Workers who have been reluctant to return to the office most often cite commuting as their number one sticking point. The average American spent 26.6 minutes on a one-way trip to or from the office in 2019. That’s 53 minutes a day. There are only so many podcasts that can ease the pain of that statistic.

Of course, people in some places have it much worse than others. California is notorious for its traffic. The average one-way commute in California is over 29 minutes long!

Stacker recently compiled a list of California counties with the longest commute times. The information is based on U.S. Census Bureau Data from 2019. 

California Counties With the Worst Commutes

1. Contra Costa County

-Average commute time: 38.7 minutes

-#33 longest among all counties nationwide

2. Calaveras County

-Average commute time: 38.3 minutes

-#38 longest among all counties nationwide

3. San Benito County

-Average commute time: 35.7 minutes

-#81 longest among all counties nationwide

4. Alameda County

-Average commute time: 34.3 minutes

-#127 longest among all counties nationwide

5. San Joaquin County

-Average commute time: 34.2 minutes

-#131 longest among all counties nationwide

6. Riverside County

-Average commute time: 34 minutes

-#138 longest among all counties nationwide

7. San Francisco

-Average commute time: 33.8 minutes

-#151 longest among all counties nationwide

8. Solano County

-Average commute time: 33.2 minutes

-#183 longest among all counties nationwide

9. Amador County

-Average commute time: 32.7 minutes

-#213 longest among all counties nationwide

10. Marin County

-Average commute time: 32.6 minutes

-#220 longest among all counties nationwide

11. Los Angeles County

-Average commute time: 31.8 minutes

-#277 longest among all counties nationwide

12. San Bernardino County

-Average commute time: 31.6 minutes

-#290 longest among all counties nationwide

13. Lake County

-Average commute time: 30.7 minutes

-#371 longest among all counties nationwide

14. Sierra County

-Average commute time: 30.6 minutes

-#386 longest among all counties nationwide

15. El Dorado County

-Average commute time: 30 minutes

-#445 longest among all counties nationwide

16. Yuba County

-Average commute time: 30 minutes

-#445 longest among all counties nationwide

17. Stanislaus County

-Average commute time: 29.9 minutes

-#454 longest among all counties nationwide

18. Santa Clara County

-Average commute time: 29.3 minutes

-#522 longest among all counties nationwide

19. San Mateo County

-Average commute time: 29.3 minutes

-#522 longest among all counties nationwide

20. Merced County

-Average commute time: 28.6 minutes

-#615 longest among all counties nationwide

Click here for an entire list of counties with the worst commutes, including additional information on modes of transportation and more.  

List and data were compiled by Stacker and do not necessarily reflect on data on all counties.