Which US city has the worst traffic?

Nobody agrees whose commute is the worst, and everybody is sure it is theirs. The traffic data and the drivers rarely tell the same story.

1

Los Angeles

The city whose freeways became shorthand for gridlock everywhere else.

2

Chicago

Topped the 2025 INRIX scorecard with 112 hours lost per driver.

3

New York City

Bridge and tunnel queues plus the country's first congestion charge.

4

Philadelphia

The Schuylkill Expressway backs up in both directions most afternoons.

5

Boston

Narrow colonial street grid carrying modern commuter volume.

6

Miami

I-95 congestion made worse by year-round visitor traffic.

7

Houston

The Katy Freeway is one of the widest roads on earth and still jams.

8

Atlanta

Spaghetti Junction funnels three interstates through one interchange.

9

San Francisco

Bridge bottlenecks and hills on a peninsula with nowhere to widen.

10

Seattle

One interstate spine squeezed between a lake and Puget Sound.

11

Washington DC

Beltway commuters from two states meeting in one federal district.

12

Dallas

A metro built entirely around freeway interchanges, growing faster than they do.

13

Denver

Interstate 25 through downtown plus every ski weekend heading west.