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The Cities With The Most Extreme Commutes

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Rebecca Miller, 27, leaves her house in New Brighton, Pa., by 5:30 every weekday morning to commute two hours to work in the registrar's office of the University of Pittsburgh. First, she drives to the nearest Park-and-Ride lot in Ambridge, Pa. From there, she catches the 6 o'clock Port Authority bus to the end of the line in Pittsburgh, where she catches a train going downtown. Finally, she catches a second Port Authority bus that typically gets her to work between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. She does the reverse trip every evening at 5.

"It saves a lot of money," says Miller, who's been making this trip for the last three years. "I can live in a much less expensive suburb." The downside? A full 14 hours of her day are spent commuting or at work.

She's not alone. According to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 10.8 million people, or 8.1% of workers, commute an hour or more to work each way. What's more, 600,000 are classified as "mega-commuters," traveling 90 minutes or more and at least 50 miles to get into the office. This is in sharp contrast to the national average commuting time of 25.5 minutes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, workers living or working in major metropolitan areas show the highest rates of long commutes. Workers living outside a principal city and working in a principal city show the highest rates of long commutes, at 12.5%, the report shows. Meanwhile, hubs like San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C. feature the greatest concentration of mega-commuters. City dwellers that make the "reverse commute" to work in the suburbs also show high rates of long commutes, at 9%.

One reverse commuter, a 30-year-old analyst at a major financial services firm, took a well-paying job in Riverwoods, Ill., two years ago but didn't want to move out to the burbs. Five days a week he commutes to Riverwoods from his home in Chicago by train and bus for 70 to 90 minutes each way. While he's able to read on the train, the long commute is wreaking havoc on his personal and professional lives.

"My strict commuting schedule hasn't been good for my career," the analyst says. "The commute is exhausting. And when I'm out there, I'm stuck. I can't run a quick errand on my lunch. I can't even go out to lunch unless someone else drives me."

Census Bureau researchers discovered that mega-commuters are more likely to be older, male, married and making a high salary. However, they say it is unclear whether it is a choice or an economic necessity for workers, who may have to travel further and longer for good job opportunities.

Elizabeth Banta, 22, an account executive at communications agency Ruder Finn, graduated from college in late 2011. In order to save up enough money to move into the city, she commutes two hours each way between her parent's house in Rumson, N.J., and her office in New York, N.Y.

Similarly, Caitlin Florance, 27, has been mega-commuting from New Jersey to New York for the last few years to work at financial services company AIG and business insurance provider Hiscox without the high costs of city living. She rents an apartment in Rutherford, N.J., and commutes one to two hours to work every day. "You can't beat the energy and culture of working in New York," says Florance, "but the cost of living is higher. It was the cost-benefit of moving further out."

While New York features the second highest percentage of mega commuters, it also has the highest average commute time in the U.S. Other cities with extreme commutes include Los Angeles, Calif.; Boston, Mass.; and Atlanta, Ga.

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