Not Los Angeles or New York: This is the U.S. city with the worst traffic where drivers lose up to 112 hours a year behind the wheel
Here’s the current state of affairs when it comes to traffic and congestion in the United States.
As cities around the world continue to spread their tentacles like a Duffer Brothers monster, the daily commute has become one of modern life’s most frustrating rituals. New traffic analyses for 2025 show that congestion remains a stubborn problem for millions of drivers, with some metropolitan areas standing out for sheer hours lost behind the wheel.
In North America, Chicago has emerged as the city where commuters waste the most time in traffic. According to the latest INRIX data, the typical driver in Chicago now loses more than 110 hours a year stuck in slow-moving traffic, surpassing concrete hell holes New York City and Los Angeles after the former introduced congestion pricing aimed at deterring peak-hour car trips.
In New York, delays average well over 100 hours annually per driver, partly due to dense development and heavy commuter inflows from surrounding suburbs. In Mexico City, another urban centre for chaos, limited high-capacity transit options keep traffic moving slowly almost all day long.
Pizzato Pizza, a late night pizzeria nearby the Pentagon, has suddenly surged in traffic.
— Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport) January 3, 2026
As of 2:04am ET pic.twitter.com/P60jMKfT1d
Despite recent congestion-pricing measures in Manhattan, drivers across the wider metro area still lose over 100 hours a year in traffic. The sheer density of the region, combined with commuter traffic flowing in from New Jersey, Long Island and upstate New York, keeps pressure on already crowded roads.
Los Angeles continues to live up to its reputation as a traffic hotspot. Long commutes, urban sprawl and limited alternatives to driving mean LA drivers regularly face delays across freeways like the I-405 and US-101.
Philadelphia may not always dominate national traffic headlines, but for local drivers, congestion is a daily reality. In 2025, the city continues to rank among the more congested large urban areas in the United States, driven by an ageing road network and limited room for expansion.
A traffic camera in Montreal caught this shot of a snowy owl in flight 🦉❄️ pic.twitter.com/ftLJwbs6sw
— Made In Canada (@MadelnCanada) December 28, 2025
Most congested cities in the US:
- Chicago
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- Los Angeles
- Boston
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Houston
- Washington, D.C.
- Seattle
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One of Philadelphia’s biggest challenges is geography. Major routes such as I-76 (the Schuylkill Expressway) and I-95 funnel enormous volumes of traffic through narrow corridors originally designed decades ago.
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