Executive Commutes Nearly Double National Average
Average Trip to Office Takes 42.3 Minutes According to Execs Polled by Jobs Web Site TheLadders.com
NEW YORK (July 11, 2005) - Even easy street is clogged with traffic these days. According to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com, the world's leading $100k+ job search engine, executives at the top of the pay scale are saddled with longer commutes to the office than the majority of American workers. The average door-to-door commute time among executives surveyed was 42.3 minutes, compared with a national average of 24.3 minutes*.
When asked: How long is your commute; the majority of the survey respondents clustered in the 15-45 minute range. Of that group, 28% said they spend 15 minutes getting to work each day; 25% put in 30 minute commutes; and 19% log 45 minute commutes. Fourteen percent of the survey's respondents put the hour in "rush hour" with 60 minute commutes. Among the real road warriors: 6% said they commute for 75 minutes; 3% travel 90 minutes; 1% endure 105 minute commutes; and 4% actually spend two hours just to get into the office (see chart below). When asked: What is the longest commute you could live with; the average was 57 minutes (see chart below).
Despite ever-increasing gas prices, the car is still the undisputed king of the executive commute. When asked about their daily mode of transportation, 78% of executives said they drive. Trailing in a distant second place, mass transit only yielded 13% of the survey's responses. Among the more active commuters, 5% said they walk to work and 1% said they ride a bicycle. Two percent have cornered the market on frequent flyer miles, taking a plane to work (see chart below).
According to TheLadders.com's state-by-state breakdown of commuting data, the top five cities where executives have the longest commutes are: New York (52.9 minutes), Boston (52.6 minutes), Philadelphia (51 minutes), Atlanta (47.8 minutes), and Chicago (46.7 minutes). The cities where executives have the shortest commutes are: Phoenix (30.7 minutes), Austin (32.6 minutes), Seattle (34 minutes), Denver (35.3 minutes), and San Diego (35.5 minutes) (see chart below).
"Following the most traffic-choked weekend in U.S. history, the workday commute may seem like a vacation, but it is a s erious issue for many executives and their employers. In fact, 78% of our survey respondents said they would make a career decision based on commute time," explained TheLadders.com President and CEO, Marc Cenedella. "When weighing a great job offer against a potentially grueling commute, you have to ask yourself what kind of work you'll produce after battling traffic for two hours."
TheLadders.com's look at commuting is based on a series of independent surveys of registered $100k+ executives conducted by TheLadders.com between June 17th, 2005 and July 5th, 2005. The number of responses and margin of error for each survey is as follows:
- How long is your commute? 1,271 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 2.8%.
- What is the longest commute you could live with? 1,528 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 2.6%.
- How do you commute? 965 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 3.2%.
- Would you make a career decision based on commute time? 1,180 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 2.9%.
Now reaching over 435,000 readers and featuring over 20,000 new $100k+ job listings each month, TheLadders.com is the largest online job search service catering exclusively to the $100k+ market. Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in July 2003 after a tenure as Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations, at HotJobs.com, ultimately shepherding that company's sale to Yahoo, Inc. (NASD: YHOO) in 2002.
