Thrifty Thinking: Saving on Commuting Costs by Working from Home

Many Americans spent the last year working from home, doing away with one of the biggest stressors faced by working adults - commuting. 

At TodayTesting.com they got to wondering - how much money did we save in 2021 not going to the office? And perhaps more importantly, how much pollution did we do away with by working remotely? 

Using US Census Bureau and AAA data, we studied the commute times in 100 major cities across the country. They found that the average American could have saved up to $2,398 in commuting costs by working from home in 2021.

Not only that, Americans who worked from home in 2021 could have avoided putting out 3,428.14 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) in tailpipe emissions.

To help visualize, they created an interactive map where you can see exactly how much money and emissions people in 100 American cities have saved, viewable here: https://todaytesting.com/commuting-money-saved-map/

Other interesting data points:

• Atlanta residents benefited the most, saving an average of $3,987 not commuting in 2021. They avoided approximately 5,700 pounds of CO2 tailpipe emissions. 
• Texas residents may have benefited the most, with Dallas and Houston tying for slots 2 and 3 for most money and emissions saved on average ($3,800 and 5,433 pounds CO2). San Antonio ranked 23rd and Austin 27th. El Paso came in at 62 and McAllen at 75.
• Phoenix, Nashville, Detroit, Birmingham, Chicago, St. Louis, and Charlotte fill out the remainder of the top 10 cities that benefited in money and emissions saved not commuting in 2021.