to traffic congestion per driver when driving during peak commute hours compared to driving during off-peak hours in 2023.

Which U.S. Cities Have The Worst Traffic?

Below, we show the 15 U.S. cities with the worst rush hour traffic, as measured by hours lost to traffic congestion during peak commute hours in 2023.

Drivers in New York lost an average of 101 hours to traffic jams in 2023, costing more than $1,700 in lost time and productivity.

Chicago and Los Angeles were the next two cities with the most hours lost in traffic, which means that the three most-populous cities in the U.S. were also the cities with the worst traffic. Interestingly, while Los Angeles has a higher population than Chicago and is infamous for its sprawling highways filled with traffic jams, the major city in Illinois had worse traffic according to INRIX.

Many of the cities suffering from the worst traffic congestion are some of the country’s largest economic hubs including: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, and others.

These economic centers have large populations and a high concentration of businesses and daily commuters.

In January 2024, the California Department of Transportation solicited proposals from technology companies to develop a generative AI tool to help curb traffic congestion.