Best commute cities in North America, measured — 2026
The cities where getting downtown is both cheap and quick. For every cell in each metro we measure the door-to-CBD time and cost across 10 modes — using real fares, tolls and parking — then rank by a blend of faster, cheaper, and the share of cells that reach downtown in 45 minutes for under $10.
Leaders this year: Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa.
| # | Metro | Time + cost to downtown |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EdmontonCA | median 28 min and $9.00 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (74% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
| 2 | CalgaryCA | median 40 min and $7.38 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (58% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
| 3 | OttawaCA | median 43 min and $3.80 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (54% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
| 4 | TorontoCA | median 45 min and $3.30 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (40% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
| 5 | median 47 min and $3.20 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (32% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | median 43 min and $9.18 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (36% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
| 7 | median 47 min and $8.73 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (45% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 8 | median 48 min and $2.75 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (21% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 9 | median 43 min and $9.29 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (30% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 10 | median 50 min and $2.00 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (21% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 11 | median 43 min and $10.99 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (32% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 12 | median 42 min and $12.46 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (33% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 13 | median 45 min and $8.96 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (29% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 14 | median 43 min and $12.43 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (34% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 15 | median 43 min and $12.40 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (31% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 16 | median 54 min and $2.40 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (20% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 17 | median 54 min and $2.00 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (18% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 18 | median 55 min and $2.75 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (21% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 19 | median 54 min and $1.25 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (14% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 20 | median 53 min and $2.80 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (15% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 21 | median 55 min and $2.50 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (19% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 22 | median 46 min and $11.59 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (24% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 23 | median 54 min and $2.50 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (12% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 24 | median 52 min and $8.36 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (22% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 25 | median 55 min and $9.39 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (32% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 26 | median 59 min and $2.50 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (16% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 27 | median 60 min and $1.75 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (14% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 28 | median 58 min and $10.99 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (18% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 29 | median 48 min and $22.26 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (25% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) | |
| 30 | median 65 min and $20.50 to downtown by the cheapest reasonable mode (9% of cells reach the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10) |
30 metros ranked. Linked metros open their measured commute-cost page.
How this is measured
This is a CommutingCost-measured accessibility ranking (cumulative-opportunity): for a stratified sample of grid cells in each metro we run real routing on the live hexmap engine and count the destinations actually reachable within the time budget. Measured with our proprietary algorithm across 497,214 POIs and 31 metro networks — not survey data, and distinct from amenity-density scores like Walk Score.
From our proprietary algorithm's multi-region precompute (output/regional/<metro>_h3_res9, am_peak door-to-downtown-anchor time+cost for every origin cell across 10 modes). Per cell we take the cheapest mode within 20 min of that cell's fastest reasonable option (<=90 min). Composite score = 0.40*(faster) + 0.30*(cheaper) + 0.30*(share of cells reaching the CBD in <=45 min for <=$10), min-max normalized across the ranked metros. Denver/Montreal precompute parquets contain only unreachable rows (failed feeds) and are skipped.
Frequently asked
Edmonton ranks first for door-to-downtown commuting: a median cell reaches the central business district in about 28 minutes for $9 by the cheapest reasonable mode, and 74% of cells get there in 45 minutes or less for $10 or less. Calgary and Ottawa follow.
Salt Lake City is the top-ranked US metro for door-to-downtown commuting in our measurement, balancing time and cost across its grid. Canadian metros — Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa — take the overall top three.
From our multi-region precompute we take, for every origin cell, the am-peak door-to-downtown-anchor time and cost across 10 modes (walk, bike, bike-share, transit, drive, park-and-ride, kiss-and-ride, ride-hail+transit, and more). Per cell we pick the cheapest mode within 20 minutes of that cell's fastest reasonable option (under 90 minutes). The composite score weights faster (40%), cheaper (30%), and the share of cells reaching the CBD in 45 minutes or less for $10 or less (30%), min-max normalized across the ranked metros.
Yes. The cost per mode uses real transit fares, toll rates, downtown parking, and bike-share pricing from our dataset — not flat estimates. That is why the cheapest mode varies by cell: in many metros a bike or bike-share leg beats a parked car once parking and tolls are counted.