MOBILE, Ala. — Commuting in the Port City may be more painful than most residents realize. A new analysis of federal transportation data has placed Mobile among the midsize metropolitan areas Americans would be wise to avoid if they hate their drive to work.
The ranking, compiled by moving-services company HireAHelper using U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey figures, scored metros on a weighted set of commuting factors and placed Mobile at No. 12 among midsize metros with the worst commutes.
More Americans Are Off the Road Altogether
The analysis arrives amid a broader shift in how Americans get to work. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. commuters now drive alone, down from more than three-quarters before the pandemic — a drop driven largely by remote work, which accounted for 18% of American workers as of 2021.
Alabama’s Other Commuter Trouble Spots
Mobile was not the only Alabama metro to draw unwanted attention in the study:
- Florence-Muscle Shoals ranked No. 1 among small metros to avoid for commuting.
- Tuscaloosa came in at No. 7 on the same small-metro list.
- Birmingham-Hoover placed No. 9 among large metros, just behind Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
For South Alabama commuters, the findings suggest the region’s daily drives stack up poorly not just against neighboring Southern metros, but against cities nationwide.