Commute Cost vs Housing Cost Tradeoffs

This map shows how much money people in each geographic area spend on commuting to work in relation to the median dwelling value. The commute cost is composed of the commute time cost, cost for the population driving to work and cost for population taking transit to work. We don't include the cost for walking, cycling or car passengers, other than the time cost. To compare the commute cost to the dwelling value, we convert the commute cost into the hidden mortgage by assuming that every $400 of monthly payments service a $100,000 mortgage. Compare this to the map of commute cost vs running shelter cost and the map of combined commute and running shelter costs per household. Definitions All quantities are calculated as dollars per household and year. Commute Time Cost: We estimate this by taking the after tax household income and assuming it is earned at 8 hour work days. We then multiply the income by the ratio of the commute time by the total of the 8 hour workday. Driver Time Cost: We estimate the annual driver commute cost by assuming the Car-to-Go rate of 41c per minute and multiplying it by the median commute duration, the average number of work weeks times 5 work days and the average number of people driving (as drivers, not passengers) per household. Transit Time Cost: We assume an annual transit pass cost of $1440 and multiply that by average number of people taking transit per household.

Author: CensusMapper Team

Dataset: CA11F, CA11N