Seattle has 12th-longest commute, 5th-worst congestion in nation

Seattle’s overall traffic has improved, according to data from ConsumerAffairs, but the region and its commutes still rank among the top 10 worst traffic hotspots in the country in 2025.

Seattle has the No. 8 worst traffic in the nation, dropping from the third spot last year. Washington, D.C. won the title of having the worst traffic this year, followed by Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York, and Houston. Baltimore and San Jose rounded out the top 10, trailing Seattle.

“In 2025, Washington, D.C. dethrones Los Angeles as the city with the worst traffic,” ConsumerAffairs stated. “The average commute to work there is 33.4 minutes, the longest in the U.S.”

The ConsumerAffairs Research Team analyzed the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas across three weighted metrics to identify the cities with the worst traffic: Average travel time to work, hours of congestion, and fatal car crashes per 100,000 people.

For the 10 major cities with the best traffic, Rochester, New York ranked No. 1 among ConsumerAffairs’ metrics, followed by Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Hartford, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Columbus, Fresno, Kansas City, and Buffalo.

“Columbus, Ohio saw the greatest year-over-year improvement in traffic congestion, cutting its time by nearly 40% since last year,” ConsumerAffairs stated.

Seattle traffic stats

Seattle commuters average 29.2 minutes, tied with Miami for the 12th-longest commute in the country. Commuting times have increased by 3.2% year-over-year in the Seattle region. Seattle also has the fifth-longest weekday congestion time, averaging six hours and five minutes.

Additionally, Seattle averages 7.14 fatal car crashes per 100,000 people, tied for the 14th-lowest among the 50 major cities ConsumerAffairs studied.

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