Traffic in Columbus and Cleveland is among the least congested in the country, according to a recent analysis.
ConsumerAffairs, a consumer reviews and news platform, evaluated traffic in the 50 most populous U.S. cities using three data points: average travel time to work, average weekday road congestion, and the number of car crash fatalities per 100,000 people. The study used the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, covering information from 2023 to early 2025.
Columbus ranked seventh for lowest traffic congestion, with an average commute of 24.9 minutes, average weekday congestion of one hour and 39 minutes, and a fatality rate of 9.67 per 100,000 people.
Cleveland ranked third on the list, with an average commute time of 24.7 minutes, weekday congestion averaging one hour and 23 minutes, and a fatality rate of 7.6 per 100,000 people.
Rochester, New York, ranked first for least traffic congestion, with an average commute of 21.2 minutes, weekday congestion of two hours and 41 minutes, and a fatality rate of 8.69 per 100,000 people.
Other cities with low congestion included Salt Lake City (No. 2), Hartford, Connecticut (No. 4), St. Louis (No. 5), Milwaukee (No. 6), Fresno, California (No. 8), Kansas City, Missouri (No. 9), and Buffalo, New York (No. 10).
Washington, D.C., had the most congested traffic, with an average commute time of 33.4 minutes, average weekday congestion of six hours and 35 minutes, and a fatality rate of 5.95 per 100,000 people.
The top 10 most congested cities, following Washington, D.C., were Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York City, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, and San Jose, California.
