Today Testing recently published a report that found commuters in 100 major cities across the U.S. saved an average of $2,398 working from home instead of commuting in 2021. With gas prices and inflation on the rise, most are happy to see those savings.
"The lack of a daily commute has undoubtedly improved the lives of countless Americans. No more spending hours upon end fighting traffic, getting stressed out dealing with crazy drivers, missing time with loved ones, and spending a ton of money on the costs of operating a vehicle. Simply put, commuting is bad for our health (not to mention the environment’s health) and it’s bad for our wallets," the report noted.
Larger North Carolina cities like Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro were included in the study, with residents in these metro areas saving $3,021, $2,211 and $2,149, respectively.
We decided to use the report's same methodology to calculate how much Alamance County residents saved in commuting costs by working from home.
How we calculated
Today Testing started with the assumption that Americans work 242.8 days per year based on 52 weeks of five-day work weeks (260 days) and a national average of 17.2 vacation days taken annually.
The study also used U.S. Census Bureau data to determine the average travel distance of workers in each area and AAA data showing the cost per mile for owning and operating a vehicle.
For consistency in our comparisons, we used the same data and methodology.
The results
According to the U.S. Census, Alamance County residents spend an average of 24.7 minutes commuting each day. Assuming an average speed of 35 mph, we estimated the average commute for county residents is about 14.4 miles.
According to AAA, vehicle owners will spend about 62 cents per mile when factoring in the cost of gas, maintenance and other ownership costs for the average sedan. That would bring Alamance County commuters' cost to $8.93 per day.
When you multiply that cost per day for the average 242.8 days employees work in a year, Alamance County residents saved $2,168.20 by working from home in 2021.
Commuters in the county's largest cities, Burlington and Graham, saved slightly less due to marginally shorter commute distances.
U.S. Census data showed Burlington residents commute an average of 13 miles per day while Graham residents commute about 13.8 miles per day on average. These residents, therefore, saved about $1,956.97 and $2,077.40, respectively, in 2021.
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Elizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at epattman@gannett.com. I'm also available on social media @EPattmanTN on Twitter or @burlingtontimesnews on Instagram.
