A lot goes into finding the perfect location for your home. You probably have a checklist of things you want nearby: maybe it’s a pool, a public park, a movie theatre, or a shopping mall. And while all those things might be nice, at the top of this list should be proximity to work. 

Obviously living walking distance from employment seems like a nice luxury, but it’s not something most people consider as a top priority. It’s hard to justify spending the extra rent money to live in a prime location when you could just drive to work like the so many other employees do every day. 

No one loves commuting to work - it requires you to get out of bed much earlier just to get to work on time and the cost of filling your gas tank more often quickly adds up. But commuting to work may be even more costly than it appears, according to a new study by Sky Blue Credit. 

The opportunity cost of commuting is a value that most people don’t consider when shopping for a home, but it can exceed $2,000 each year. This is the equivalent of anywhere between 150 and 280 hours spent in the car in one year alone depending on the length of commute and intensity of traffic. 

If this isn’t discouraging enough, ten years of repeating that same commute leads to up to 120 full 24 hour days spent in transportation. That’s about a third of a year wasted sitting in traffic rather than spent working, with family, or even just sleeping! That translates to an opportunity cost of over $20k based on the federal minimum wage. 

With that being said, it may be worth it to think again about living in that seemingly perfect suburb that’s an hour away from work. It may be meet all of your requirements and be the ideal house of your dreams, but it could also cost you a lot of time and energy. 

At the very least, look into rush hour traffic before signing a lease. Not all states commutes are equal - South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana commutes are shortest while New York, Maryland and New Jersey are the longest.