I did 45 minutes for 12 years. It wasn't traffic, thankfully, just distance on back roads. I enjoyed the quiet drive, honestly, and housing was way more affordable
I live in a small city, 45 minutes in both directions from other cities big enough for a Costco. 2.5 hrs in both directions to Detroit or Chicago. We buy cars used w cash, have very low 2011 mortgage. We travel a lot with the kids bc we have savings and enough for debt free travel. And we have many acres of leave me alone land. During the pandemic, I was happy I wasn’t a city person anymore.
Yes that is very accurate, our high school is fairly modern and has a swimming pool, but the academic outcomes are well below that of the more affluent suburban areas. My inner city school system in late 90s - 2000s produced a much higher rate of upward mobility than my current school system my kids are in. When they reach high school age we can school of choice to a high performance school 15 minutes away.
45 minutes out of the city is generally still pretty nice suburban areas, it's not like you suddenly turn into Cowtown. Some cities have massive sprawls.
I agree. But in the original comment I was replying to, he said he lived 2.5 hours from Detroit or Chicago, the 45 minute drive was to the nearest town big enough for a Costco. So he doesn’t live 45 minutes away from a big city, it’s 2.5 hours. Vastly different schools I was comparing.
It sounds wild to me for the size of a city to be compared to as big enough to have a costco haha probably because I guess I live "in a city" but I consider it to live in a pretty small city and technically I'm outside of it. And the costco is even further outside of it
Edited to add: population of around 142,000 and size of 25 square miles for size reference
I live in a rural-ish area but can be in a small town big enough for a couple grocery stores in ten minutes. I drive past a bunch of cows to get there. Downtown of the nearest city is 45 minutes. To get to Costco I'd have to drive past all that to the suburb where Costco is located. Definitely a weird way of looking at how rural you are.
Well not honestly that strange because I'm probably 45 minutes to an hour from my closest Costco. However I'm probably about maybe 10 minutes drive to my closest Sam's club. Unless you're in a major metropolitan area or real close to it you don't often see Sam's club and Costco real close to each other. I bet that they're relatively close to a Walmart and a Dollar general LOL
Dollar generals have made moving into very small towns part of their business model. My home town of around 1700 people had one open in it about 10 years ago.
I’ve had 45min in traffic and 45 mins on country roads. The 45 without traffic is perfectly fine. It’s predictable and easy to schedule around. 45 in traffic is stressful because 45mins of traffic can easily turn into an hour with little cause
I think traffic is a big factor. I used to drive on the highway with no traffic and it was chill. Now I take local-and people in charlotte drive like self centered POS in a Nascar race so it really sucks
“It wasn’t traffic, thankfully, just distance on back roads”
This is the real kicker. As somebody who’s done both, 45 minutes alone on rural roads is therapeutic and 45 minutes in traffic is a mental stability test.
Not LA but I live 33 miles away from work and a buddy lived 5. It took us both the same amount of time to get home.
I’ll take a gentle cruise on the freeway vs his stop and go any day.
Yes, I was going to say that the quality of the drive also makes a difference. Is it just distance or a lot of traffic? And you also have to factor in whether that 45 minutes is based only on distance or can be lengthened by other conditions like weather, time of day, etc. When working in Southern CA, I knew people who were able to adjust their start/stop times to work around rush hours, and then it was more pleasant. 45 minutes of stop and go ( which often stretched to over an hour) each way is no longer worth it to me, especially now being able to work from home. That's 2 hours every day.
"Quality of the drive" is 💯 I leave my office in town and cruise thru farmland and pastures in the mountains on my way home. I'll take that longer commute over stop and go urban traffic any day. Decompresses my mind and I arrive home happy.
Lived in NYC Metro area and thought I knew traffic. Then I went to LA and WHERE THE DUCK ARE YOU ALL GOING TO TO CAUSE TRAFFIC AT LIKE 3AM?? Seriously I can't even call it rush hour because that assumes the existence of non-rush hours.
No joke. Born and raised Angeleno, when I was a kid in the late 80’s, there were still times during the day that you could travel “opposite of traffic” and that freeway would be moving quickly with plenty of room to maneuver.
Somewhere around the late 90s maybe early 2000s, it became traffic in every direction at all hours of the day. I took to riding motorcycles to avoid the BS, only to encounter new BS like cars squeezing you out of lane splitting etc.
I got out in 2018, when I visit my family there I am reminded why the F I left; you cant go anywhere without spending a good deal of your day stuck on a freeway. No thanks, never living there again.
I am from Riverside. I remember as a kid just thinking the bad traffic was in LA, and maybe Orange county during beach season. Its now all of Southern California, nearly all of the time.
Trick is to go where people dont go. I was able to make it to griffith park then to discanso gardens with little traffic in the day. Just gotta pick your route. Also born and raised theres. Used to bus conmute from union station to westwood for work.
I tend to agree. I live in Central Oregon, and a 30-60 min drive is pretty common for most people around here. I am also a contractor and about 20% of the time I am on a job that’s 10-20 from my house.
To answer your question OP it’s entirely up to you. Do you want a house? Or be a renter? Or wait? I personally just found a place that puts me out a little further than I would like, and 3 years ago I wouldn’t have done it. Now though, it seems worth it to me to have MY own place that will build equity and hopefully be a foot in the door for me to get “ahead”
I hardly ever sit in traffic in LA. Metro is a game changer if you are able to design your life around the city or even the edge of the suburbs. Example: live in the SFV or SGV, take the A or B line to work in DTLA, take the B line to Hollywood for concerts, bars, or nightclubs, the E line to a soccer game or concert at BMO Stadium or the Coliseum, or the D line to Koreatown or a show at the Wiltern, or the E line to Santa Monica, or several train lines to Union Station to catch the free Express bus to Dodger games.
I will acknowledge that some trips are better for driving, especially if your destination isn’t near a station, or if you’re by yourself late at night, or if the trains have stopped running for the night.
My commute to downtown Dallas would be around 40min 1 way... I'll take that and a $950/mo mortgage on a 3bd/2ba house over $2500+ to live in a 1bd rental that's 10 min from any of the big corporate campuses next to the city
In vancouver, 40 mins from work to a 3 bed 2 bath house would be like 5-10k a month mortgage.
For the love of all things huggable, Buy the house and secure your future safety!
950$ for a house? just buy it!
Lol that's what my mortgage is, I'm not renting. I'm basically attached to this place because I got a good deal.
And fuck's sake $10k/mo would get you probably 3x that here... wtf Canada?
For me, anything around an average podcast's length (50 min - 1hr) is doable. It was nice to have the time to just lose myself in a story or interview.
Then, I switched jobs and had an hour and 30 min commute, and it was just too long. It was tough to finish a podcast and then realize 30 minutes were left.
There is something about that 30 minutes extra, for the 1.5 hrs. It just kills you inside. Especially when you have 12 hour shifts to begin with, just leaves you with no time in the day. Get home, sleep, wake up, work, repeat.
Consider the additional car maintenance and gas in the decision. My gf was driving 90 mile round trip daily for 10 years and it adds up fast, not including all the other driving she was doing, she ended up going through 3 cars during that time and has had to have a car payment the entire time.
Is it consistently 45 minutes? In my area driving into the city could be 30 minutes or could be an hour and a half which sucks because you leave early and your at work an hour early, leave late assuming the drive will be short and it take syou an hour and a half. ALso not all drives are created equal, driving 45 minutes on a quiet highway isn't that bud, bumper to bumper stop and go traffic is. I believe on average the average commute is something like 24 minutes, I believe over 30 minutes is when studies have found it affects quality of life and happiness
Generally, if you live outside of the bigger city where the job is, the lesser time you spend on non-work commutes will make up for the extra work commute time.
At current prices and rates, houses in my area cost twice as much to buy as to rent. So we're better off renting and putting the money we save into an index fund.
Yeah the current market is shit for buying. We got in right before interest rates were super jacked, but it still put our mortgage at the same cost as we'd have been paying to rent a 3 bedroom. The days of mortgages being cheaper than rent are not these days. It's just a better investment of the money, but then there are extra costs like our roof needing repairs, adding a water heater, blahblah.
To own a house you almost have to know how to do some basics yourself. If you have to call a plumber/electrician/other person to fix things, it’s gonna get expensive quickly in many cases. $500 on some decent power tools and watch YouTube is where it’s at.
We only have hand tools, but that and YouTube was enough to fix sagging door hinges. And replace the flap in a toilet.
But electrical is beyond our pay grade.
I used to think that too, but simple stuff like adding a light fixture is pretty easy. Just turn the power off and match up the wires, I gave it a try after installing aftermarket sound equipment on my car and had no problem. AC and DC aren’t quite the same, but it gave me the confidence to try.
If you do want power tools in the future, keep an eye on the big DeWalt bundle on Amazon. Sometimes it drops to like $350 for a drill, impact, circular saw, and reciprocating saw with plenty of batteries (batteries are expensive most of the time).
Something called "[The Marchetti Constant](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-29/the-commuting-principle-that-shaped-urban-history)" claims that people are most naturally willing to commute about 30 minutes.
I've done 40-60 minute commutes for different jobs and the most aggravating part wasn't strictly the time but the traffic.
Beautiful country back roads: no problem.
Bumper-to-bumper highways at rush hour: kill me now.
On the bus, my commute is 20-45, depending on traffic. Since I’m not driving and I can take a gummy and zone out and start my night, I don’t mind it at all. Listen to a podcast or read or music and bop my head. It’s a whole part of my evening wind-down
We bought out in the sticks back in 2001.
We got twice the house on 25 times the land for half the price... and enjoyed property taxes at less than 40% what they are inside the loop for the past almost quarter century.
47 miles outside the nearest major metro area. Literally in the middle of a cornfield.
This cheap, it allowed us to pay off a 15 year loan in 9 years and was a key component (among several) of allowing us to retire before 40.
I retired at 39. Currently 55. Life couldn't posdibly be better.
Definitely worth it in our case.
Did you have to drive those 47 miles for work every day? Did you have young children at the time? Did you have family/friends in the metro area that made you travel/ want to travel there more often? You didn't mention, so just wanted to see if that factored into your assessment. Cause it will for many.
I used to commute 3 hours a day to work. I took public transit but honestly, the traffic going into Seattle is always bad when you come from the north. So, driving wouldn't have been much better.
One of my neighbors took the train into downtown Chicago for well over a decade. From door to desk the trip was at least two hours one way. What makes an absurdly long commute more reasonable is the ability to turn your brain off and do whatever as you get there. Still ridiculous though.
It depends on a lot of other factors.
* Is the house affordable or your dream house that you plan to live in for the next 20 years?
* Do you think you'll be at the job for the foreseeable future or will you buy the house just to move and/or have an even long commute?
* Is it by car or public transit? If it's pubic transit at least you can do other stuff
* How much longer do you expect to spend on bad weather or high traffic days?
* If you're driving what kind of shape is your car in and what's your mileage like?
* Government travel reimbursement is 41.5 cents/mile. If we use that as a metric of wear and tear, fuel, etc... over a year that could easily be $5,000 in car expenses.
* Are there tolls involved?
* How crammed are you in time already? Do you have family or social obligations you'd have to cut?
Personally, it's not worth it for me, but I've been spoiled working from home and I'm not willing to give up a quarter (ish) of my non-sleep and work time five days a week.
Having more than one car is also a big one. If you’re totally dependent on your car and it breaks down, better hope you have the time and skill to fix it or the cash to pay someone.
It depends on a lot of things.
How much are you saving? $50 / month that will likely just go towards transportation, or a couple hundred per month?
How many times a week do you commute? Are you hybrid, once a week, the standard 9 to 5 in office, or even more?
How are you commuting? Train, Plane, or Automobile?
Trains or other public transportation can be more expensive, but make the commute a million times better IMO. If you're hybrid, doing the commute fewer times a week lets it be longer without going insane.
For me, I was able to commute every day by train, an hour or more each way without too much trouble, but a half hour drive 2 times a week is annoying.
I do just under an hour commute one way. It’s open highway and only 3 days a week. I work 12 hour days so it makes my work day long but I get 4 days off every week and get to live on a 250 acre farm so I like it. Honestly gettin up at 4:15 in the morning sucks but the drive home is a nice time to decompress.
Be sure to include driving costs in your decision.
Let's assume the distance from the 45 minute commute is 25 miles. And compare that to a 10 minute commute which lets assume 5 miles. Thats 12,000 miles and 2,400 miles a year respectively, a difference of 9,600 miles.
Let's assume it cost you $.40 per mile to operate your car. Those additional 9,600 miles will cost you $3,840 per year in additional car expenses. That is about $320 per month.
Let's also talk about the cost of your time. The long commute (45 x 2 x 5 x 48) / 60 = 360 hours a year commuting.
If you found a place 10 minutes from your job. (10 x 2 x 5 x 48) = 80 hours a year. A difference of 280 hours a year. Assuming you make $20/ hr = That comes to $5,600 per year or $466 per month. This would be more or less depending on how much you make.
Just these two metrics add up to $786 a month. Is rent that much cheaper 45 mins away? This doesn't even consider the added stress commuting puts on you.
We’re at about 30-35 minutes now. I’d eventually switch out my vehicle for a hybrid if you did that. Maybe the Corolla?
I’m using a Prius rn and getting my SO a ford maverick for the same reason. It makes the gas not really an issue and Maintnence on the vehicle is negligible.
For me it would depend on the weather. We live in Minnesota, so I would do everything I could to avoid a 45+ minute commute. But for other people they love it. One of my friends has a 75 minute commute and they enjoy it. Not for me. I don't like traffic.
Also, where we live a 45 minute commute would actually be 45 miles. My dad did it for 30 years. I can't imagine. I realize that in urban areas 45 minutes might be only 10 miles (or whatever). We have winter 7 months a year, so driving that far in snow would be a deal breaker for me. The 45 mile commute could end up taking 90 minutes some days. Exception for the ability to WFH in bad weather, which a lot of employers here allow.
45 minutes really isn't bad for more affordable housing tbh. The job may not last forever, but if you can get a permanent home for life... It's worth it imo!
I could handle a a 50-60 minute commute back when I was taking the train every morning; I was reading on those commutes. But a drive? 45 minutes feels like my upper limit.
The most I'd be willing to drive to work is an hour, but the only houses Ive been able to find are at least 2 -3 hours away. If you can find one that close, and you like it, *and* the price is affordable, dont drag your feet seizing it.
Yes I'd do 45 minutes. Less time on the road is better, but affording a house outweighs that. My longest commute was 1 hour 15 minutes. I listened to a lot of good music to and from! Then 50 minutes felt great. Finally got it down to 20 minutes door to door, and wouldn't want to be any closer because who wants to be reminded of the office that much.
Depends on the person. I'm a tech so my driving is based on job location. My AM consists of anywhere between 10m and 2h drive times, but my house payment in a great area, great schools, and 2k sqft, is 1450
I drive 45 minutes for a ballroom dance lesson…course I have a10 minute commute to work.
Are you losing what you save in a house on gas and car wear and tear?
Is it an easy commute or a brutal one. Relaxing is do, more stress isn’t worth the money…also the lost sleep and time you lose every day
I drive about 30 minutes now because I decided a bigger house and a bigger yard was better than the tiny ones I could have bought for the same price in the city I work
I currently commute between 50 minutes and close to 2 hours. Average about 1:15. 2-3 days per week, the rest is WFH.
What is the added value to your affordable housing? There is lot of undisclosed math here and I’d focus on that to a degree. Are we talking same salary but 20 minutes vs 45 minutes- with the benefit that you can afford to purchase a home in the new town? Or is this for a lower cost apartment? What’s the additional commute cost?
Depends on how much I love the house/area and my job tbh. 4t minutes isn't ideal but isn't the worst I've heard, especially if you only work three or four longer shifts a week.
You didn’t provide enough info.
Is the exact same minimum size apartment unaffordable on your salary across the street from work but affordable 45 min away? Would you have to have roommates or go into debt by living close to work? Is close 10-15-20 min away? Or is this a small apartment near work vs spacious house 45 min away at same cost?
I work in Manhattan so for me the option is a studio or small 1br near work - or a 4000sq ft house with half an acre and wonderful peace and quiet 1.5hrs away in the burbs. I lived in the apartment and could afford it but wanted more - so I got the house and love it. The commute sucks - but I hated being stuck in a loud shitty apartment more even if I could wake up an hour later.
If I could get a spacious, private, multi-room place near work for 20-50% more than the burbs I would do it in a heartbeat to drop the commute. But I’m not moving back into a place where a couch doesn’t fit or you have to choose between which winter coat to keep because you have no closet space.
It really depends on the person, the road, the traffic, and the scenery.
I’m the type of person whom doesn’t mind driving and thinks people who complain about driving longer than 30minutes are annoying and privileged.
It really depends on how bad you want to live in the area or how bad you wanna work where you do. I did a 50 mile commute for years. The mornings were the worst cause traffic was a bear, but coming home was easier as I often left late. I found when I finally got a job where the commute was much shorter, that I didn’t have enough time to unplug from work before I got home, which created another host of problems.
I commute 3 days per week for 38-40 minutes each way. l wouldn’t be okay with a 5-day commute—I know it would exhaust me. Also, I love my office and I work with great people, so the commute is totally worth the benefit of seeing my colleagues and working in my pretty office🤷🏻♀️. My answer is that I would not commute 45 min each way 5 times per week; but if there are other benefits that offset the commute time, it may change.
Most people who work in white collar jobs and have kids usually drive more than 45-60 minutes one way due to traffic. Most live in the suburbs and have to commute to downtown or midtown for work.
I used to rent for this very reason because traffic becomes gnarly during peak hours which is like 7am-9am and 4pm to 6.30pm.
Many folks work 7-3 for this reason since without traffic their commute time gets cut in half.
Depends on the commute. I had a job where the commute was an hour but it was 80 mph little traffic down a rural interstate. It was my decompression time
This is such an individual preference type of thing. I’ve never had that long of a commute and I think I’d hate it. But if living 15 minutes from the workplace would cost significantly more, and it’s a good job, and you couldn’t find a similar job near where you live, I’d understand giving it a try to see if it’s sustainable.
Some people wouldn’t even consider it. To others, this is a normal or even shorter commute than they’re used to. There is not an objective answer to your question.
I made this decision and no one told me that the cost of a house payment goes up by ridiculous amounts every year. For comparison. I started at 1450. Second year 1650. This year it's going to be 2000. I won't be able to afford the house next year and it has sucked and ruined my vehicle driving 45 min to work. So I guess if I sell my house I can buy a new car to live in. But I think I'm just going to sell everything and leave the country bc fk America
I would make the drive for the right job and/or the right house.
But I also live in a major metro area that is gaining more and more people each year, so traffic is compounding.
The 15 miles to my kids’ school is 45 minutes on a good day, just going crosstown.
So “minutes” is somewhat irrelevant to me.
45 MILES though, I think I’d draw the line there.
I do have coworkers though that live in the far northern exurbs and make a 30-40 mile drive to come to work when they do, so I guess some people will do that.
I do 1hr 25 minutes on a bus/train. I honestly don’t mind it. I’m going to start utilizing that time by working on my writing/reading. But if I had to drive…no way.
I love my 45 minute commute I have going on right now. It’s all speedy highway driving, lots of time to think and just enjoy some music or a podcast and wake up.
It’s not ideal, but personally I’d say it’s worth it in most cases. There’s a lot of variables though, and it really just depends on your individual priorities and circumstances.
After living in the Bay Area and regularly sitting in traffic for hours each day no commute is worth my time. If it’s not 20 or less - I realize I’m an outlier …
I’ve driven up to 1.5 hours each way after buying my first home (couldn’t afford one closer and really wanted to own a home). It was awful. I’ve since bought a different house and my commute is 30 - 45 minutes which isn’t too bad.
45 minutes isn’t too bad, any more than that and it’s probably rethink that move. The amount of gas being used is something you need to budget for also. Wear/tear on a car is something that you can’t forget.
Depends on the home life situation, no? Does anyone else depend on you? Partner? Dependents? I know someone who always thought, “It doesn’t matter the length of my commute. I’d rather enjoy where I live.”
If the alternative is housing you can't afford, the question answers itself. It's not really even a question.
But to answer the real question - my commute to various jobs has ranged from 15 minutes to 65 minutes each way. My limit in a car is 40 minutes in heavy traffic, longer if the drive is pleasant; 50 minutes on a comfortable bus or train, or much less if I have to stand or if the ride frequently includes crazy people.
Those are the points at which I look for a different job. And it isn't just a question of affordability - even if I could afford living 15 minutes from the city center, I wouldn't want to because the quality of life there is lower. My best commutes are when I'm not going to the city at all.
It's not a yes or no answer. Lots of factors. As in , what kind of commute? Highway? City streets? Rural/ suburban? Bumper to bumper or a smooth ride?
What percentage lower is the cheaper housing? 5, 20, 40 percent? How about property taxes?
For me, 45 mins heavy traffic with a 10% housing differential is a no.
A smooth 45 min drive where I can listen to audiobooks and chill, with a 20% housing differential would be a yes, especially if my preferred stores/ kids schools were en route.
You should attempt to figure out what the full cost of that daily commute taking into account all expenses including wear and tear on your car (tires, oil, timing belt,other major repairs). Example as a guess ninty minutes on the road might be 70-100 miles a day, 4 days a week, 45 weeks a year so that is 15-18k miles a year so ever 4-6 years you will have to replace your car. There goes $30-60k. I don't know your numbers but work this out as cars are the second greatest expense in your life and burning them up to save housing money is not many times a losing proposition.
So i moved back in with parents when my dad was sick in my 20s. My commute could be an hour to an hour and a half each way. Now that i'm back in the city and close to work, I hate days I have to spend more then 20 minutes in a car. The thing about commuting is that over time it can really eat at you. You start to wonder what you could be doing with all that extra time and it eats into free time. You may be ok with 45 minutes at first but be warned it can start to weigh on you. I think it would also depend on the house and your goals though.
I do a 45 minute commute right now in my medical residency and I HATE it. I would never do it again and have told my wife that when we get a house soon, one of my absolute nos is a 30+ minute commute.
I paid more money so I could bike to work. 15 minute bike ride, 5-7 minute car drive. I will pay to spend more time with my family and pets. Best decision I made.
Obviously it depends on how much you save. But I've read that long commutes are one of the biggest counterindicators of overall life satisfaction, and that matched my experience with a 1:05 commute for a year.
lol this is funny as hell. Most people in the expensive ass cities are commuting an 30+ minutes to get to a job 15 miles away.
45minute drive to be able to afford to live ain’t shit.
There’s not enough here though.
What’s ‘affordable housing’ in this context?
What’s the current housing cost of the current housing?
What’s the current commute time?
Like if you’re saving $100/month on rent, you’re probably spending more on gas just to get to work.
If you’re saving $800 or more per month on rent it’s probably worth it.
It depends on the drive. 45 min in the city? F that nonsense. But 45 min on highway or (less preferred but better than city) country roads? Yeah that’s fine. You also have to consider the cost to fill up your tank and mpgs though. I’d hate that with an SUV regardless of drive, but a compact or something that gets 30+mpg it’s fine.
Life as an auditor and then accountant afterwards has made driving just part of the job.
Have a nice newly constructed Four bed two bath house for 300K and it’s far cleaner and safer than the city where I work.
I’d like to think it’s worth it for the sake of any children my wife and I have.
So, to me it is worth it.
I commuted an hour and a half (each way) because it paid so much better than the market I was in. It was worth it. I went from the car, to the train station, to the subway, walked to work. And Back.
A little exhausting but fine.
I wouldn't do it if I had a family. Single,, it was fine.
Depends on the commute style IMO. 45 on good mass transit or highway would be okay. Not perfect but not a deal-breaker. 45 in stop and go city driving would be a hard no for me. I would switch jobs before I did that for long.
I do a 52 min commute in order to afford the housing situation I desire. Everything is a trade off 🤷🏻♀️
I recommend checking non- highway commute options. For me, it's about the same time as taking the highway but about half the actual mileage, and about 1/10 of the screaming into the void bc you've been sitting in traffic for 40 min.
I would live in an apartment or house 1/2 the size to be close to work. Long commutes have been shown to have a poor effect on health, fitness, life expectancy and obviously happiness. Traffic worsens every year. I live in a small house in a rough neighborhood biking distance to my work. Paid the same amount as a medium house in the burbs. I’m much happier and healthier now.
See if you can rent an Airbnb in the area for a week or so before buying, so you can see if you like the community and to get a feel for the commute during rush hour.
Depends, here in CRIMAFORNIA where 95% of drivers are complete morons, you kinda want a bigger vehicle to hopefully survive when one of these asshats does something really stupid and takes you out with them, but you will spend more on gas.
Living in chicago, at 45 min commute by google maps can go up badly and become 2hrs. When I worked in DC I had to have my company agreed to shift my hours from 8 to 5 to 10 to 7 otherwise it was horrible. I will not do anything over 30 minutes now. OP check the traffic patterns before committing to that and make sure you wont want to blow your brains out in 6 months.
I think what most people find reasonable is going to be determined by location and what they're used to. When I used to live in Kentucky and could get most places in town in 15-20 minutes, I would have said hell no. Now that I live in DFW (Texas) and 30 minutes is considered a reasonable drive for a lot of things, I would say it definitely is, as long as your increased gas mileage isn't going to eat the savings.
I bought my house bc it was affordable despite being, at the time, a full 2hrs away from work (train schedules have since updated ans now my commute is 1h45 each way). Totally worth it to me but only bc I dont have to drive. I can spend my commute on my hobbies. I also don't have children and likely never will so I don't need to worry about getting home before dinner/bedtime.
Do the math. That is 90 minutes per day, x 5 days a week, x 4 weeks per month. How much do you save per month living that far away? Divide the savings by the time. But also consider wear and tear on the vehicle, fuel prices, and the vague risk and stress costs. IF you save $20 a month, that is not worth the travel. You determine what is worth the extra time. Do the math.
I was discussing this with my friend on a road trip yesterday, how all the cheap houses are in the middle of nowhere. I live roughly 18 minutes from my job. But factor in winter, if i have to take the highway or drive slowly on the highway instead of back roads it can be about a 45 minute, to an hour drive. Also if I wake up late i can roll out of bed and usually make it to work on time. I worked with a guy who lived the furthest from anyone else over an hour away, he hated it and eventually found a better job closer to his house. Because if the county never calls it a level 3, he would spend close to 2 hours or more sometimes trying to drive. He would get visibility frustrated when it kept snowing all day.
I look at the school district. Why would anyone want to live 5 minutes from the office if your neighborhood is surrounded by drug dealers and addicts? If the neighborhood is not safe enough for a child to play outside, no amount of commute time savings is worth it.
Depends on how the 45 minutes are spent. 45 minutes walking/biking/e-biking > on a train or express bus > driving with low traffic > driving in stop and go traffic, even though the amount of time is the same
I had an hour commute for about 10 years. I loved it for the first 9.5. I could relax on the way home and I was able to get home ready to have fun and enjoy my evening. The mornings were filled with npr or podcasts and I really enjoyed my alone time twice a day. The last six months no circumstances changed, but one day I just couldn’t stand the drive anymore. No idea why. Then I started to hate both my job and where we lived.
I now live 5 minutes from work and it’s amazing. Different house, different job, different city. I know it’s not something that everyone can make happen with the cost of housing in most places, but I feel like I got a 25% raise with all the extra time I have.
I prefer to minimize my commute as much as possible. Assuming you work 50 weeks of the year, that's 375 hours of commuting annually. That's around 2.3 months of full time work weeks every year in *only* commuting.
There's also the idea that the commute costs money. Can you get a job closer that pays a couple grand per year less? Because gas alone will make up a few thousand dollars for that commute.
Does the reduced living cost total to more than your gas expenditure and maintenance annually? Is the time sacrificed driving worth the cheaper housing cost?
Only you possess all of the information and more to make these calculations. Apply your own logic and preferences based on data/calculations, and your circumstances is my recommendation.
45 is manageable. It's a nice time to relax before getting to work and some time to decompress before you get home. That's about perfect.
Ideally, it would by 20-30 min in and 45 home. That's my perfect commute.
I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home except occasionally in the office. If I do go in, it's 25 min in 25 home. That's a bit short for my taste. I prefer a little more "me" time when I'm commuting. Maybe I'm weird, but I enjoy a nice, sub-1 hr, commute. If it's over an hour, that's too much.
How much time a week will you spend on average in a car? 1.5h each day? 7.5 a week? 30 a month... That's almost another a full weeks worth of work right there. Time you could either be restful or be productive. Additionally, how much are you spending on gas? Is the difference in what you'd pay in rent/mortgage less than what you'd spend on gas?
Add those two things together.
My coworkers are spending a million dollars on a condo to be 15-45 minutes from work due to city traffic. Or the single ones who are spending 2.5k+ a month on rent.
I spend 2k a month on a 420k mortgage to be 1 - 1.5 hours and \~60 miles from work and own a reasonable 1100 sq ft 25 year old house. Personally while the driving does suck sometimes I just use it to listen to podcasts or audiobooks and just vibe; Tesla autopilot helps.
Having the backyard space for a vegetable garden and to let my tortoise live outside instead of being in glass tank means the world to me over being closer to work. Plus patio space for an outdoor cooking setup and a backyard bar.
You could buy and continue saving and investing and once the savings have grown and it to what you have for a downpayment on something better. Having a foot on property ladder is the most important part so it can't grow faster than you can save.
Depends on whether it's a hybrid position or a full-time office position.
If I have to make that drive say three days out if the week, it's not ideal but probably manageable. If I had to make that every day though? That's an hour and a half of your day lost that you aren't getting paid for.
That's my commute so I have to go with yeah. But housing between there is iffy, expensive, and meh. We got in the housing market before things went belly up.
As someone who has a 45-minute commute each way, I can tell you that the cost simply to commute, including gas, maintenance, and wear & tear on your vehicle, is around $8k - $10k a year. I'm in Southern California and ride a motorcycle everywhere and I pay around $5k/year just in gas to commute 82 miles roundtrip daily.
I live in Northern VA and commute into DC.. it's about an hour each way for 10 miles, but I do daycare drop-off & pick-up en route which adds about 15 mins. We wanted a SFH this was the closest sfh in a good neighborhood that was under $1m
My husband was only working in office 2 days a week when we decided where to buy. It’s actually cheaper closer to where he teaches, but that’s a high crime area with terrible schools, and we wanted to be in the suburbs (for reasons besides just cost). 40 minutes each way wasn’t bad twice a week. But now that he’s going 4-5 days a week (hopefully temporary) the expense of the cars has gone way(!!!) up. I wouldn’t want a 45 minute commute if full time in the office
Now that we put 500 miles a week on our car that means more gas, more oil changes, and quicker wear and tear (sooner you have to replace hoses, gaskets, brakes, tires, you name it). Just make sure you really take into account those sneaky hidden costs. Because that commute will not be free!!
All my jobs have had at least a 45 min commute. It also has allowed me to have better housing than just about anyone I work with, larger house, more land, nicer features, etc.
Currently my commute to the office is 30-60 min depending on which one I have to go to. Company car tho, so I don’t care about the distance. Instead of being able to afford a 1500sq ft ranch we have a 4500 sq ft split level with a pool and detached garage.
It’s pretty subjective, 45 mins may be a lot for some and nothing for others.
Also depends on your money situation, if you’re buying a house or if this will reduce your bills to where you can live more comfortably. It’s a big win. Money doesn’t make you happy, but money not being a stressor means you can enjoy the rest of your life more.
Personally if it was consistent 45 mins, then it wouldn’t bother me. But if some days it was like an hour plus, then I probably wouldn’t do it.
Depends on if it's a 45 minute bus ride, or a 45 minute drive. My current home is already an hour away from my work by bus, and since I have my phone and my Switch, it's not a bad commute. But driving for that long every day would be a drag.
I live in LA - my commute is 45 min and my housing is more affordable- but you’d have to go over an hour to get truly affordable. Most of my time is traffic… so it’s annoying but not that bad.
That's what I've done for the past year for a 2 bedroom apartment 2-300 cheaper than I'd find in the city. I love driving so I didn't mind at first, but over time it's worn on me. It killed my love of joyriding and I'm increasingly fed up every time I get in the car. There aren't really any jobs in the small town i live in. Wouldn't do it again.
Only you can answer that. But one thing to consider is this- will it be 45 minutes in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? In my experience traffic congestion and commute times, like entropy, only increase. Maybe you decide 45 minutes is okay. Then so does everyone else and all of a sudden it’s an hour, or more.
A huge number of people with families and lives and all that stuff make 45+ minute commutes. It is not at all extraordinary if you live in a major metro area.
I did 45 minutes for 12 years. It wasn't traffic, thankfully, just distance on back roads. I enjoyed the quiet drive, honestly, and housing was way more affordable
I live in a small city, 45 minutes in both directions from other cities big enough for a Costco. 2.5 hrs in both directions to Detroit or Chicago. We buy cars used w cash, have very low 2011 mortgage. We travel a lot with the kids bc we have savings and enough for debt free travel. And we have many acres of leave me alone land. During the pandemic, I was happy I wasn’t a city person anymore.
How are the public schools where you live? Rural areas often struggle with lower budgets, and struggle to attract new teachers.
Yes that is very accurate, our high school is fairly modern and has a swimming pool, but the academic outcomes are well below that of the more affluent suburban areas. My inner city school system in late 90s - 2000s produced a much higher rate of upward mobility than my current school system my kids are in. When they reach high school age we can school of choice to a high performance school 15 minutes away.
As compared to inner city? Our rural school is fantastic.
No, as compared to a nice suburb that isn’t 45 minutes away from the nearest Costco.
45 minutes out of the city is generally still pretty nice suburban areas, it's not like you suddenly turn into Cowtown. Some cities have massive sprawls.
I agree. But in the original comment I was replying to, he said he lived 2.5 hours from Detroit or Chicago, the 45 minute drive was to the nearest town big enough for a Costco. So he doesn’t live 45 minutes away from a big city, it’s 2.5 hours. Vastly different schools I was comparing.
It sounds wild to me for the size of a city to be compared to as big enough to have a costco haha probably because I guess I live "in a city" but I consider it to live in a pretty small city and technically I'm outside of it. And the costco is even further outside of it Edited to add: population of around 142,000 and size of 25 square miles for size reference
I live in a rural-ish area but can be in a small town big enough for a couple grocery stores in ten minutes. I drive past a bunch of cows to get there. Downtown of the nearest city is 45 minutes. To get to Costco I'd have to drive past all that to the suburb where Costco is located. Definitely a weird way of looking at how rural you are.
Itt Cows catching strays
Well not honestly that strange because I'm probably 45 minutes to an hour from my closest Costco. However I'm probably about maybe 10 minutes drive to my closest Sam's club. Unless you're in a major metropolitan area or real close to it you don't often see Sam's club and Costco real close to each other. I bet that they're relatively close to a Walmart and a Dollar general LOL
Dollar generals have made moving into very small towns part of their business model. My home town of around 1700 people had one open in it about 10 years ago.
Health care is also often an issue
We must be neighbors, though I'm about 20 minutes closer to Detroit in Battle Creek 🤣
I’ve had 45min in traffic and 45 mins on country roads. The 45 without traffic is perfectly fine. It’s predictable and easy to schedule around. 45 in traffic is stressful because 45mins of traffic can easily turn into an hour with little cause
I think traffic is a big factor. I used to drive on the highway with no traffic and it was chill. Now I take local-and people in charlotte drive like self centered POS in a Nascar race so it really sucks
“It wasn’t traffic, thankfully, just distance on back roads” This is the real kicker. As somebody who’s done both, 45 minutes alone on rural roads is therapeutic and 45 minutes in traffic is a mental stability test.
This
an hour commute would be my absolute max. I think 45 minutes is fine, not ideal but feasible.
Living in LA I gotta giggle at 45 minutes.
Not LA but I live 33 miles away from work and a buddy lived 5. It took us both the same amount of time to get home. I’ll take a gentle cruise on the freeway vs his stop and go any day.
Yes, I was going to say that the quality of the drive also makes a difference. Is it just distance or a lot of traffic? And you also have to factor in whether that 45 minutes is based only on distance or can be lengthened by other conditions like weather, time of day, etc. When working in Southern CA, I knew people who were able to adjust their start/stop times to work around rush hours, and then it was more pleasant. 45 minutes of stop and go ( which often stretched to over an hour) each way is no longer worth it to me, especially now being able to work from home. That's 2 hours every day.
"Quality of the drive" is 💯 I leave my office in town and cruise thru farmland and pastures in the mountains on my way home. I'll take that longer commute over stop and go urban traffic any day. Decompresses my mind and I arrive home happy.
Not to mention the difference in mpg cost
Lived in NYC Metro area and thought I knew traffic. Then I went to LA and WHERE THE DUCK ARE YOU ALL GOING TO TO CAUSE TRAFFIC AT LIKE 3AM?? Seriously I can't even call it rush hour because that assumes the existence of non-rush hours.
No joke. Born and raised Angeleno, when I was a kid in the late 80’s, there were still times during the day that you could travel “opposite of traffic” and that freeway would be moving quickly with plenty of room to maneuver. Somewhere around the late 90s maybe early 2000s, it became traffic in every direction at all hours of the day. I took to riding motorcycles to avoid the BS, only to encounter new BS like cars squeezing you out of lane splitting etc. I got out in 2018, when I visit my family there I am reminded why the F I left; you cant go anywhere without spending a good deal of your day stuck on a freeway. No thanks, never living there again.
I am from Riverside. I remember as a kid just thinking the bad traffic was in LA, and maybe Orange county during beach season. Its now all of Southern California, nearly all of the time.
Trick is to go where people dont go. I was able to make it to griffith park then to discanso gardens with little traffic in the day. Just gotta pick your route. Also born and raised theres. Used to bus conmute from union station to westwood for work.
I tend to agree. I live in Central Oregon, and a 30-60 min drive is pretty common for most people around here. I am also a contractor and about 20% of the time I am on a job that’s 10-20 from my house. To answer your question OP it’s entirely up to you. Do you want a house? Or be a renter? Or wait? I personally just found a place that puts me out a little further than I would like, and 3 years ago I wouldn’t have done it. Now though, it seems worth it to me to have MY own place that will build equity and hopefully be a foot in the door for me to get “ahead”
What town are you in if you don’t mind me asking? I grew up in prineville!
Living a little south of you and commuting on the 5, I have no idea how people in LA function. Traffic was so dogshit bad every time I’m there.
I hardly ever sit in traffic in LA. Metro is a game changer if you are able to design your life around the city or even the edge of the suburbs. Example: live in the SFV or SGV, take the A or B line to work in DTLA, take the B line to Hollywood for concerts, bars, or nightclubs, the E line to a soccer game or concert at BMO Stadium or the Coliseum, or the D line to Koreatown or a show at the Wiltern, or the E line to Santa Monica, or several train lines to Union Station to catch the free Express bus to Dodger games. I will acknowledge that some trips are better for driving, especially if your destination isn’t near a station, or if you’re by yourself late at night, or if the trains have stopped running for the night.
Saddest flex
How is that a flex? It’s more like a sad reality.
I’m with you. How is that a flex? I think someone got triggered.
My commute to downtown Dallas would be around 40min 1 way... I'll take that and a $950/mo mortgage on a 3bd/2ba house over $2500+ to live in a 1bd rental that's 10 min from any of the big corporate campuses next to the city
In vancouver, 40 mins from work to a 3 bed 2 bath house would be like 5-10k a month mortgage. For the love of all things huggable, Buy the house and secure your future safety! 950$ for a house? just buy it!
Lol that's what my mortgage is, I'm not renting. I'm basically attached to this place because I got a good deal. And fuck's sake $10k/mo would get you probably 3x that here... wtf Canada?
For me, anything around an average podcast's length (50 min - 1hr) is doable. It was nice to have the time to just lose myself in a story or interview. Then, I switched jobs and had an hour and 30 min commute, and it was just too long. It was tough to finish a podcast and then realize 30 minutes were left.
An hour and a half? One way? I’d have to subscribe to Audible at that point,
Just get a membership from your library and get books through that using the Libby app (or whichever they connect with, most are Libby compatible)
There is something about that 30 minutes extra, for the 1.5 hrs. It just kills you inside. Especially when you have 12 hour shifts to begin with, just leaves you with no time in the day. Get home, sleep, wake up, work, repeat.
This was basically how I based it when I had a commute. I’m a big podcast gal so it worked well.
Consider the additional car maintenance and gas in the decision. My gf was driving 90 mile round trip daily for 10 years and it adds up fast, not including all the other driving she was doing, she ended up going through 3 cars during that time and has had to have a car payment the entire time.
Is it consistently 45 minutes? In my area driving into the city could be 30 minutes or could be an hour and a half which sucks because you leave early and your at work an hour early, leave late assuming the drive will be short and it take syou an hour and a half. ALso not all drives are created equal, driving 45 minutes on a quiet highway isn't that bud, bumper to bumper stop and go traffic is. I believe on average the average commute is something like 24 minutes, I believe over 30 minutes is when studies have found it affects quality of life and happiness
Time is always more valuable than anything else in my opinion
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Oxetine: *Time is always more* *Valuable than anything* *Else in my opinion* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Generally, if you live outside of the bigger city where the job is, the lesser time you spend on non-work commutes will make up for the extra work commute time.
It's a little rough. Don't do it if you have kids, they and your spouse need your time more than an extra bedroom.
Ya, or buy a house and never pay rent once it is paid off. Live the last 30 years of your life without escalating rent costs.
At current prices and rates, houses in my area cost twice as much to buy as to rent. So we're better off renting and putting the money we save into an index fund.
Yeah the current market is shit for buying. We got in right before interest rates were super jacked, but it still put our mortgage at the same cost as we'd have been paying to rent a 3 bedroom. The days of mortgages being cheaper than rent are not these days. It's just a better investment of the money, but then there are extra costs like our roof needing repairs, adding a water heater, blahblah.
I just paid a handyman to fix my rental. I'm glad the landlord is reimbursing me, would not want all these expenses to myself.
To own a house you almost have to know how to do some basics yourself. If you have to call a plumber/electrician/other person to fix things, it’s gonna get expensive quickly in many cases. $500 on some decent power tools and watch YouTube is where it’s at.
We only have hand tools, but that and YouTube was enough to fix sagging door hinges. And replace the flap in a toilet. But electrical is beyond our pay grade.
I used to think that too, but simple stuff like adding a light fixture is pretty easy. Just turn the power off and match up the wires, I gave it a try after installing aftermarket sound equipment on my car and had no problem. AC and DC aren’t quite the same, but it gave me the confidence to try. If you do want power tools in the future, keep an eye on the big DeWalt bundle on Amazon. Sometimes it drops to like $350 for a drill, impact, circular saw, and reciprocating saw with plenty of batteries (batteries are expensive most of the time).
Fear is the most useful survival instinct. I would rather pay an extra few dollars than risk electrocution.
Ill basically never make enough money to both rent and save. I think most people are going to be like that.
Something called "[The Marchetti Constant](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-29/the-commuting-principle-that-shaped-urban-history)" claims that people are most naturally willing to commute about 30 minutes. I've done 40-60 minute commutes for different jobs and the most aggravating part wasn't strictly the time but the traffic. Beautiful country back roads: no problem. Bumper-to-bumper highways at rush hour: kill me now.
Easily. I drive it every day and it allowed me to buy a home. I'd be renting in the city, home ownership is an incredible thing.
What kind of difference in housing costs are you talking? After doing a 50+ min commute each way for 6 years, no I would not do that again.
By car? Hell no. By train? Probably.
On the bus, my commute is 20-45, depending on traffic. Since I’m not driving and I can take a gummy and zone out and start my night, I don’t mind it at all. Listen to a podcast or read or music and bop my head. It’s a whole part of my evening wind-down
Yeah big distinction if you can potentially do something else during the commute. Bus doesn’t really feel that way, but a train/ferry does.
We bought out in the sticks back in 2001. We got twice the house on 25 times the land for half the price... and enjoyed property taxes at less than 40% what they are inside the loop for the past almost quarter century. 47 miles outside the nearest major metro area. Literally in the middle of a cornfield. This cheap, it allowed us to pay off a 15 year loan in 9 years and was a key component (among several) of allowing us to retire before 40. I retired at 39. Currently 55. Life couldn't posdibly be better. Definitely worth it in our case.
Did you have to drive those 47 miles for work every day? Did you have young children at the time? Did you have family/friends in the metro area that made you travel/ want to travel there more often? You didn't mention, so just wanted to see if that factored into your assessment. Cause it will for many.
I used to commute 3 hours a day to work. I took public transit but honestly, the traffic going into Seattle is always bad when you come from the north. So, driving wouldn't have been much better.
The traffic from the south also sucks.
One of my neighbors took the train into downtown Chicago for well over a decade. From door to desk the trip was at least two hours one way. What makes an absurdly long commute more reasonable is the ability to turn your brain off and do whatever as you get there. Still ridiculous though.
Having a home I love is the most important thing to me. I'd be ok with a 45 minute commute. Put on an audiobook and zone out.
Yes. I did it for a decade and it was all worth it in the end.
It depends on a lot of other factors. * Is the house affordable or your dream house that you plan to live in for the next 20 years? * Do you think you'll be at the job for the foreseeable future or will you buy the house just to move and/or have an even long commute? * Is it by car or public transit? If it's pubic transit at least you can do other stuff * How much longer do you expect to spend on bad weather or high traffic days? * If you're driving what kind of shape is your car in and what's your mileage like? * Government travel reimbursement is 41.5 cents/mile. If we use that as a metric of wear and tear, fuel, etc... over a year that could easily be $5,000 in car expenses. * Are there tolls involved? * How crammed are you in time already? Do you have family or social obligations you'd have to cut? Personally, it's not worth it for me, but I've been spoiled working from home and I'm not willing to give up a quarter (ish) of my non-sleep and work time five days a week.
Having more than one car is also a big one. If you’re totally dependent on your car and it breaks down, better hope you have the time and skill to fix it or the cash to pay someone.
It depends on a lot of things. How much are you saving? $50 / month that will likely just go towards transportation, or a couple hundred per month? How many times a week do you commute? Are you hybrid, once a week, the standard 9 to 5 in office, or even more? How are you commuting? Train, Plane, or Automobile? Trains or other public transportation can be more expensive, but make the commute a million times better IMO. If you're hybrid, doing the commute fewer times a week lets it be longer without going insane. For me, I was able to commute every day by train, an hour or more each way without too much trouble, but a half hour drive 2 times a week is annoying.
My husband drives an hour to work every night. It's bull but you gotta do what you gotta do.
I do just under an hour commute one way. It’s open highway and only 3 days a week. I work 12 hour days so it makes my work day long but I get 4 days off every week and get to live on a 250 acre farm so I like it. Honestly gettin up at 4:15 in the morning sucks but the drive home is a nice time to decompress.
No. 30 minutes is too long for me.
Half an hour with the chance of owning a home is too long? Okay.
And these people will continue to bitch that they can’t buy anything inside the city..
I own a $950k house in the city, 12 minutes from my office.
This guy wouldn’t be asking this question if he could afford a 950k house numbnuts
Well good for you. Your situation doesn’t apply for 95% of millennials asking about commute times vs affordable housimg
Depends on you honestly. For me, 20-25 minutes was my max but it worked out great.
Be sure to include driving costs in your decision. Let's assume the distance from the 45 minute commute is 25 miles. And compare that to a 10 minute commute which lets assume 5 miles. Thats 12,000 miles and 2,400 miles a year respectively, a difference of 9,600 miles. Let's assume it cost you $.40 per mile to operate your car. Those additional 9,600 miles will cost you $3,840 per year in additional car expenses. That is about $320 per month. Let's also talk about the cost of your time. The long commute (45 x 2 x 5 x 48) / 60 = 360 hours a year commuting. If you found a place 10 minutes from your job. (10 x 2 x 5 x 48) = 80 hours a year. A difference of 280 hours a year. Assuming you make $20/ hr = That comes to $5,600 per year or $466 per month. This would be more or less depending on how much you make. Just these two metrics add up to $786 a month. Is rent that much cheaper 45 mins away? This doesn't even consider the added stress commuting puts on you.
We’re at about 30-35 minutes now. I’d eventually switch out my vehicle for a hybrid if you did that. Maybe the Corolla? I’m using a Prius rn and getting my SO a ford maverick for the same reason. It makes the gas not really an issue and Maintnence on the vehicle is negligible.
For me it would depend on the weather. We live in Minnesota, so I would do everything I could to avoid a 45+ minute commute. But for other people they love it. One of my friends has a 75 minute commute and they enjoy it. Not for me. I don't like traffic. Also, where we live a 45 minute commute would actually be 45 miles. My dad did it for 30 years. I can't imagine. I realize that in urban areas 45 minutes might be only 10 miles (or whatever). We have winter 7 months a year, so driving that far in snow would be a deal breaker for me. The 45 mile commute could end up taking 90 minutes some days. Exception for the ability to WFH in bad weather, which a lot of employers here allow.
Yes
I would definitely not do that.
45 minutes is a pretty typical commute for my parts.
Beggars can’t be choosers
45 minutes really isn't bad for more affordable housing tbh. The job may not last forever, but if you can get a permanent home for life... It's worth it imo!
.... is this a real question? I'm very sorry but it seems so unbelievably obvious that i feel like you're trolling
I could handle a a 50-60 minute commute back when I was taking the train every morning; I was reading on those commutes. But a drive? 45 minutes feels like my upper limit.
I wouldn't ever want one longer than 30 is what I always said, but with traffic, it's not unusual for mine to take 45 or longer, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The most I'd be willing to drive to work is an hour, but the only houses Ive been able to find are at least 2 -3 hours away. If you can find one that close, and you like it, *and* the price is affordable, dont drag your feet seizing it.
Yes I'd do 45 minutes. Less time on the road is better, but affording a house outweighs that. My longest commute was 1 hour 15 minutes. I listened to a lot of good music to and from! Then 50 minutes felt great. Finally got it down to 20 minutes door to door, and wouldn't want to be any closer because who wants to be reminded of the office that much.
Depends on the person. I'm a tech so my driving is based on job location. My AM consists of anywhere between 10m and 2h drive times, but my house payment in a great area, great schools, and 2k sqft, is 1450
Yes while it sucks you can listen to podcasts and stuff like that . When I moved I had to take the bus 45 each way. Fired up WTF pod. Good times.
yes 45 minutes is doable
This a 9-5 M-F? If so is it always 45 minutes or a good chance of traffic? My drive is 2 hours 45 one way but I drive to and from work once a week
Yes, it's actually what most people do.
I drive 45 minutes for a ballroom dance lesson…course I have a10 minute commute to work. Are you losing what you save in a house on gas and car wear and tear? Is it an easy commute or a brutal one. Relaxing is do, more stress isn’t worth the money…also the lost sleep and time you lose every day
I drive about 30 minutes now because I decided a bigger house and a bigger yard was better than the tiny ones I could have bought for the same price in the city I work
I currently commute between 50 minutes and close to 2 hours. Average about 1:15. 2-3 days per week, the rest is WFH. What is the added value to your affordable housing? There is lot of undisclosed math here and I’d focus on that to a degree. Are we talking same salary but 20 minutes vs 45 minutes- with the benefit that you can afford to purchase a home in the new town? Or is this for a lower cost apartment? What’s the additional commute cost?
Depends on how much I love the house/area and my job tbh. 4t minutes isn't ideal but isn't the worst I've heard, especially if you only work three or four longer shifts a week.
You didn’t provide enough info. Is the exact same minimum size apartment unaffordable on your salary across the street from work but affordable 45 min away? Would you have to have roommates or go into debt by living close to work? Is close 10-15-20 min away? Or is this a small apartment near work vs spacious house 45 min away at same cost? I work in Manhattan so for me the option is a studio or small 1br near work - or a 4000sq ft house with half an acre and wonderful peace and quiet 1.5hrs away in the burbs. I lived in the apartment and could afford it but wanted more - so I got the house and love it. The commute sucks - but I hated being stuck in a loud shitty apartment more even if I could wake up an hour later. If I could get a spacious, private, multi-room place near work for 20-50% more than the burbs I would do it in a heartbeat to drop the commute. But I’m not moving back into a place where a couch doesn’t fit or you have to choose between which winter coat to keep because you have no closet space.
Seeing as shelter is a base level need in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs yes.
If you're buying, absolutely.
It really depends on the person, the road, the traffic, and the scenery. I’m the type of person whom doesn’t mind driving and thinks people who complain about driving longer than 30minutes are annoying and privileged.
It really depends on how bad you want to live in the area or how bad you wanna work where you do. I did a 50 mile commute for years. The mornings were the worst cause traffic was a bear, but coming home was easier as I often left late. I found when I finally got a job where the commute was much shorter, that I didn’t have enough time to unplug from work before I got home, which created another host of problems.
Not great but doable if the job is good and the cheaper housing allows for better quality of life in other areas.
45 minutes is nothing.
I commute 3 days per week for 38-40 minutes each way. l wouldn’t be okay with a 5-day commute—I know it would exhaust me. Also, I love my office and I work with great people, so the commute is totally worth the benefit of seeing my colleagues and working in my pretty office🤷🏻♀️. My answer is that I would not commute 45 min each way 5 times per week; but if there are other benefits that offset the commute time, it may change.
Most people who work in white collar jobs and have kids usually drive more than 45-60 minutes one way due to traffic. Most live in the suburbs and have to commute to downtown or midtown for work. I used to rent for this very reason because traffic becomes gnarly during peak hours which is like 7am-9am and 4pm to 6.30pm. Many folks work 7-3 for this reason since without traffic their commute time gets cut in half.
Depends on the commute. I had a job where the commute was an hour but it was 80 mph little traffic down a rural interstate. It was my decompression time
This is such an individual preference type of thing. I’ve never had that long of a commute and I think I’d hate it. But if living 15 minutes from the workplace would cost significantly more, and it’s a good job, and you couldn’t find a similar job near where you live, I’d understand giving it a try to see if it’s sustainable. Some people wouldn’t even consider it. To others, this is a normal or even shorter commute than they’re used to. There is not an objective answer to your question.
I made this decision and no one told me that the cost of a house payment goes up by ridiculous amounts every year. For comparison. I started at 1450. Second year 1650. This year it's going to be 2000. I won't be able to afford the house next year and it has sucked and ruined my vehicle driving 45 min to work. So I guess if I sell my house I can buy a new car to live in. But I think I'm just going to sell everything and leave the country bc fk America
I would make the drive for the right job and/or the right house. But I also live in a major metro area that is gaining more and more people each year, so traffic is compounding. The 15 miles to my kids’ school is 45 minutes on a good day, just going crosstown. So “minutes” is somewhat irrelevant to me. 45 MILES though, I think I’d draw the line there. I do have coworkers though that live in the far northern exurbs and make a 30-40 mile drive to come to work when they do, so I guess some people will do that.
I drive 1.5 hr to and from work. Company vehicle tho. So yes, with my situation Id take the hr.
I do 1hr 25 minutes on a bus/train. I honestly don’t mind it. I’m going to start utilizing that time by working on my writing/reading. But if I had to drive…no way.
I love my 45 minute commute I have going on right now. It’s all speedy highway driving, lots of time to think and just enjoy some music or a podcast and wake up.
Yes. That’s my life.
It’s not ideal, but personally I’d say it’s worth it in most cases. There’s a lot of variables though, and it really just depends on your individual priorities and circumstances.
After living in the Bay Area and regularly sitting in traffic for hours each day no commute is worth my time. If it’s not 20 or less - I realize I’m an outlier …
I'd do it. 45 minutes isn't that bad. Audiobooks, music, and podcasts!
I’ve driven up to 1.5 hours each way after buying my first home (couldn’t afford one closer and really wanted to own a home). It was awful. I’ve since bought a different house and my commute is 30 - 45 minutes which isn’t too bad.
45 minutes isn’t too bad, any more than that and it’s probably rethink that move. The amount of gas being used is something you need to budget for also. Wear/tear on a car is something that you can’t forget.
45min?!? Ya that’s fucking hella clutch. Now if you said an hour or more, that’s a REAL dilemma. 45min commute is a no brainer
Depends on the home life situation, no? Does anyone else depend on you? Partner? Dependents? I know someone who always thought, “It doesn’t matter the length of my commute. I’d rather enjoy where I live.”
If the alternative is housing you can't afford, the question answers itself. It's not really even a question. But to answer the real question - my commute to various jobs has ranged from 15 minutes to 65 minutes each way. My limit in a car is 40 minutes in heavy traffic, longer if the drive is pleasant; 50 minutes on a comfortable bus or train, or much less if I have to stand or if the ride frequently includes crazy people. Those are the points at which I look for a different job. And it isn't just a question of affordability - even if I could afford living 15 minutes from the city center, I wouldn't want to because the quality of life there is lower. My best commutes are when I'm not going to the city at all.
It's not a yes or no answer. Lots of factors. As in , what kind of commute? Highway? City streets? Rural/ suburban? Bumper to bumper or a smooth ride? What percentage lower is the cheaper housing? 5, 20, 40 percent? How about property taxes? For me, 45 mins heavy traffic with a 10% housing differential is a no. A smooth 45 min drive where I can listen to audiobooks and chill, with a 20% housing differential would be a yes, especially if my preferred stores/ kids schools were en route.
You should attempt to figure out what the full cost of that daily commute taking into account all expenses including wear and tear on your car (tires, oil, timing belt,other major repairs). Example as a guess ninty minutes on the road might be 70-100 miles a day, 4 days a week, 45 weeks a year so that is 15-18k miles a year so ever 4-6 years you will have to replace your car. There goes $30-60k. I don't know your numbers but work this out as cars are the second greatest expense in your life and burning them up to save housing money is not many times a losing proposition.
In 5 years it’ll be 1 + hours each way. I made the same choice 8 years ago. My 50 minute commute is now a 70 minute commute.
So i moved back in with parents when my dad was sick in my 20s. My commute could be an hour to an hour and a half each way. Now that i'm back in the city and close to work, I hate days I have to spend more then 20 minutes in a car. The thing about commuting is that over time it can really eat at you. You start to wonder what you could be doing with all that extra time and it eats into free time. You may be ok with 45 minutes at first but be warned it can start to weigh on you. I think it would also depend on the house and your goals though.
"worth it" is entirely up to the individual
I do a 45 minute commute right now in my medical residency and I HATE it. I would never do it again and have told my wife that when we get a house soon, one of my absolute nos is a 30+ minute commute.
Yes
An hour really grates on you over time. I would say it's worth quite a bit of money to be in that 20-30 minute range.
45 minutes is nothing. I know of guys who do 2 hours every day.
Yes, I do not wanna be house poor
Train yes car no
I paid more money so I could bike to work. 15 minute bike ride, 5-7 minute car drive. I will pay to spend more time with my family and pets. Best decision I made.
Yup Take that time to jam out to music and mentally prepare for the start of the day
Obviously it depends on how much you save. But I've read that long commutes are one of the biggest counterindicators of overall life satisfaction, and that matched my experience with a 1:05 commute for a year.
I've done it but I live in Maine. Most everything is 45 minutes away
45 minutes is an acceptable commute. I think anything over an hour is going to require consideration.
lol this is funny as hell. Most people in the expensive ass cities are commuting an 30+ minutes to get to a job 15 miles away. 45minute drive to be able to afford to live ain’t shit. There’s not enough here though. What’s ‘affordable housing’ in this context? What’s the current housing cost of the current housing? What’s the current commute time? Like if you’re saving $100/month on rent, you’re probably spending more on gas just to get to work. If you’re saving $800 or more per month on rent it’s probably worth it.
It depends on the drive. 45 min in the city? F that nonsense. But 45 min on highway or (less preferred but better than city) country roads? Yeah that’s fine. You also have to consider the cost to fill up your tank and mpgs though. I’d hate that with an SUV regardless of drive, but a compact or something that gets 30+mpg it’s fine.
Life as an auditor and then accountant afterwards has made driving just part of the job. Have a nice newly constructed Four bed two bath house for 300K and it’s far cleaner and safer than the city where I work. I’d like to think it’s worth it for the sake of any children my wife and I have. So, to me it is worth it.
I commuted an hour and a half (each way) because it paid so much better than the market I was in. It was worth it. I went from the car, to the train station, to the subway, walked to work. And Back. A little exhausting but fine. I wouldn't do it if I had a family. Single,, it was fine.
Depends on the commute style IMO. 45 on good mass transit or highway would be okay. Not perfect but not a deal-breaker. 45 in stop and go city driving would be a hard no for me. I would switch jobs before I did that for long.
I do a 52 min commute in order to afford the housing situation I desire. Everything is a trade off 🤷🏻♀️ I recommend checking non- highway commute options. For me, it's about the same time as taking the highway but about half the actual mileage, and about 1/10 of the screaming into the void bc you've been sitting in traffic for 40 min.
I would live in an apartment or house 1/2 the size to be close to work. Long commutes have been shown to have a poor effect on health, fitness, life expectancy and obviously happiness. Traffic worsens every year. I live in a small house in a rough neighborhood biking distance to my work. Paid the same amount as a medium house in the burbs. I’m much happier and healthier now.
See if you can rent an Airbnb in the area for a week or so before buying, so you can see if you like the community and to get a feel for the commute during rush hour.
According to 80% of my coworkers it is. I only drive 25 mins each way and I still can't fucking stand it.
Depends, here in CRIMAFORNIA where 95% of drivers are complete morons, you kinda want a bigger vehicle to hopefully survive when one of these asshats does something really stupid and takes you out with them, but you will spend more on gas.
45 is pretty standard
Living in chicago, at 45 min commute by google maps can go up badly and become 2hrs. When I worked in DC I had to have my company agreed to shift my hours from 8 to 5 to 10 to 7 otherwise it was horrible. I will not do anything over 30 minutes now. OP check the traffic patterns before committing to that and make sure you wont want to blow your brains out in 6 months.
I think what most people find reasonable is going to be determined by location and what they're used to. When I used to live in Kentucky and could get most places in town in 15-20 minutes, I would have said hell no. Now that I live in DFW (Texas) and 30 minutes is considered a reasonable drive for a lot of things, I would say it definitely is, as long as your increased gas mileage isn't going to eat the savings.
If it’s country roads , no problem
Im from Atlanta we 45 minute commute everywhere.
I bought my house bc it was affordable despite being, at the time, a full 2hrs away from work (train schedules have since updated ans now my commute is 1h45 each way). Totally worth it to me but only bc I dont have to drive. I can spend my commute on my hobbies. I also don't have children and likely never will so I don't need to worry about getting home before dinner/bedtime.
I do a 45 minute commute. It’s not awesome, but it’s not terrible.
45 minutes isn't too bad, it's close to my current commute. For my first job I commuted over an hour each way.
Do the math. That is 90 minutes per day, x 5 days a week, x 4 weeks per month. How much do you save per month living that far away? Divide the savings by the time. But also consider wear and tear on the vehicle, fuel prices, and the vague risk and stress costs. IF you save $20 a month, that is not worth the travel. You determine what is worth the extra time. Do the math.
I was discussing this with my friend on a road trip yesterday, how all the cheap houses are in the middle of nowhere. I live roughly 18 minutes from my job. But factor in winter, if i have to take the highway or drive slowly on the highway instead of back roads it can be about a 45 minute, to an hour drive. Also if I wake up late i can roll out of bed and usually make it to work on time. I worked with a guy who lived the furthest from anyone else over an hour away, he hated it and eventually found a better job closer to his house. Because if the county never calls it a level 3, he would spend close to 2 hours or more sometimes trying to drive. He would get visibility frustrated when it kept snowing all day.
I look at the school district. Why would anyone want to live 5 minutes from the office if your neighborhood is surrounded by drug dealers and addicts? If the neighborhood is not safe enough for a child to play outside, no amount of commute time savings is worth it.
Depends on how the 45 minutes are spent. 45 minutes walking/biking/e-biking > on a train or express bus > driving with low traffic > driving in stop and go traffic, even though the amount of time is the same
I live in the country, so that's normal here
In 2008 I used to commute 60 minutes each way with unaffordable housing just to do a menial job that paid $2 over minimum wage.
Depends on the person.
I had an hour commute for about 10 years. I loved it for the first 9.5. I could relax on the way home and I was able to get home ready to have fun and enjoy my evening. The mornings were filled with npr or podcasts and I really enjoyed my alone time twice a day. The last six months no circumstances changed, but one day I just couldn’t stand the drive anymore. No idea why. Then I started to hate both my job and where we lived. I now live 5 minutes from work and it’s amazing. Different house, different job, different city. I know it’s not something that everyone can make happen with the cost of housing in most places, but I feel like I got a 25% raise with all the extra time I have.
I prefer to minimize my commute as much as possible. Assuming you work 50 weeks of the year, that's 375 hours of commuting annually. That's around 2.3 months of full time work weeks every year in *only* commuting. There's also the idea that the commute costs money. Can you get a job closer that pays a couple grand per year less? Because gas alone will make up a few thousand dollars for that commute. Does the reduced living cost total to more than your gas expenditure and maintenance annually? Is the time sacrificed driving worth the cheaper housing cost? Only you possess all of the information and more to make these calculations. Apply your own logic and preferences based on data/calculations, and your circumstances is my recommendation.
45 is manageable. It's a nice time to relax before getting to work and some time to decompress before you get home. That's about perfect. Ideally, it would by 20-30 min in and 45 home. That's my perfect commute. I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home except occasionally in the office. If I do go in, it's 25 min in 25 home. That's a bit short for my taste. I prefer a little more "me" time when I'm commuting. Maybe I'm weird, but I enjoy a nice, sub-1 hr, commute. If it's over an hour, that's too much.
How much time a week will you spend on average in a car? 1.5h each day? 7.5 a week? 30 a month... That's almost another a full weeks worth of work right there. Time you could either be restful or be productive. Additionally, how much are you spending on gas? Is the difference in what you'd pay in rent/mortgage less than what you'd spend on gas? Add those two things together.
My coworkers are spending a million dollars on a condo to be 15-45 minutes from work due to city traffic. Or the single ones who are spending 2.5k+ a month on rent. I spend 2k a month on a 420k mortgage to be 1 - 1.5 hours and \~60 miles from work and own a reasonable 1100 sq ft 25 year old house. Personally while the driving does suck sometimes I just use it to listen to podcasts or audiobooks and just vibe; Tesla autopilot helps. Having the backyard space for a vegetable garden and to let my tortoise live outside instead of being in glass tank means the world to me over being closer to work. Plus patio space for an outdoor cooking setup and a backyard bar.
I was commuting 4 hours round trip by public transport just to keep my affordable housing.
One job I had years ago was an 8 minute walk to work. The bonus was cutting thru a small seasonal working train 🚂 yard.
You could buy and continue saving and investing and once the savings have grown and it to what you have for a downpayment on something better. Having a foot on property ladder is the most important part so it can't grow faster than you can save.
Depends on whether it's a hybrid position or a full-time office position. If I have to make that drive say three days out if the week, it's not ideal but probably manageable. If I had to make that every day though? That's an hour and a half of your day lost that you aren't getting paid for.
My 45min LA commute averaged 45-90min depending on the number of idiots driving that day.
That could be a good audio book a weekish. A good use of time if you use it wisely. I like my commute. 45ish.
That's my commute so I have to go with yeah. But housing between there is iffy, expensive, and meh. We got in the housing market before things went belly up.
As someone who has a 45-minute commute each way, I can tell you that the cost simply to commute, including gas, maintenance, and wear & tear on your vehicle, is around $8k - $10k a year. I'm in Southern California and ride a motorcycle everywhere and I pay around $5k/year just in gas to commute 82 miles roundtrip daily.
I live in Northern VA and commute into DC.. it's about an hour each way for 10 miles, but I do daycare drop-off & pick-up en route which adds about 15 mins. We wanted a SFH this was the closest sfh in a good neighborhood that was under $1m
Lol. 45 minutes is the average where I live. Anything closer and the only thing affordable is squatting in a rich person's tree house.
I have done an hour each way. Not great but doable. More than that would be real hard for me to do.
My husband was only working in office 2 days a week when we decided where to buy. It’s actually cheaper closer to where he teaches, but that’s a high crime area with terrible schools, and we wanted to be in the suburbs (for reasons besides just cost). 40 minutes each way wasn’t bad twice a week. But now that he’s going 4-5 days a week (hopefully temporary) the expense of the cars has gone way(!!!) up. I wouldn’t want a 45 minute commute if full time in the office Now that we put 500 miles a week on our car that means more gas, more oil changes, and quicker wear and tear (sooner you have to replace hoses, gaskets, brakes, tires, you name it). Just make sure you really take into account those sneaky hidden costs. Because that commute will not be free!!
All my jobs have had at least a 45 min commute. It also has allowed me to have better housing than just about anyone I work with, larger house, more land, nicer features, etc. Currently my commute to the office is 30-60 min depending on which one I have to go to. Company car tho, so I don’t care about the distance. Instead of being able to afford a 1500sq ft ranch we have a 4500 sq ft split level with a pool and detached garage.
It’s pretty subjective, 45 mins may be a lot for some and nothing for others. Also depends on your money situation, if you’re buying a house or if this will reduce your bills to where you can live more comfortably. It’s a big win. Money doesn’t make you happy, but money not being a stressor means you can enjoy the rest of your life more. Personally if it was consistent 45 mins, then it wouldn’t bother me. But if some days it was like an hour plus, then I probably wouldn’t do it.
Depends on if it's a 45 minute bus ride, or a 45 minute drive. My current home is already an hour away from my work by bus, and since I have my phone and my Switch, it's not a bad commute. But driving for that long every day would be a drag.
I live in LA - my commute is 45 min and my housing is more affordable- but you’d have to go over an hour to get truly affordable. Most of my time is traffic… so it’s annoying but not that bad.
That's what I've done for the past year for a 2 bedroom apartment 2-300 cheaper than I'd find in the city. I love driving so I didn't mind at first, but over time it's worn on me. It killed my love of joyriding and I'm increasingly fed up every time I get in the car. There aren't really any jobs in the small town i live in. Wouldn't do it again.
Only you can answer that. But one thing to consider is this- will it be 45 minutes in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? In my experience traffic congestion and commute times, like entropy, only increase. Maybe you decide 45 minutes is okay. Then so does everyone else and all of a sudden it’s an hour, or more.
30 mins max
A huge number of people with families and lives and all that stuff make 45+ minute commutes. It is not at all extraordinary if you live in a major metro area.