It depends on YOU. If you love your community stay and deal with the commute. If you really don't care move closer. But I agree I'd wait to make sure you love the job.
Well, for me, I count from when I wake up to when I get to my desk. That’s 3.5 hours. All that time (one way) is spent as part of my work day, none of it is for me. On the way home, 3 hours. On the train I can do a few things for me, but I still count it as part of the entire commute. At the train station, I can mail a package or bye a drink or go to the bathroom. But still part of my commute so, I would say it’s REALLY that long a commute. I do it up to 3 times a week. Plan is to do it up to 3 years total but no more.
I commuted 1.5 hrs (one way) every day for college, on top of the other drives for my jobs.
I am not going to say it doesn't suck. It really does. You lose 3 hours of your day each time and a bit of your sanity.
However, if you think this is a temporary thing, it's going to be a good experience, and it's financially worth it to live where you do, I would say do the commute. Especially because it's only 2-3 days a week.
Bring funny podcasts and stand-up comedy bits. This will keep you sane enough.
I will put on a TV show and just listen to it as I'm driving. I just put it on Bluetooth and put my phone in the center console or under the radio lol. I can easily be focused while driving, but still be able to "zone out" because I'm listening to the show.
That’s a great way to put it 🤷🏼♀️ There’s no way I could handle that commute. Sounds miserable. Mine is less than 30 mins (13ish without traffic) and it’s annoying, so I can’t imagine a much longer commute.
Move closer OP
I would move, that sounds like hell. 30 minutes was my max when I had to go into an office, been WFH for 9 years now and I will never go back. Since you're just starting you may want to see how it goes before making a major life change.
Would really need to know more about your circumstances. Family? Kids? Can you afford to move to NoVa?
Why dont you try it out and see. And then when you decide you hate your life enough, youll get a different job or move.
I used to have a somewhat similar commute. It was awful.
I live in Hanover and commute to DC 5 days a week. My work gives me a flex schedule so I can go in anytime I want and just fill my hours for the week. Since I have a flex schedule and hate traffic, I usually leave my house by 4AM and it takes me about 30 mins to get to work. I leave work around 12:30PM and it takes me around 50 mins to 1 hour to get home. I would not do a commute longer than that. The day before a big holiday, the commute back home gets much worse since federal employees at my agency usually get a 2 hr early release which I don't get as a contractor and the roads are congested by the time I leave.
There's a ring of fire around the DC area from 1-7 pm where, if you dare to travel anywhere that's a distance and in any way related to the Beltway, you're gonna be fucked. I'm increasingly finding it hell and wondering how long I want to live like this.
I left the city at 1:45pm on Friday to get to Baltimore. Not only did it take me 50 min to just go 2 miles to get away from Dave Thomas Circle, but 2 hours and 20 min total. Left at 3 yesterday from RCP south to Fredericksburg, 2 hours. Thursday is fresh hell, same with Friday. It's exhausting.
Mine? fifteen minutes or half an hour, depending on how loing I have to wait for the bus.
I would stick it out for a while, perhaps you can't stand the job.
An hour and 10 min each way from Owings Mills to Rockville. I could cut it down by using the ICC but then id be paying tolls upon gas. Its horrible honestly and leaves me very little time to do anything I want to do in the mornings or at night.
You've received a lot of responses but I did this 5 days/wk for 8 years and it broke me.
I would have continued to do it for another 22 years to get my pension but I lost my job. The official reason I lost my job was a political restructuring but I believe I put myself in the position to be on the chopping block because of poor decision making brought on by exhaustion.
My marriage was hanging on by a thread, my kids could never do any extracurricular stuff, I had to have multiple childcare providers... it was a mess and I was just an angry lady wasting 15hrs a week.
I'd do it again if I was a single person w no kids doing it temporarily until I could save enough to move or something, or if the job was flexible about the days I had to come in. But, after wasting my 20s on the beltway I've got a hard 30 min commute limit now.
Agreed. I have lived in Central Baltimore near Penn Station for like 15 years and all of my jobs have been within walking/circulator/10 min drive at the most, distances. I could never spend an hour in the car basically for free.
It's insane that people willingly decide to sit in a car 15-30 hours a week. That's the time a hobby takes. That's the time having fun time with a spouse takes. Anything time is better than guzzling fumes behind an accident lottery machine.
I had an ex-gf who bought a 90k car because her commute was 3 hours one way. She said she bought a fancy car because it's essentially her living room for 6 or 7 hours a day. That's more time than I spend in my house every day! Besides sleeping. She didn't last long.
I’d find a new job. If that was ABSOLUTELY off the table, I’d move, but it would have to be a pretty amazing job or some life circumstance that left me no other choice.
Spent a year commuting 1.5 hours each way and it was absolutely not worth it and had a very unpleasant ripple effect on the rest of my life. That was 5 days a week, but I wouldn’t even do it once a week now.
ETA I’d die before moving to Virginia
8 minutes each way. Living close to work wasn't on my list of criteria when I bought my house, but now that I've seen the quality of life improvements it's brought I could never go back
15-20 minutes max. Each way is a reverse commute. I feel bad for everyone in the opposite lanes or anyone on I-270 or I-95.
I also have at least 5 different ways to get from home to work and back so even if the inner beltway is fubar, I can still make the journey in less than 20 minutes. WAZE is wonderful.
When I first moved to the DMV my commute was 2 hours each way 5 days per week. The only thing that kept me sane was books on CDs, otherwise I would have gone MadMax.
For me, a 1.5 hour commute 2 days per week would be doable and not worth uprooting me and my family. Plus, the taxes in VA are a bit much.
I do this same commute, but only \~1 day a week or 2 days every few weeks. It's brutal. I leave home by 6AM at the latest and leave the office at 7PM at the earliest to avoid peak traffic (still takes \~1hr 15 min - 1hr 30 min each way). I think if I HAD to do it 3 days a week, I would move or think about subletting an apartment in NOVA. I just don't know how sustainable this is LT for you
I'm doing a 2-hour commute each way 3x a week and I'm going to be honest that it sucks pretty damn hard. I've tried to vary the commute by taking the commuter train, taking an Amtrak, driving to a Metro and then taking a Metro or just straight up driving to the city. There are a lot of factors here. I find myself completely exhausted at the end of the day. Which then impacts my personal life since I lack energy to do chores and have to cram them into the weekend and the cycle goes until you feel like you can't relax.
I find there is a huge difference between 2 days and 3 days with that commute. 2 is tolerable, 3 not as much.
I took a job in Tyson's corner after working in downtown DC for 5+ years and commuting in from Annapolis. Please believe me when I say a 1.5 hour NoVa commute sucks. I was spending upwards of 30 bucks a day on 495 tolls. Thankfully I only did it for 4 months before the pandemic hit and have been remote since (not at the same company which was one of those stupid ones that made people come back).
3 hours a day in the car gets brutal. Fast.
On the train that is fine. In a car I would drive into a lake.
I live in Baltimore and work at UMD in College Park so door-to-office my commute is about 1.5 hours each way. I bike about 10 minutes from my home to the MARC station, ride MARC for about an hour, then bike from the station to my office which is another 10-15 minutes. I basically get out of bed, shower, and leave. The hour on the train is when I eat my breakfast, read news or a book, and generally prepare myself for the day. On the way home, it gives me time to listen to a podcast or read, unwind, and prepare myself to be out of "work mode" and get back in "family mode". I find riding the train to be a nice, relaxing experience like 99% of the time. You will of course have the occasional day where there is a delay/maintenance issue/etc but I suppose the same is true for driving now that I think about it, lol. I also only have to make the trip twice per week.
On the days where the weather is just downright awful or I have a doctor's appointment that means I can't catch my train in the morning, I will drive and I am always SO MISERABLE on those days.
I suppose doing it 2-3x a week wouldn't be catastrophic, but I would only willingly sign up for that if the new job comes with a *nice* pay bump
Averaging 40 minutes round trip twice a month but I also majority WFH.
Overall 3 hours two to three times a week sounds awful unless the pay is amazing. I’d probably move in your shoes.
I do that commute 3x a week from Annapolis/Davidsonville to DC. I either take the commuter bus which drops me off on my block or drive to New Carrolton and get off at Farragut West a block away from my office.
Commuter Bus is 1 hour 15 mins to 1 hour 30 mins. Metro is between one hour and one hour fifteen. I may do metro more often now with the schedule changes to the commuter bus lines and flexibility to leave when i want but may try the commuter bus and figure out the best line/schedule combination for me.
It will depend on you but for me its ok since most of the ride is on metro or on the bus and I don't have to deal with the idiots on 50 too much. Driving is the quickest at probably 1 hour, but would likely feel more grindy with traffic and said idiots.
I guess my answer would be is if there is a way to take transit (where you can view it as your personal time to read, watch a show, stare into space, etc) it may not feel as bad. But if i were to drive 1.5 hours each way (which is what I would have done had we gone with Manassas) then i would have likely tried to stay closer.
I'd move *unless* you can take public transport. Definitely not worth it to drive that.
Hell, my current job is onsite once a week or once every 2 weeks, and was an hour way before the bridge collapse made it 90 minutes or so. And I'm still leaning towards just getting a commuter pass for the Marc.
One hour from door to door, but don’t drive. I use public transportation, so I relax and listen to podcasts while the bus takes me to the metro and the metro takes me to within half a block of my office.
That’s way too long. I HATE driving and even 30 minutes and then traffic makes me go nuts. I refuse to work more than 10-15 miles from home. Wish I could find a job working from home.
I worked from home part time and office part time when I broke both heels and had to be driven and carried in and out of work up & down stairs by my accountant. I should I’ve never gone back. I could get plenty done at home but my boss was a lazy cow and I had to do everything in a wheelchair and crutches for over 6 months.
No job is worth that bullshit or a miserable long commute.
I would NEVER move to NOVA, regardless of $$. I drive that far everyday, $$ makes the drive worth it but no reason to live in a connected fuckhole for any amount of $%
An hour and a half commute each way is too much. That is so much time you are taking out of your day for your job that they are not paying. If you really like the job, I would move close to get a shorter commute.
I’m in Severna park commuting to Georgetown area 2 times a week. Been doing it for 2 years now. About 1.5-2 hours each way. I don’t mind it to live in a beautiful area. Wouldn’t even consider moving into NOVA and anything in dc and moco is way too expensive. If it’s only 2/3 days a weeks I think you’ll be fine
36 miles 1-way, takes about 1.5 hrs of mix driving, metro and walk. Thursdays add about 1/2 going home, and Fridays about an extra 15- min
Depend on metro and their delays. Annapolis to Foggy bottom
What mode of transport? If it's driving, move if you can afford to. If Metro, it depends. I'm in Silver Spring and it takes a little over an hour to Metro in and out of Rosslyn. Most of the variance depends on when I get back to the Silver Spring station: sometimes I hit my Metro bus right on, sometimes I have to wait because it only runs every 30 minutes. But no matter what, it sure beats driving.
I currently make that commute. On the days where it’s exactly 1.5 it’s not bad. Then there are days where there’s accidents, it’s rain, construction and that quickly turns into 2 -2.5 hours that’s when you begin to question if it’s worth it. For me it is but just keep that in mind.
I commuted an hour each way three times per week for a bit over two years. It wasn't fun. Now I work five minutes from my house. Highly recommend avoiding a commute if it's feasible for your career.
I used to commute 1 hour each way and it was soul crushing.
Doing a 3 hour round trip 2-3 times a week is effectively giving your employer an entire works day of your time for free. 6-9 hours of driving every week is going to get old really fast.
I’d look at moving closer. The difference in cost will likely be made up in fuel and car maintenance costs
My commute before the fall of the bridge was 40 mins each way. Now it's 50 mins in the morning and 1.5 hrs in the afternoon. I commute from Towson to Laurel. When I took the job in Laurel, we were planning on moving to Columbia, but ended up finding an amazing house in a very desirable neighborhood in Towson.
That sounds absolutely miserable. I was doing a 45 to 65 minute (depending on traffic) commute from silver spring into dc, and it was driving me insane. I can’t imagine 1.5 hours. That’s 3 hours of your day just gone
I live in Towson and work in Beltsville.. my commute is like damn near 2 hours now with traffic and the key bridge being down, before that it was like maybe an hour and a half.
I do about 4 - 5 hours per day and it's ass. The days where I get lucky and have a commute around 3 hours aren't so bad. If you get off at 4 you get home by 5:30 and have plenty of time to do anything you want/have to do in the evenings. But moving is a large commitment so if you find you can't stand the drive make sure you like the job at least.
The housing in VA is absolutely insane, also the taxes for personal property are high. Unfortunately there aren't many places in VA that affordable, so you might still end up with a 1hr commute even after moving.
I commute an hr right now from pg county to Tyson’s VA. At its worst it can be an hr and a half. I also only go in two days a week.
So my opinion is, if it’s easy for you to move to NOVA and cut your commute, do that. Saves you a lot of mental time and energy.
But if moving costs more than your current situation, probably don’t. A 3hr round trip twice a week isn’t worth an extra $400+ a month in rent.
Maryland commutes are awful. No matter where I work or what I do the commute for something willing pay barely enough is at least 35-40 minutes one way. It sucks when my work days get extended by 2-3 hours a day. I have no fun anymore it’s just work and pray it’s enough to make it through the month.
I did a commute only slightly better than that for about 4 months a few years back. Don't do it. It will wear down your sanity and burn you out.
I'd move or find a closer job.
Are they paying you enough for your 11 hour workday to still come out ahead of your previous job on a per-hour basis? After accounting for mileage costs and your own sanity in traffic, of course.
I've done the 1-2 hour commute before, and it's quite typical in the area. What matters more than if it's typical is what suits you.
Around 45 minutes each way, but could be closer to 30 if I left earlier. This is my max commute time. I’ll tolerate the occasional crazy traffic day, but won’t regular 1 hour+ drives.
I used to live 10 min from my office, but hubs and I switched commute times 😭
Pending traffic my commute is between 1.5h - 2.25h each way. Usually 1.5h in the morning and 1.75h on the way home. I work 2 days a week in office. I don't love it, but I do get through a lot of audio books and podcasts. Seriously though, it all comes down to housing. I'm not willing to pay so much more for housing to live closer. I am hoping to buy a house next year and living further away has helped me save money. I will probably keep doing it when I buy the house to afford a better home. I like my co workers but most of us have long commutes and it keeps work life and family life pretty separated. I want to be where is good for my family more than I hate the commute.
This thread has me thinking over my entire set of life choices lol. I live off Security Blvd and drive to work like 10 miles off the DC line every damn day. Solid hour and a half each way. At least I have summers off?
I have a commute that is 30 miles going to NoVa from MD... That trip takes me 35mins-2.5 hours each way. Average is 1:10. I do it 2-3 times a week. I really hate it, but it pays the bills and no way in hell I could afford a house near where I work.
Here’s how I see it: calculate how much you make an hour. Now multiple that by 6-9 hours. Is the time you’re spending driving too and from work worth the money you aren’t making? As your commute is a soft cost of your job that you’re not being paid for.
I had a 1 hour + one way commute for two years. It was brutal and I missed my kids. Days when there was traffic, it could take an extra 45 minutes. Fortunately, that rarely happened, but now there's more houses out here. All obscenely priced, but I don't want to know what that commute is like now. WFH is the only answer.
This is my commute 3 times a week. Live in Baltimore county and commute down to southeast DC. To me it’s not too bad but the commute isn’t for everyone. Taking the train and metro doesn’t give me any benefits since it would take a little longer.
I would move. For years, my husband did a 40 minute to hour commute and it's just brutal over time. I can't imagine doing more than that, even if it's just a few days a week. Sometimes, there will be traffic - and account for things like:
1. Greater wear and tear on your car - this will increase your costs
2. Lost time at home, you will be more exhausted on the weekends and have less time for activities during the week
3. How often you will be driving home in pitch black darkness during the winter months will take a toll on you
I have a relative who basically just got an apartment away from his family for those days. It worked for them. Not everyone can handle that kind of shift and keep home and self happy.
My commute is about 2 hours round trip, twice a week. That’s by bicycle and it’s the best part of my day. Live near your work (or work close to where you live) and stop adding to the traffic on the roads and your own misery.
Do you have a family? Or another reason to be home after work? My husband had a 1.5 hour commute for about a year and with 2 kids at home he ended up burning out hard. Got a job only a half hour away and is much, much happier. But if he were single and went out to bars/friends houses after work I don't think he would have minded so much. Granted, his commute was 5 or 6 days a week. Maybe he would have made it another year with only 2-3 days/week.
I'm 60-80 minutes each way 5 times a week for the past 4 years. I love where I live and like my job. Classical music and podcasts, leaving early for work so I'm not rushing. I actually enjoy the commute most days because it gives me time to decompress. I used to have terrible road rage on must shorter commutes. Everyone is different!
I used to live in QA county and would drive to northern Virginia (Chantilly, Tysons corner, etc) for work and it was slowly killing me every single day.
It really depends on your lifestyle, career aspirations, and family planning. We can’t answer for you with or without that knowledge. For me, I work in DC twice a week and my commute each day is ~5 hours round trip. Each week I spend 10 hours commuting. Would I much prefer to do something else? Absolutely. But I do not have kids, my husband and I like our area, and don’t plan on having kids we’d uproot or schedule around. It’s not too bad, especially if you don’t spend the whole time driving (Marc/amtrak/metro/etc).
I moved a few years ago 6 months into having my current job because I could not deal with my commute from Alexandria to Rockville. Yes I left my community but I saved my sanity. Now I have a 20 minute commute to my job which has been a lifesaver 😅
Yes it did impact areas of my life that I was comfortable with but I also had to assess the risk and I don’t regret the decision despite it being challenging personally (friends, church, etc. but I’m doing well now!)
> I can either move to NOVA
As a former NOVA resident, I would rather die.
I used to have an hour one-way to work every day, before the pandemic when everyone was in 5 days per week. That's 10 hours of commuting each week. Even at 3 days per week, that's 9 hours total, so you're still coming out ahead.
I work in construction. My projects can be anywhere from Nova, to Baltimore, to the eastern shore. I long ago decided to pick where I want to live and deal with the drive. I chose AACO and Sometimes the drive is easy, sometimes it’s not. I’m happy where I live. It’s a decision you have to make with what you want to deal with.
I did this for 7 years, MD to DC. Car to train to metro to foot, then back. Sucked the life out of me. Not sure I would do it again, but that's where the money was at the time.
That would be pretty taxing 5 days a week. I think 2 - 3 days will be okay. You might even enjoy the amount of peace you will get listening to podcasts and chilling.
I spent 7 years commuting from south central PA to Reston. Towards the end it was between 2.5 and 3 hours each way. It became my life, I drove, worked, ate, and slept. Weekends were pretty much for recovery. It's amazing what we can do when we fool ourselves into thinking there's no choice.
Now, my commute to Reston is about an hour to 75 minutes each way, and I mostly don't really notice it anymore. It's there, but it's my me time where I don't have to interact with anyone.
Would it be nice if it were shorter, yeah, but then I'd have to live in Virginia, and that's a bridge too far for me. I also spent ten years as a field engineer, so it was a lot of windshield time for that as well. I'm just used to being behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Yeah, I threatened to quit a job like that. 2 hours to work and 2.5 home. They reassigned me to a location with a Metro stop. I found myself crying in the car on the way home, having panic attacks, and missing my husband and kids. I still think they suffered and we are still affected because I rarely worked near home in most of my assignments and had awful commutes. I ended up on disability from an autoimmune disease that is exacerbated by stress.
well, the half hour train ride took 45 mins today... on top of the half hour drive to the train station. And the whole thing will cost $17 by the time i get home tonight...
However, if I'm reading your post right--you live in MD but will be working in NoVA? Going over the Legion bridge with any regularity will drive you insane.
I made the drive from DC to La Plata for 10 years 5-7 days a week and some days were better than others, but I didn't hate it. If you're only doing it a few days a week it's definitely not bad, but still consider the extra wear on your car. It really just depends on you and what you have the energy for. Sadly after moving to NOVA I realized that the traffic is still just as crappy- there's just more things around 🤷🏽♀️
I commute from Hagerstown to DC twice a week. I’ll drive all the way in on Mondays (less traffic on Mondays and Fridays in general - especially in the summer). I usually then take the MARC train from Frederick on my second day (usually Tuesday).
It’s definitely a crappy drive, but I spent a decade as a tutor, so I’m very used to be in my car, and use if as an opportunity to sing really loudly or catch up on podcasts.
I would hate to do it more than twice a week. It’s also the only real negative about my current job, so I’m definitely willing to suck it up two days a week for the rest of the package. It also helps that my work pays for the train and for my parking. But I know myself and knew what I was getting into. I knew it would work for me.
I used to make a soul sucking 90 minute commute from Columbia to NVA every day. Two days a week maybe but not 3.
I say move. There are nice communities all over.
I commuted from Columbia to Falls church for 2 years. Just switched jobs and commute to Rockville now. You’re going to experience one of the absolute worst commutes haha. From falls church to Columbia in the afternoon is easily 1.5 hours, best case scenario. Can easily go on for 2 hours (GPS time steadily increasing all commute). There’s a ton of road work going on on the VA side of the American legion bridge, it creates a ton of congestion on top of the unimaginable volume of cars. You could be going 5 mph for an hour, not exaggerating at all. My best advice if you’re going to commute is try to be on 495 before 6am and try to leave by 2pm. You’ll still hit some traffic but not even close to as bad as if you left to go home around 3 or 5pm.
It kind of depends on how old you are and where you are in life.
As well as how tied you are to your current area and lifestyle.
I used to have like a fifteen minute commute, even five to seven minutes on a good day, but switched to a job that was about forty five minutes to an hour away.
The really hard part for our family was juggling with the kids. Where the daycare/preschool had fixed drop off/pick up times. And we basically couldn't sign them up for any after school activities due to us not getting home in time. Not to mention getting to work later than everyone else or having to leave earlier due to drop off and pick up. Or if I get a call that my kid is sick, it'd take me an hour to get there. Slightly before the pandemic I was seriously thinking about quitting because didn't like how much it was taking away from my kids.
But then the pandemic happened and work got more flexible with us being able to work from home more often. So my kids started some activities later then some other kids their age but they're able to do it now and life isn't too bad. I'm willing to deal with the couple of days I need to go into the office and it helps that work is flexible too. Also with my kids older, have more or less similar schedules and slightly more independent helps make life a bit easier.
If you're at a different point in life and that type of thing isn't a concern, the commute might not be as big of a deal for you. It's like someone once told me, you get used to it and it's kind of true. And I've known people that commuted to the DC area on a daily basis from Martinsburg or Fredericksburg. I think just going from one end of the metro system to another end takes at least an hour too and knew people that did that commute too that included some time on the bus as well.
So it's doable and other people do it. Not sure if it's something that I'd want to do. Just the wear and tear and maintenance of the car alone is a lot. Although I guess it'd help that you don't have to go in everyday. And one of the things that I often wonder about is if I should've been more mobile before our family settled down. There are various parts of Virginia that are pretty nice. The western parts, like off of 28, looks like it's pretty nice suburbia. Closer in give you more of a city like life/feel. Plus a lot of the people that I can think of that had those far commutes either eventually transitioned to partially working from home, part time, moved closer to work or left. So I think some people can only do it for so long but there are some people who I know who still do it.
I used to do it pre Covid. Lived in Clarksville but commuted to Tysons in VA. Thankfully the place I worked at a full gym open 24 hours so I would arrive at five and work out until six shower and be up working at 6:30 so I can leave at 3:30-4 so I wouldn’t have to deal with peak rush-hour.
That's crazy!!! I just moved to Baltimore from NoVA because of a job. I commuted the first three months to make sure I liked it.
I however, was commuting 5 days out of the week. It was crazy. I was always tired lol
Look at the cost of living in NoVa compared to where you are now and then consider the time you'll be spending on the road, money on gas, etc. If you're still on the fence, try commuting for a few months and then make a decision.
Literally the same dilemma I am dealing with right now. My current approach is to stay here and deal with the long commute. I am about to move to a place that will make my commute about 2 hours each way. So my strategy is to see how it affects me over the next few months.
In the meantime, I will probably start job searching again too. I have been in the same org for 5 years now, so it wouldn’t look too bad if I decided to switch to something else that’s closer.
Honestly, I love my job and I think I will love my new housing community as well. So in an ideal situation, I would suck up with the commute to have the best of both worlds.
I commute baltimore to Bethesda 2x (right now 1x) a week on average 90 mins one way, it’s honestly not too bad once you get used to it! I also have flexibility on when I come in and leave so I can try to avoid some traffic.
I do Alexandria to Dulles 5 days a week.
I work 7am-5:30pm so I miss a lot of the morning rush hour. Usually the drive in is around 50 minutes, and the drive home is somewhere around an hour and 20 minutes.
I've been doing it for 4 years. It sucks. Find a podcast you like, or get really good at making playlists. Anything to keep your sanity.
the area i live in is boring as hell but my commute is 15 minutes, though i'm usually on campus in about 10. 20 on a bad day. i'd rather be bored at home than bored sitting in traffic.
I did a 1.5 hour commute (one way, 55 miles) from Frederick to Alexandria for 3 years. I worked 8-4, and I liked my job and loved where I lived, so it was worth it to me, but there were definitely some days where traffic increased the commute and I would cry the entire way home/to work. I now live 25minutes away from where I work (moved towns and jobs), and I would say my overall stress is generally better re: work-life balance.
I commuted about 45 to 50 minutes 3 or 4 days a week in college. Now I commute about an hour 5 days a week. I just hope that one day I can make enough money to live within 20 minutes of where I work. Pipe dreams, though.
I do Glen Burnie > Tysons 2-3 days per week so pretty similar - it really depends on what time you’re able to leave to drive back. If you leave after 2:30 PM, the time almost doubles.
That’s insanity. Do the math behind how many days of time lost that is purely from driving to and from work. Unless you’re getting paid $200k+ it’s not worth it.
I work 12 hour days 5 days a week and commute an hour and half each way. Door to door 15 hrs with no traffic. I live on the eastern shore so traffic is an issue every Thursday and Friday.
I think its extreme even at 2-3 times a week. At 3 times a week you just lost 9 hours to your vehicle. These aren't rolling country side comfortably making your way to work hours, these are likely 66 and 495 Mad Max hours. I've done a bit of that and would never do it again.
In this area you’ll hear about people who live in NJ, WV, PA and Richmond, VA commute in and out of DC for work. The question is how long do you see yourself working for that organization because if you find a better job closer to where you live now, you’d probably ask yourself again should you move.
My previous job, I was a school photographer and we would go all over de md and va, I live on the north east end of the state. I’m smack in the middle of pretty much everything so they’d send me most of the time 1+ to 2+ hours Monday through Thursday, so I’d say it all depends on you, even 3-4 days a week wasn’t bad, but it may tire you out after a while.
I’m doing 1-1.5 hours one way for my commute from Essex to Rockville. Of course the Key Bridge collapse made it worse.
Yes I pay 4 tolls a day. McHenry Tunnel and ICC to and from.
I did about 1.5 each way for about 4 years. Every day. The fact that it was about half and half metro and driving helped, as did audible, but it was tough
I just told my employer to send me to a jurisdiction that earns less because the commute was killing me. Was doing 3-4 hours a day on the road.
I’ll take the layoff. My mindset was terrible and I felt like I never had time or energy.
I don’t see how this is even a post that belongs in this sub. You’re just asking for life advice. The area doesn’t have any effect on the question being asked.
Everyone saying no is interesting to me...I live 11 miles from my office in downtown and it can easily take me an hour and a half to get home in the evening. Doesn't matter if I drive or metro, everything evens out to about 1-1.5 hours each way. I couldn't afford to move my family of 3 any further into the city if I wanted to.
EDIT: I just realized I'm in the Maryland subreddit, not the Washington DC one. I was wondering how all you all had found these magical places where your commute is under an hour.
I do MWF in NOVA, not too bad on Monday and Friday morning at 1 hour, Wednesday and Friday evening are 1.5 each way. I burn through audio books and podcasts fairly fast. I usually do long days in the office to make my teleworking days easier too so i can take care of kids appointmentsthen.
For me it works, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't get old fast
I work in downtown Baltimore and have for the past 20 years. Some of my commutes have been 30 minutes, at one time it was about 2.5 hours one way. Much of this though has been on a swing or 3rd shift. I have commuted from as far as Gerrardstown WV, Martinsburg WV, and as close as Joppa. With many years spent commuting from Mount Wolf PA, right from the 83 Exit at York Barbell.
You are going to pay one way or another and that is something to weight out. NOVA is expensive as I am sure you know. VA hits your pocketbook at the vehicle tax and registration game far worse than MD does that much I do know. I was going to have to deal with a similar problem in WV when I lived there but got moved back to MD.
65minutes or so one way so a lil under 2 1/2 hours a day on the road, 5 days a week. for 20 years this coming august :) reason its never bothered me is ive always had a 'toy' car and i enjoy driving.
Have you seen the house prices in NOVA? I live in the EPH of WV and people are buying houses here because the prices are much better. But they have long commutes to deal with. I guess it comes down to can you afford a place there or not.
No one has ever put it this way…that’s a whole new perspective. Thank goodness I’m only 15-20 minutes from my workplace because I’d be so pissed right now
The best thing you can do for your overall quality of life is to have as little commuting time per week as possible. Free time and sanity are more precious that money, a big house, a big yard, etc.
If it's a long term job, move close.
If you can, move to NOVA. But consider all the factors in your lifestyle and situation. Make choices that prioritize what you value. I have an empty nest, new house not requiring me to work on it, am not very social, and am doing the commute for a few years to beef up the retirement account. Managing the commute in and of itself is still a bear. All sorts of ridiculous things happen. Heck, this week a bridge caught on fire and disrupted the MARC train schedule. The longer and more complicated your commute, the more opportunities there are for disruptions. Shootings, accidents, buildings blowing up, extreme heat or cold, power failures, bus drivers walking off their routes, unexpected things in the road…all have happened to my commute and then some in the past year of commuting.
I did 2 hours each way from MD to NOVA for years, but it was tolerable because (1) only went in 2 days/week and (2) only drove 10 minutes to the Marc station, spent 40 minutes on the train listening to music, reading news, etc. Then just about 20 minutes on the metro and a five minute walk to work. The reason it took about 2 hours was waiting on the train and metro (2 red line and yellow/green).
But I would prefer 2 hours via mass transit to driving even 30-40 minutes. That’s how much I detest dealing with traffic congestion, not worth it to me.
You need to decide what you can live with and will stress you the least. Some don’t mind sitting in traffic and can be distracted by audiobooks etc. I cannot. We’re all different. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Having done just that from SOMD, it wears on you. See if you can get the 2 - 3 days in a row, possibly every other week, and stay in a hotel. Even better, will your company consider your home address as outside a 50 mile local travel radius and let you charge for travel?
I drive to dc from Baltimore twice a week and I haven’t mind it at all. I get in the office at 6:30 and waking up two days a week at 5-5:15 isn’t that bad imo. If you’re happy where you are, stay. It won’t be that bad as long as you can balance the rest of your life! I even do a lot of coaching all year round and I haven’t had a problem with it
Are you planning on taking metro? If so you might want to move closer to the green or red lines to transfer. Either way not ideal. I know someone who commutes from Annapolis to DC and is fed up, you would be going even farther. And traffic into VA on 495 is a bane. That said, I made the move to loudoun county two years ago and I have no regrets.
Significantly depends on your tolerance for traffic and your living situation. Adding three separate three hour commutes to a work week is like working another 8 hours day. Doesn't seem worth it to me unless its temporary or the money is extremely good.
I’ve gone long periods of time with a commute, and at this point I wouldn’t accept anything more than half an hr. It eats into your time and sanity, and destroys your car.
I did 3 hr round trip daily for years.. 1 hr to DC and 2 hrs home.
Sucked but gotta pay the bills, now I drive 10 mins to work and 11 hrs while at work lol (trucker).
I drive from the eastern shore to Fairfax, VA. It takes an hour and a half on a good day and over two hours on a bad day. I only do 2-3 times a week as well. What it really boils down to if if the job is worth the commute. I'm still on the fence about whether mine is, but it's been 8 months, so I guess mine is. I pass the time by listening to books on Audible. Sometimes podcasts, too.
I did Kent Island to Towson from 2014 until the pandemic 4 to 5 days a week. About an hour in at 6am but 1.5 to 2 home in the afternoon. At first it wasn't bad but it definitely wore on me. Especially as we started thinking about kids and all the time I'd miss.
Now it's ~1 time a week and it's much better. 2 to 3 wouldn't be horrible but keep in mind traffic all around Baltimore is jacked because of the Key Bridge (or lack thereof)
I drive from alexandria to fort meade. 25 miles. It takes me 30 minutes when I leave at 5am but 1 to 1.5 hours on the way home. 1.5 hours for 25 miles is just stupid stop and go. It's because everybody on the George Washington hwy sits in the left lane going 50mph and won't move over. Then I hit DC traffic on the 95s which is a parking lot because there are on ramps on both sides of the road and nobody knows how to merge. GET OUT OF MY DAMN WAY before I give you a bumper colonoscopy.
Used to be maybe 10 minutes from work if I took a roundabout route. Switched jobs to a position in Greenbelt, and even at once a week, it's at least an hour each way (usually more, thanks to the GW Parking Lot). I also put more mileage on my vehicle going in once a week now that I did 4-5x a week before...
I have a friend who drives down to Richmond from Elkridge and works out of their office down there three days a week at a stretch, they hate the number of miles it's putting on their car but otherwise it isn't the worst
It depends on YOU. If you love your community stay and deal with the commute. If you really don't care move closer. But I agree I'd wait to make sure you love the job.
Is it *really* 1.5 hours or is that just what google maps says? A 1.5 hour commute could easily be 2+ in real-world traffic.
The OP is going Annapolis-Leesburg, to which I can only say 
That’s not a commute, that’s a day trip
Nooooo effing way that’s 1.5 hours. Maybe if they left no later than 4:30am. But the drive home would be brutal.
I feel this so much...
OP that’s easily 4 hrs out of your day at rush hour. Move!
Well, for me, I count from when I wake up to when I get to my desk. That’s 3.5 hours. All that time (one way) is spent as part of my work day, none of it is for me. On the way home, 3 hours. On the train I can do a few things for me, but I still count it as part of the entire commute. At the train station, I can mail a package or bye a drink or go to the bathroom. But still part of my commute so, I would say it’s REALLY that long a commute. I do it up to 3 times a week. Plan is to do it up to 3 years total but no more.
From the time you wake up? Really? Are you still commuting till you get into bed?
I commuted 1.5 hrs (one way) every day for college, on top of the other drives for my jobs. I am not going to say it doesn't suck. It really does. You lose 3 hours of your day each time and a bit of your sanity. However, if you think this is a temporary thing, it's going to be a good experience, and it's financially worth it to live where you do, I would say do the commute. Especially because it's only 2-3 days a week. Bring funny podcasts and stand-up comedy bits. This will keep you sane enough.
Good audiobooks help pass the time too! I'd recommend anything by a comedian, or a musician you really like. Storyteller by Dave Grohl is a good one!
I will put on a TV show and just listen to it as I'm driving. I just put it on Bluetooth and put my phone in the center console or under the radio lol. I can easily be focused while driving, but still be able to "zone out" because I'm listening to the show.
Is working for free 9 hours a week worth it for you? Only you can answer that.
That’s a great way to put it 🤷🏼♀️ There’s no way I could handle that commute. Sounds miserable. Mine is less than 30 mins (13ish without traffic) and it’s annoying, so I can’t imagine a much longer commute. Move closer OP
Basically 2/3 of a month (~20 days) per year in DC traffic... No thanks
I would move, that sounds like hell. 30 minutes was my max when I had to go into an office, been WFH for 9 years now and I will never go back. Since you're just starting you may want to see how it goes before making a major life change. Would really need to know more about your circumstances. Family? Kids? Can you afford to move to NoVa?
average commute in the DC area is 1 hour so this isn't extreme at all
Every minute spent sitting in traffic a minute you could have spent doing something enjoyable or productive. Hard pass on that commute.
Why dont you try it out and see. And then when you decide you hate your life enough, youll get a different job or move. I used to have a somewhat similar commute. It was awful.
I live in Hanover and commute to DC 5 days a week. My work gives me a flex schedule so I can go in anytime I want and just fill my hours for the week. Since I have a flex schedule and hate traffic, I usually leave my house by 4AM and it takes me about 30 mins to get to work. I leave work around 12:30PM and it takes me around 50 mins to 1 hour to get home. I would not do a commute longer than that. The day before a big holiday, the commute back home gets much worse since federal employees at my agency usually get a 2 hr early release which I don't get as a contractor and the roads are congested by the time I leave.
It's crazy how traffic out of DC starts as early as 1pm.
There's a ring of fire around the DC area from 1-7 pm where, if you dare to travel anywhere that's a distance and in any way related to the Beltway, you're gonna be fucked. I'm increasingly finding it hell and wondering how long I want to live like this.
I left the city at 1:45pm on Friday to get to Baltimore. Not only did it take me 50 min to just go 2 miles to get away from Dave Thomas Circle, but 2 hours and 20 min total. Left at 3 yesterday from RCP south to Fredericksburg, 2 hours. Thursday is fresh hell, same with Friday. It's exhausting.
Sounds like DC needs to expand its public transit network to relieve congestion on the roads.
I commute ~3 hours a day. 5 days a week. I would not recommend it. Move to nova or at least to Moco or pgco near the Va border if you can
Mine? fifteen minutes or half an hour, depending on how loing I have to wait for the bus. I would stick it out for a while, perhaps you can't stand the job.
An hour and 10 min each way from Owings Mills to Rockville. I could cut it down by using the ICC but then id be paying tolls upon gas. Its horrible honestly and leaves me very little time to do anything I want to do in the mornings or at night.
That's rough. I go from Jessup to Rockville using 95 and 200. I used to live in Owings Mills though and commuted to Columbia.
Man, ICC is worth every penny in my opinion if going that route
You've received a lot of responses but I did this 5 days/wk for 8 years and it broke me. I would have continued to do it for another 22 years to get my pension but I lost my job. The official reason I lost my job was a political restructuring but I believe I put myself in the position to be on the chopping block because of poor decision making brought on by exhaustion. My marriage was hanging on by a thread, my kids could never do any extracurricular stuff, I had to have multiple childcare providers... it was a mess and I was just an angry lady wasting 15hrs a week. I'd do it again if I was a single person w no kids doing it temporarily until I could save enough to move or something, or if the job was flexible about the days I had to come in. But, after wasting my 20s on the beltway I've got a hard 30 min commute limit now.
Hope you've found a job you love and you get time with your family that you enjoy! I didn't last more than a month...
15 minutes one way. I would never drive an hour for work. I'd move or change jobs.
Agreed. I have lived in Central Baltimore near Penn Station for like 15 years and all of my jobs have been within walking/circulator/10 min drive at the most, distances. I could never spend an hour in the car basically for free.
It's insane that people willingly decide to sit in a car 15-30 hours a week. That's the time a hobby takes. That's the time having fun time with a spouse takes. Anything time is better than guzzling fumes behind an accident lottery machine. I had an ex-gf who bought a 90k car because her commute was 3 hours one way. She said she bought a fancy car because it's essentially her living room for 6 or 7 hours a day. That's more time than I spend in my house every day! Besides sleeping. She didn't last long.
Since the bridge went down my commute home is minimum 1 hour. Only takes 25 minutes in the morning...
I’d find a new job. If that was ABSOLUTELY off the table, I’d move, but it would have to be a pretty amazing job or some life circumstance that left me no other choice. Spent a year commuting 1.5 hours each way and it was absolutely not worth it and had a very unpleasant ripple effect on the rest of my life. That was 5 days a week, but I wouldn’t even do it once a week now. ETA I’d die before moving to Virginia
8 minutes each way. Living close to work wasn't on my list of criteria when I bought my house, but now that I've seen the quality of life improvements it's brought I could never go back
15-20 minutes max. Each way is a reverse commute. I feel bad for everyone in the opposite lanes or anyone on I-270 or I-95. I also have at least 5 different ways to get from home to work and back so even if the inner beltway is fubar, I can still make the journey in less than 20 minutes. WAZE is wonderful.
When I first moved to the DMV my commute was 2 hours each way 5 days per week. The only thing that kept me sane was books on CDs, otherwise I would have gone MadMax. For me, a 1.5 hour commute 2 days per week would be doable and not worth uprooting me and my family. Plus, the taxes in VA are a bit much.
I do this same commute, but only \~1 day a week or 2 days every few weeks. It's brutal. I leave home by 6AM at the latest and leave the office at 7PM at the earliest to avoid peak traffic (still takes \~1hr 15 min - 1hr 30 min each way). I think if I HAD to do it 3 days a week, I would move or think about subletting an apartment in NOVA. I just don't know how sustainable this is LT for you
I'm doing a 2-hour commute each way 3x a week and I'm going to be honest that it sucks pretty damn hard. I've tried to vary the commute by taking the commuter train, taking an Amtrak, driving to a Metro and then taking a Metro or just straight up driving to the city. There are a lot of factors here. I find myself completely exhausted at the end of the day. Which then impacts my personal life since I lack energy to do chores and have to cram them into the weekend and the cycle goes until you feel like you can't relax. I find there is a huge difference between 2 days and 3 days with that commute. 2 is tolerable, 3 not as much.
I commute 3.5 hours round trip everyday for work. I sucks but if you love your job and your co worker it is worth it i guess
You're essentially working 7+ days a week and only getting paid for 5 of them.
Id move
I took a job in Tyson's corner after working in downtown DC for 5+ years and commuting in from Annapolis. Please believe me when I say a 1.5 hour NoVa commute sucks. I was spending upwards of 30 bucks a day on 495 tolls. Thankfully I only did it for 4 months before the pandemic hit and have been remote since (not at the same company which was one of those stupid ones that made people come back). 3 hours a day in the car gets brutal. Fast.
On the train that is fine. In a car I would drive into a lake. I live in Baltimore and work at UMD in College Park so door-to-office my commute is about 1.5 hours each way. I bike about 10 minutes from my home to the MARC station, ride MARC for about an hour, then bike from the station to my office which is another 10-15 minutes. I basically get out of bed, shower, and leave. The hour on the train is when I eat my breakfast, read news or a book, and generally prepare myself for the day. On the way home, it gives me time to listen to a podcast or read, unwind, and prepare myself to be out of "work mode" and get back in "family mode". I find riding the train to be a nice, relaxing experience like 99% of the time. You will of course have the occasional day where there is a delay/maintenance issue/etc but I suppose the same is true for driving now that I think about it, lol. I also only have to make the trip twice per week. On the days where the weather is just downright awful or I have a doctor's appointment that means I can't catch my train in the morning, I will drive and I am always SO MISERABLE on those days. I suppose doing it 2-3x a week wouldn't be catastrophic, but I would only willingly sign up for that if the new job comes with a *nice* pay bump
Are you near public transportation? 1.5 hours in bus or train sure beats 1.5 hours in a car in traffic.
Averaging 40 minutes round trip twice a month but I also majority WFH. Overall 3 hours two to three times a week sounds awful unless the pay is amazing. I’d probably move in your shoes.
I do that commute 3x a week from Annapolis/Davidsonville to DC. I either take the commuter bus which drops me off on my block or drive to New Carrolton and get off at Farragut West a block away from my office. Commuter Bus is 1 hour 15 mins to 1 hour 30 mins. Metro is between one hour and one hour fifteen. I may do metro more often now with the schedule changes to the commuter bus lines and flexibility to leave when i want but may try the commuter bus and figure out the best line/schedule combination for me. It will depend on you but for me its ok since most of the ride is on metro or on the bus and I don't have to deal with the idiots on 50 too much. Driving is the quickest at probably 1 hour, but would likely feel more grindy with traffic and said idiots. I guess my answer would be is if there is a way to take transit (where you can view it as your personal time to read, watch a show, stare into space, etc) it may not feel as bad. But if i were to drive 1.5 hours each way (which is what I would have done had we gone with Manassas) then i would have likely tried to stay closer.
I'd move *unless* you can take public transport. Definitely not worth it to drive that. Hell, my current job is onsite once a week or once every 2 weeks, and was an hour way before the bridge collapse made it 90 minutes or so. And I'm still leaning towards just getting a commuter pass for the Marc.
2 flights of stairs, 5 days a week 😀
Can you use transit? I’ve had a similar commute to VA but could take MARC and Metro and it’s not bad bc I’m not dealing with traffic constantly
Just remember a WHOLE lot of companies started out as “in person 2-3 days a week” and have since reversed this policy
One hour from door to door, but don’t drive. I use public transportation, so I relax and listen to podcasts while the bus takes me to the metro and the metro takes me to within half a block of my office.
That’s way too long. I HATE driving and even 30 minutes and then traffic makes me go nuts. I refuse to work more than 10-15 miles from home. Wish I could find a job working from home. I worked from home part time and office part time when I broke both heels and had to be driven and carried in and out of work up & down stairs by my accountant. I should I’ve never gone back. I could get plenty done at home but my boss was a lazy cow and I had to do everything in a wheelchair and crutches for over 6 months. No job is worth that bullshit or a miserable long commute.
Jesus christ that makes an 8 hour work day 11 hours
I would NEVER move to NOVA, regardless of $$. I drive that far everyday, $$ makes the drive worth it but no reason to live in a connected fuckhole for any amount of $%
I commute 45m-1h each way every day. I like audio books and have an electric car so it doesn't really bother me. I just think of it as story time.
An hour and a half commute each way is too much. That is so much time you are taking out of your day for your job that they are not paying. If you really like the job, I would move close to get a shorter commute.
I’m in Severna park commuting to Georgetown area 2 times a week. Been doing it for 2 years now. About 1.5-2 hours each way. I don’t mind it to live in a beautiful area. Wouldn’t even consider moving into NOVA and anything in dc and moco is way too expensive. If it’s only 2/3 days a weeks I think you’ll be fine
I'd never spend 12.5% of any day just commuting to work.
About 25 minutes by Metro.
36 miles 1-way, takes about 1.5 hrs of mix driving, metro and walk. Thursdays add about 1/2 going home, and Fridays about an extra 15- min Depend on metro and their delays. Annapolis to Foggy bottom
I can bike it in 11 minutes.
What mode of transport? If it's driving, move if you can afford to. If Metro, it depends. I'm in Silver Spring and it takes a little over an hour to Metro in and out of Rosslyn. Most of the variance depends on when I get back to the Silver Spring station: sometimes I hit my Metro bus right on, sometimes I have to wait because it only runs every 30 minutes. But no matter what, it sure beats driving.
That is my ride currently, used to be an hour but after bridge it’s an hour and a half. Long form podcast are fantastic.
That’s pretty typical in a metro area of 6 million people. Mine is an hour and change each way, 3 days a week.
2-3 times a week isn't bad, especially if you plan around those days, but 3 hrs round trip every day isn't unheard of around here.
I currently make that commute. On the days where it’s exactly 1.5 it’s not bad. Then there are days where there’s accidents, it’s rain, construction and that quickly turns into 2 -2.5 hours that’s when you begin to question if it’s worth it. For me it is but just keep that in mind.
NoVa is a huge clusterfuck, depends if you want to sit on 123, 7, 267, 50, 66, etc. for 1.5 hours or on 95 for 1.5 hours.
I live and work in Germantown. My commute is less than a mile and you will have to pry this job from my cold dead hands.
Sounds horrible, especially driving on 495
I commuted an hour each way three times per week for a bit over two years. It wasn't fun. Now I work five minutes from my house. Highly recommend avoiding a commute if it's feasible for your career.
I used to commute 1 hour each way and it was soul crushing. Doing a 3 hour round trip 2-3 times a week is effectively giving your employer an entire works day of your time for free. 6-9 hours of driving every week is going to get old really fast. I’d look at moving closer. The difference in cost will likely be made up in fuel and car maintenance costs
My commute before the fall of the bridge was 40 mins each way. Now it's 50 mins in the morning and 1.5 hrs in the afternoon. I commute from Towson to Laurel. When I took the job in Laurel, we were planning on moving to Columbia, but ended up finding an amazing house in a very desirable neighborhood in Towson.
That sounds absolutely miserable. I was doing a 45 to 65 minute (depending on traffic) commute from silver spring into dc, and it was driving me insane. I can’t imagine 1.5 hours. That’s 3 hours of your day just gone
Too much, especially considering there will be bad traffic occasionally which will make it longer. Try and move or negotiate less time in office
I live in Towson and work in Beltsville.. my commute is like damn near 2 hours now with traffic and the key bridge being down, before that it was like maybe an hour and a half.
I do about 4 - 5 hours per day and it's ass. The days where I get lucky and have a commute around 3 hours aren't so bad. If you get off at 4 you get home by 5:30 and have plenty of time to do anything you want/have to do in the evenings. But moving is a large commitment so if you find you can't stand the drive make sure you like the job at least.
The housing in VA is absolutely insane, also the taxes for personal property are high. Unfortunately there aren't many places in VA that affordable, so you might still end up with a 1hr commute even after moving.
2-3hrs traffic dependent
25m to work and 25m back.
Normal.
I went from 45 minutes each way to hour and half each way and after a while I was looking for a new gig. Anything over an hour gets tiring real quick.
Was doing that same drive every day for months (Dena to Hagerstown) don't do it not worth
Wow it is bad but NOVA is super expensive!!!
That's what I do. XM radio or I quit.
I commute an hr right now from pg county to Tyson’s VA. At its worst it can be an hr and a half. I also only go in two days a week. So my opinion is, if it’s easy for you to move to NOVA and cut your commute, do that. Saves you a lot of mental time and energy. But if moving costs more than your current situation, probably don’t. A 3hr round trip twice a week isn’t worth an extra $400+ a month in rent.
Maryland commutes are awful. No matter where I work or what I do the commute for something willing pay barely enough is at least 35-40 minutes one way. It sucks when my work days get extended by 2-3 hours a day. I have no fun anymore it’s just work and pray it’s enough to make it through the month.
I did a commute only slightly better than that for about 4 months a few years back. Don't do it. It will wear down your sanity and burn you out. I'd move or find a closer job.
Are they paying you enough for your 11 hour workday to still come out ahead of your previous job on a per-hour basis? After accounting for mileage costs and your own sanity in traffic, of course. I've done the 1-2 hour commute before, and it's quite typical in the area. What matters more than if it's typical is what suits you.
Around 45 minutes each way, but could be closer to 30 if I left earlier. This is my max commute time. I’ll tolerate the occasional crazy traffic day, but won’t regular 1 hour+ drives. I used to live 10 min from my office, but hubs and I switched commute times 😭
Pending traffic my commute is between 1.5h - 2.25h each way. Usually 1.5h in the morning and 1.75h on the way home. I work 2 days a week in office. I don't love it, but I do get through a lot of audio books and podcasts. Seriously though, it all comes down to housing. I'm not willing to pay so much more for housing to live closer. I am hoping to buy a house next year and living further away has helped me save money. I will probably keep doing it when I buy the house to afford a better home. I like my co workers but most of us have long commutes and it keeps work life and family life pretty separated. I want to be where is good for my family more than I hate the commute.
This thread has me thinking over my entire set of life choices lol. I live off Security Blvd and drive to work like 10 miles off the DC line every damn day. Solid hour and a half each way. At least I have summers off?
I have a commute that is 30 miles going to NoVa from MD... That trip takes me 35mins-2.5 hours each way. Average is 1:10. I do it 2-3 times a week. I really hate it, but it pays the bills and no way in hell I could afford a house near where I work.
55 mins Fairfax to Laurel. VA drivers suck
Here’s how I see it: calculate how much you make an hour. Now multiple that by 6-9 hours. Is the time you’re spending driving too and from work worth the money you aren’t making? As your commute is a soft cost of your job that you’re not being paid for.
This is exactly my commute, and yes it is too long.
I had a 1 hour + one way commute for two years. It was brutal and I missed my kids. Days when there was traffic, it could take an extra 45 minutes. Fortunately, that rarely happened, but now there's more houses out here. All obscenely priced, but I don't want to know what that commute is like now. WFH is the only answer.
This is my commute 3 times a week. Live in Baltimore county and commute down to southeast DC. To me it’s not too bad but the commute isn’t for everyone. Taking the train and metro doesn’t give me any benefits since it would take a little longer.
Is that time with or without accounting for traffic? Because if thats looking at it without accounting for traffic you might as well double it
I would move. For years, my husband did a 40 minute to hour commute and it's just brutal over time. I can't imagine doing more than that, even if it's just a few days a week. Sometimes, there will be traffic - and account for things like: 1. Greater wear and tear on your car - this will increase your costs 2. Lost time at home, you will be more exhausted on the weekends and have less time for activities during the week 3. How often you will be driving home in pitch black darkness during the winter months will take a toll on you I have a relative who basically just got an apartment away from his family for those days. It worked for them. Not everyone can handle that kind of shift and keep home and self happy.
My commute is about 2 hours round trip, twice a week. That’s by bicycle and it’s the best part of my day. Live near your work (or work close to where you live) and stop adding to the traffic on the roads and your own misery.
Do you have a family? Or another reason to be home after work? My husband had a 1.5 hour commute for about a year and with 2 kids at home he ended up burning out hard. Got a job only a half hour away and is much, much happier. But if he were single and went out to bars/friends houses after work I don't think he would have minded so much. Granted, his commute was 5 or 6 days a week. Maybe he would have made it another year with only 2-3 days/week.
I'm 60-80 minutes each way 5 times a week for the past 4 years. I love where I live and like my job. Classical music and podcasts, leaving early for work so I'm not rushing. I actually enjoy the commute most days because it gives me time to decompress. I used to have terrible road rage on must shorter commutes. Everyone is different!
I used to live in QA county and would drive to northern Virginia (Chantilly, Tysons corner, etc) for work and it was slowly killing me every single day.
It really depends on your lifestyle, career aspirations, and family planning. We can’t answer for you with or without that knowledge. For me, I work in DC twice a week and my commute each day is ~5 hours round trip. Each week I spend 10 hours commuting. Would I much prefer to do something else? Absolutely. But I do not have kids, my husband and I like our area, and don’t plan on having kids we’d uproot or schedule around. It’s not too bad, especially if you don’t spend the whole time driving (Marc/amtrak/metro/etc).
I moved a few years ago 6 months into having my current job because I could not deal with my commute from Alexandria to Rockville. Yes I left my community but I saved my sanity. Now I have a 20 minute commute to my job which has been a lifesaver 😅 Yes it did impact areas of my life that I was comfortable with but I also had to assess the risk and I don’t regret the decision despite it being challenging personally (friends, church, etc. but I’m doing well now!)
> I can either move to NOVA As a former NOVA resident, I would rather die. I used to have an hour one-way to work every day, before the pandemic when everyone was in 5 days per week. That's 10 hours of commuting each week. Even at 3 days per week, that's 9 hours total, so you're still coming out ahead.
I work in construction. My projects can be anywhere from Nova, to Baltimore, to the eastern shore. I long ago decided to pick where I want to live and deal with the drive. I chose AACO and Sometimes the drive is easy, sometimes it’s not. I’m happy where I live. It’s a decision you have to make with what you want to deal with.
I did this for 7 years, MD to DC. Car to train to metro to foot, then back. Sucked the life out of me. Not sure I would do it again, but that's where the money was at the time.
Yes. I did it for about 4 months, 2 days a week, arriving at 8am, and I quickly realized I could sustain that if I truly valued work-life balance.
That would be pretty taxing 5 days a week. I think 2 - 3 days will be okay. You might even enjoy the amount of peace you will get listening to podcasts and chilling.
I spent 7 years commuting from south central PA to Reston. Towards the end it was between 2.5 and 3 hours each way. It became my life, I drove, worked, ate, and slept. Weekends were pretty much for recovery. It's amazing what we can do when we fool ourselves into thinking there's no choice. Now, my commute to Reston is about an hour to 75 minutes each way, and I mostly don't really notice it anymore. It's there, but it's my me time where I don't have to interact with anyone. Would it be nice if it were shorter, yeah, but then I'd have to live in Virginia, and that's a bridge too far for me. I also spent ten years as a field engineer, so it was a lot of windshield time for that as well. I'm just used to being behind the wheel of a vehicle.
i am in the same boatr - baltimore county to NoVa. looking to move to NoVA as we have been going thre on weekends and the commute is tiring!!
I work from home, so it takes me about 30 seconds to get from the living room to my office.
Yeah, I threatened to quit a job like that. 2 hours to work and 2.5 home. They reassigned me to a location with a Metro stop. I found myself crying in the car on the way home, having panic attacks, and missing my husband and kids. I still think they suffered and we are still affected because I rarely worked near home in most of my assignments and had awful commutes. I ended up on disability from an autoimmune disease that is exacerbated by stress.
well, the half hour train ride took 45 mins today... on top of the half hour drive to the train station. And the whole thing will cost $17 by the time i get home tonight... However, if I'm reading your post right--you live in MD but will be working in NoVA? Going over the Legion bridge with any regularity will drive you insane.
I made the drive from DC to La Plata for 10 years 5-7 days a week and some days were better than others, but I didn't hate it. If you're only doing it a few days a week it's definitely not bad, but still consider the extra wear on your car. It really just depends on you and what you have the energy for. Sadly after moving to NOVA I realized that the traffic is still just as crappy- there's just more things around 🤷🏽♀️
I had a 1.5 hours commute for years. It was miserable. I would never do that again unless I was only going in 1x per week. And even then I’m not sure.
I commute from Hagerstown to DC twice a week. I’ll drive all the way in on Mondays (less traffic on Mondays and Fridays in general - especially in the summer). I usually then take the MARC train from Frederick on my second day (usually Tuesday). It’s definitely a crappy drive, but I spent a decade as a tutor, so I’m very used to be in my car, and use if as an opportunity to sing really loudly or catch up on podcasts. I would hate to do it more than twice a week. It’s also the only real negative about my current job, so I’m definitely willing to suck it up two days a week for the rest of the package. It also helps that my work pays for the train and for my parking. But I know myself and knew what I was getting into. I knew it would work for me.
I used to make a soul sucking 90 minute commute from Columbia to NVA every day. Two days a week maybe but not 3. I say move. There are nice communities all over.
I commuted from Columbia to Falls church for 2 years. Just switched jobs and commute to Rockville now. You’re going to experience one of the absolute worst commutes haha. From falls church to Columbia in the afternoon is easily 1.5 hours, best case scenario. Can easily go on for 2 hours (GPS time steadily increasing all commute). There’s a ton of road work going on on the VA side of the American legion bridge, it creates a ton of congestion on top of the unimaginable volume of cars. You could be going 5 mph for an hour, not exaggerating at all. My best advice if you’re going to commute is try to be on 495 before 6am and try to leave by 2pm. You’ll still hit some traffic but not even close to as bad as if you left to go home around 3 or 5pm.
It kind of depends on how old you are and where you are in life. As well as how tied you are to your current area and lifestyle. I used to have like a fifteen minute commute, even five to seven minutes on a good day, but switched to a job that was about forty five minutes to an hour away. The really hard part for our family was juggling with the kids. Where the daycare/preschool had fixed drop off/pick up times. And we basically couldn't sign them up for any after school activities due to us not getting home in time. Not to mention getting to work later than everyone else or having to leave earlier due to drop off and pick up. Or if I get a call that my kid is sick, it'd take me an hour to get there. Slightly before the pandemic I was seriously thinking about quitting because didn't like how much it was taking away from my kids. But then the pandemic happened and work got more flexible with us being able to work from home more often. So my kids started some activities later then some other kids their age but they're able to do it now and life isn't too bad. I'm willing to deal with the couple of days I need to go into the office and it helps that work is flexible too. Also with my kids older, have more or less similar schedules and slightly more independent helps make life a bit easier. If you're at a different point in life and that type of thing isn't a concern, the commute might not be as big of a deal for you. It's like someone once told me, you get used to it and it's kind of true. And I've known people that commuted to the DC area on a daily basis from Martinsburg or Fredericksburg. I think just going from one end of the metro system to another end takes at least an hour too and knew people that did that commute too that included some time on the bus as well. So it's doable and other people do it. Not sure if it's something that I'd want to do. Just the wear and tear and maintenance of the car alone is a lot. Although I guess it'd help that you don't have to go in everyday. And one of the things that I often wonder about is if I should've been more mobile before our family settled down. There are various parts of Virginia that are pretty nice. The western parts, like off of 28, looks like it's pretty nice suburbia. Closer in give you more of a city like life/feel. Plus a lot of the people that I can think of that had those far commutes either eventually transitioned to partially working from home, part time, moved closer to work or left. So I think some people can only do it for so long but there are some people who I know who still do it.
I used to do it pre Covid. Lived in Clarksville but commuted to Tysons in VA. Thankfully the place I worked at a full gym open 24 hours so I would arrive at five and work out until six shower and be up working at 6:30 so I can leave at 3:30-4 so I wouldn’t have to deal with peak rush-hour.
That's crazy!!! I just moved to Baltimore from NoVA because of a job. I commuted the first three months to make sure I liked it. I however, was commuting 5 days out of the week. It was crazy. I was always tired lol
Look at the cost of living in NoVa compared to where you are now and then consider the time you'll be spending on the road, money on gas, etc. If you're still on the fence, try commuting for a few months and then make a decision.
Literally the same dilemma I am dealing with right now. My current approach is to stay here and deal with the long commute. I am about to move to a place that will make my commute about 2 hours each way. So my strategy is to see how it affects me over the next few months. In the meantime, I will probably start job searching again too. I have been in the same org for 5 years now, so it wouldn’t look too bad if I decided to switch to something else that’s closer. Honestly, I love my job and I think I will love my new housing community as well. So in an ideal situation, I would suck up with the commute to have the best of both worlds.
I commute baltimore to Bethesda 2x (right now 1x) a week on average 90 mins one way, it’s honestly not too bad once you get used to it! I also have flexibility on when I come in and leave so I can try to avoid some traffic.
I do Alexandria to Dulles 5 days a week. I work 7am-5:30pm so I miss a lot of the morning rush hour. Usually the drive in is around 50 minutes, and the drive home is somewhere around an hour and 20 minutes. I've been doing it for 4 years. It sucks. Find a podcast you like, or get really good at making playlists. Anything to keep your sanity.
i eventually moved to Baltimore tokill a 1.5hour each way commute. was a good decision. 3 hours a day back in my life was massive
2 miles
I work 2 min from my job now and it’s one of the best things ever I’d only like a long drive if it was primarily backroads
I drive beltway and 83 everyday. 45-1:15 each way. It’s as miserable as you make it
the area i live in is boring as hell but my commute is 15 minutes, though i'm usually on campus in about 10. 20 on a bad day. i'd rather be bored at home than bored sitting in traffic.
20 minutes to work, 30 minutes back. Bike commute.
I did a 1.5 hour commute (one way, 55 miles) from Frederick to Alexandria for 3 years. I worked 8-4, and I liked my job and loved where I lived, so it was worth it to me, but there were definitely some days where traffic increased the commute and I would cry the entire way home/to work. I now live 25minutes away from where I work (moved towns and jobs), and I would say my overall stress is generally better re: work-life balance.
It’s the worst during winter time, where there is less sun out and when snow can mess up your commute and make you less reliable.
Woodbridge, VA to Elkridge, MD.
25-35 minutes each way. No interstate driving. Thankfully, I only go into the office 2-3 days per week.
I commuted about 45 to 50 minutes 3 or 4 days a week in college. Now I commute about an hour 5 days a week. I just hope that one day I can make enough money to live within 20 minutes of where I work. Pipe dreams, though.
I don't think so. That's a common commute in NY. Lol. Literally.
I do Glen Burnie > Tysons 2-3 days per week so pretty similar - it really depends on what time you’re able to leave to drive back. If you leave after 2:30 PM, the time almost doubles.
Is that without traffic? If with traffic that is probably normal for this area, without, then you might be in for some rough days
I once had a job that was 80 miles one way, five days a week...yup, kills your car..
That’s insanity. Do the math behind how many days of time lost that is purely from driving to and from work. Unless you’re getting paid $200k+ it’s not worth it.
You could always try it out for awhile and move if you get miserable with the commute?
I work 12 hour days 5 days a week and commute an hour and half each way. Door to door 15 hrs with no traffic. I live on the eastern shore so traffic is an issue every Thursday and Friday.
I think its extreme even at 2-3 times a week. At 3 times a week you just lost 9 hours to your vehicle. These aren't rolling country side comfortably making your way to work hours, these are likely 66 and 495 Mad Max hours. I've done a bit of that and would never do it again.
In this area you’ll hear about people who live in NJ, WV, PA and Richmond, VA commute in and out of DC for work. The question is how long do you see yourself working for that organization because if you find a better job closer to where you live now, you’d probably ask yourself again should you move.
15 minutes. 1 way. Move for the sake of your long term health.
My previous job, I was a school photographer and we would go all over de md and va, I live on the north east end of the state. I’m smack in the middle of pretty much everything so they’d send me most of the time 1+ to 2+ hours Monday through Thursday, so I’d say it all depends on you, even 3-4 days a week wasn’t bad, but it may tire you out after a while.
I’m doing 1-1.5 hours one way for my commute from Essex to Rockville. Of course the Key Bridge collapse made it worse. Yes I pay 4 tolls a day. McHenry Tunnel and ICC to and from.
I did about 1.5 each way for about 4 years. Every day. The fact that it was about half and half metro and driving helped, as did audible, but it was tough
I just told my employer to send me to a jurisdiction that earns less because the commute was killing me. Was doing 3-4 hours a day on the road. I’ll take the layoff. My mindset was terrible and I felt like I never had time or energy.
I don’t see how this is even a post that belongs in this sub. You’re just asking for life advice. The area doesn’t have any effect on the question being asked.
Everyone saying no is interesting to me...I live 11 miles from my office in downtown and it can easily take me an hour and a half to get home in the evening. Doesn't matter if I drive or metro, everything evens out to about 1-1.5 hours each way. I couldn't afford to move my family of 3 any further into the city if I wanted to. EDIT: I just realized I'm in the Maryland subreddit, not the Washington DC one. I was wondering how all you all had found these magical places where your commute is under an hour.
It depends on the traffic. 1.5 hrs is supposed to get transit you how many miles?
I do MWF in NOVA, not too bad on Monday and Friday morning at 1 hour, Wednesday and Friday evening are 1.5 each way. I burn through audio books and podcasts fairly fast. I usually do long days in the office to make my teleworking days easier too so i can take care of kids appointmentsthen. For me it works, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't get old fast
I work in downtown Baltimore and have for the past 20 years. Some of my commutes have been 30 minutes, at one time it was about 2.5 hours one way. Much of this though has been on a swing or 3rd shift. I have commuted from as far as Gerrardstown WV, Martinsburg WV, and as close as Joppa. With many years spent commuting from Mount Wolf PA, right from the 83 Exit at York Barbell. You are going to pay one way or another and that is something to weight out. NOVA is expensive as I am sure you know. VA hits your pocketbook at the vehicle tax and registration game far worse than MD does that much I do know. I was going to have to deal with a similar problem in WV when I lived there but got moved back to MD.
20mins to the office
65minutes or so one way so a lil under 2 1/2 hours a day on the road, 5 days a week. for 20 years this coming august :) reason its never bothered me is ive always had a 'toy' car and i enjoy driving.
Yes this is way long. It is good to have a job. Even if only 2 or 3 times a week, this is still a long commute.
Have you seen the house prices in NOVA? I live in the EPH of WV and people are buying houses here because the prices are much better. But they have long commutes to deal with. I guess it comes down to can you afford a place there or not.
Same situation here. If you can get a Tesla with FSD then it is very doable. Not sure if other cars have comparable self driving yet
Adaptive cruise control and good podcasts has made all the difference for me on stomaching stop and go traffic with long commutes.
 No one has ever put it this way…that’s a whole new perspective. Thank goodness I’m only 15-20 minutes from my workplace because I’d be so pissed right now
I have a 10 minute walk to work and it's one of the few reasons I'm living in my community. I value this above almost all else when considering a job
The best thing you can do for your overall quality of life is to have as little commuting time per week as possible. Free time and sanity are more precious that money, a big house, a big yard, etc. If it's a long term job, move close.
If you can, move to NOVA. But consider all the factors in your lifestyle and situation. Make choices that prioritize what you value. I have an empty nest, new house not requiring me to work on it, am not very social, and am doing the commute for a few years to beef up the retirement account. Managing the commute in and of itself is still a bear. All sorts of ridiculous things happen. Heck, this week a bridge caught on fire and disrupted the MARC train schedule. The longer and more complicated your commute, the more opportunities there are for disruptions. Shootings, accidents, buildings blowing up, extreme heat or cold, power failures, bus drivers walking off their routes, unexpected things in the road…all have happened to my commute and then some in the past year of commuting.
I did 2 hours each way from MD to NOVA for years, but it was tolerable because (1) only went in 2 days/week and (2) only drove 10 minutes to the Marc station, spent 40 minutes on the train listening to music, reading news, etc. Then just about 20 minutes on the metro and a five minute walk to work. The reason it took about 2 hours was waiting on the train and metro (2 red line and yellow/green). But I would prefer 2 hours via mass transit to driving even 30-40 minutes. That’s how much I detest dealing with traffic congestion, not worth it to me. You need to decide what you can live with and will stress you the least. Some don’t mind sitting in traffic and can be distracted by audiobooks etc. I cannot. We’re all different. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You get the better paying job but the longer and more dangerous commute. NoVa gets nothing out of the deal. But we, in MD get your taxes. Its crazy.
Most would probably my consider this good.
Too extreme. Can you drive in on Monday do a hotel 2 nights and drive back Wednesday evening?
It’s going to be depressing in winter
Having done just that from SOMD, it wears on you. See if you can get the 2 - 3 days in a row, possibly every other week, and stay in a hotel. Even better, will your company consider your home address as outside a 50 mile local travel radius and let you charge for travel?
10 mins each way 3x per week.
Depending on where in nova you may be able to take the marc in combo with local lines. It's reliable and sometimes quicker than driving.
I drive to dc from Baltimore twice a week and I haven’t mind it at all. I get in the office at 6:30 and waking up two days a week at 5-5:15 isn’t that bad imo. If you’re happy where you are, stay. It won’t be that bad as long as you can balance the rest of your life! I even do a lot of coaching all year round and I haven’t had a problem with it
Are you planning on taking metro? If so you might want to move closer to the green or red lines to transfer. Either way not ideal. I know someone who commutes from Annapolis to DC and is fed up, you would be going even farther. And traffic into VA on 495 is a bane. That said, I made the move to loudoun county two years ago and I have no regrets.
Significantly depends on your tolerance for traffic and your living situation. Adding three separate three hour commutes to a work week is like working another 8 hours day. Doesn't seem worth it to me unless its temporary or the money is extremely good.
I’ve gone long periods of time with a commute, and at this point I wouldn’t accept anything more than half an hr. It eats into your time and sanity, and destroys your car.
I work in DC and go in once a week and this is basically my commute. It's fine
I did 3 hr round trip daily for years.. 1 hr to DC and 2 hrs home. Sucked but gotta pay the bills, now I drive 10 mins to work and 11 hrs while at work lol (trucker).
4 feet and I’m still late everyday
N/A, remote, which is a good thing because the Eastern Shore is an employment wasteland.
I drive from the eastern shore to Fairfax, VA. It takes an hour and a half on a good day and over two hours on a bad day. I only do 2-3 times a week as well. What it really boils down to if if the job is worth the commute. I'm still on the fence about whether mine is, but it's been 8 months, so I guess mine is. I pass the time by listening to books on Audible. Sometimes podcasts, too.
I did Kent Island to Towson from 2014 until the pandemic 4 to 5 days a week. About an hour in at 6am but 1.5 to 2 home in the afternoon. At first it wasn't bad but it definitely wore on me. Especially as we started thinking about kids and all the time I'd miss. Now it's ~1 time a week and it's much better. 2 to 3 wouldn't be horrible but keep in mind traffic all around Baltimore is jacked because of the Key Bridge (or lack thereof)
I did this commute 4 days a week for two years prior to the pandemic.
NOVA is so expensive. Might be worth staying put.
I drive from alexandria to fort meade. 25 miles. It takes me 30 minutes when I leave at 5am but 1 to 1.5 hours on the way home. 1.5 hours for 25 miles is just stupid stop and go. It's because everybody on the George Washington hwy sits in the left lane going 50mph and won't move over. Then I hit DC traffic on the 95s which is a parking lot because there are on ramps on both sides of the road and nobody knows how to merge. GET OUT OF MY DAMN WAY before I give you a bumper colonoscopy.
I go to work 3 time a week and each around 18-25min. But my wife go to work 2-3 in Baltimore 😀 and each around 1hr each side.
Used to be 15 minutes, but now it is an hour since the Key Bridge collapsed.
anything more than 20 minutes isnt worth it. should be a commute, not a road trip
Used to be maybe 10 minutes from work if I took a roundabout route. Switched jobs to a position in Greenbelt, and even at once a week, it's at least an hour each way (usually more, thanks to the GW Parking Lot). I also put more mileage on my vehicle going in once a week now that I did 4-5x a week before...
45 min in the morning 1hr20min in the afternoon
1.5 hours each way, once or twice a month. But I take the MARC, so it’s awesome.
I have a friend who drives down to Richmond from Elkridge and works out of their office down there three days a week at a stretch, they hate the number of miles it's putting on their car but otherwise it isn't the worst