What kind of commute is acceptable to you?

[mrssmith06]

My DH's commute is right at about 55-60 minutes. He's been doing this for about 12 years. We've considered moving closer to his work several times but we like the neighborhoods and school better where we are.
I, personally, wouldn't want to drive more than 30 minutes if and when I go back to work. The last time I was working (last year), my commute was only about 15 minutes.

 

[katrina1122]

I say under 30mins since my commute is now 15 mins on a REALLY bad day, but when I lived in Northern VA and commuted into Bethesda, MD it was an hour if I was on the road by 5:30am, after that it was more like 90mins. An hour was fine, but beyond that I went nuts.

I will never go back to over 30 if I can help it.

 

[LuLuO]

Less than 30 minutes one way.

 

[Sorsha]

We live on the northern end, the line between Melbourne and Rockledge is within a half mile.

My husband works in Palm Bay (which is South), a 30 minute commute for him. And we just moved into this house, so we're definitely not moving!

We lived in Palm Bay on Palm Bay Road (my least favorite area of the Melbourne cluster of towns, except for the Turkey Creek Nature preserve behind the library - LOVE that place, especially when the manatees are migrating) and my husband worked in Rockledge - he just hopped on the freeway to get up there and back every day. I worked in downtown Melbourne, at the JoAnn's store there on... Babcock, I think?

We still have family there, so we go out for a few days whenever we go to WDW. I love the beaches.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Living and working in a city the shortest I even had was 30 minutes door to door and the longest 60 minutes.

When they moved the company about into the suburbs and it became 90 -120 minutes morning and evening I lasted 6 months before leaving.

I now have 45-60 minutes one way depending on how the trains are running

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We live on Long Island and my husband works in Queens and Manhattan, depending on the day.

He leaves early in the morning, so he can make it to the office in 45 minutes or so.

The afternoon/evening is another story....usually 75 to 90 minutes. Throw in an accident/bad weather and weird traffic nightmare and it has been as long as 3 hours!

or 4 hours or 5 hours or 6 hours Gotta love the train life.

I used to do 90 minutes on a good day with 2 hours on a bad with old train line commute (that doesn't count the times when the train hits someone, derails, signals stop working, etc. etc.).
Then we moved further away. I now do 2 hours with some day at 2.5. The train line by me is horrific and would literally take me 3 hours just by train and I'm 30 minutes from that station. I try to come in early to miss the morning traffic. Going home is another story though. I really wonder where people learned to drive.

But I get to work in NYC, in a job that I really do like, get paid a decent salary. At night I go home to my family, our horses, our chickens, and more property than I thought I would ever own. It's worth the trade off.

 

[tasha99]

I have a 5 minute commute. I'm willing to drive 10-15 minutes to get to work. I would drive longer distances, but only if I were on the clock and getting reimbursed for mileage (typical for people in my field who drive out to either multiple sites from a "home site" or see clients in their homes).

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

In general, I'd say up to one hour each way is reasonable.

For me personally that is too long. I would have to make 6 figures to commute 1 hour or more. Time is money.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

My current commute is about 15 minutes, but in the past I've done commutes up to 45 minutes.

Depending on the job and the pay, I'd be willing to endure a longer commute. However, I used to work with two men who each had a commute over 3 hours (traffic in Long Island, NY is never good.) I never would have been willing to do that- the poor guys never saw their families or got to bee home for dinner.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I commute 40-50 minutes, depending on which school I'm at that day, in perfect conditions. That's about my max in light of the fact that it's all driving and I live in New England. If I lived in a place that didn't get snow, I might bump my limit of tolerable to roughly an hour. Here in New England, 40-50 miles of highway (not through cities) driving is plenty. I've had it take 2 1/2 hours to get to work when there was an issue with black ice.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I assume you mean one way and not roundtrip. I prefer to be 30 mintues or less.

My current one is just at 30 minutes. With L.A. traffic being the pain in the **** that it is, this could really mean 30-50 minutes. Each way.

 

[onelilspark]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm moving from a Sales position, so I've always had a home office and only drove to visit clients (not every day.) I thought at an hour (probably more when you count rush hour) was decent, but when I got the surprised reactions that I was looking that far away, I wanted to put myself in check. The last thing I would want to do is take a job that I want to leave 3 months down the line because the commute is too long!

I just needed a reality check! And while it seems like for some people a longer commute is fine, that is certainly not the consensus!

 

[BillSears]

I choose less than 30 minutes. But to me that's still too long. Less than 15 has always been my commute.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I've been tempted to look into programming jobs in NYC, but that would be a 90 minute commute one way, and even a huge increase in pay is not worth 3 hours of my time 5 days a week.

My commute right now is about 10 minutes.

 

[anniemck]

Interesting so far. I have an interview for a job that's located in Orlando, so it's an hour without traffic. My Mom & Husband think it's too far. I don't think it's that ridiculous. So far I'm in the minority it looks like.

I'd love to find a job closer, but Orlando is a bigger city than Melbourne, which of course means there's more opportunities there.

Also in Florida, I am in Clewiston and nearest big towns would be Sebring (67miles), Ft Myers (57miles). I have been applying for a position in Sebring and hoping to get it. I did start applying in Fort Myers as well, however the position that I did get was only part time seasonal. I would have to work 3 hours per day just to pay for fuel and taxes with the pay they were offering. I was originally advised 30-35 hours per week, however it turned into 20 with no change of gaining more... I did quit the job. I need to may money, not pay to work.

SO... as long as fuel and taxes are paid, and then I still make at least $100-200 a week, I am fine with a drive up to 90 minutes each way. I just don't want to sit around the house anymore.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

When we lived in New England I had a 75-90 minute commute, each way, and it was soul crushing. One of the main reasons we agreed to look at Iowa when we were both being recruited for jobs was the promise of a short commute and this area has delivered! I have a commute that is now 20 minutes, tops, and that is if I hit "rush minutes". If I leave the house anytime but about 7:30, I can be parked and seated in my office in less than 15 minutes. And my colleagues think I have a very long commute!

I can honestly say that the short commute is one of the factors that we love most about living in Iowa and one of the major things preventing us from moving back east. The thought of going back to 2.5-3 hours in the car each day makes me feel sick to my stomach and I will do everything in my power to avoid it.

 

[LeslieLou]

I drive 50 miles in about an hour each way to work. The nice thing is that theres zero traffic, so it's mostly peaceful driving. The few snowstorms each year are killer tho. We like the community and schools, proximity to family better where we are than where I work. Husband is a SAHD, so we only have one commute to worry about.

Downside is that my 2yo car has 66k miles on it

 

[MIGrandma]

I voted less than 30 minutes.

When I worked outside the home it took me 10 minutes to get there.

I remember my Dad worked about an hour from home.

My sister-in-law has an hour commute each way every day, I just wouldn't be able to stand that. Especially in the winter on crappy roads.

 

[tvguy]

Under 5 minutes

The down side to that is, if you have a job where you could get called in on short notice, on a day off, or before or after hours, you'd be the first one they call.

My commute is 13 miles, and in the best case, I can make it in 15 minutes.

With my commute, how I hit the traffic lights the 5 blocks from the freeway to my office can add 8 to 10 minutes to my commute. Mind you, I arrive at work at 3 am so traffic is never an issue.
Other challenge I face in California is highway construction. It's almost all done here from 10:30 am to 5 am, and that can easily add 5 to 10 minutes to my commute, they closed all 3 downtown ramps off the freeway I use one morning, I had to go 4 miles extra on surface streets.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I did 90 minutes (56 miles) one way for 6 years. Tolerable, but gas was a LOT cheaper then. It turned into 3 hours plus in light snow . Heavy snow was actually better because so many people stayed home.