Workers in these US cities will have the cheapest commutes as companies prepare to bring staff back to the office

Boise, Idaho.

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• Workers in these 20 US cities have the least costly commutes in the nation, a new analysis says.
• Tulsa, Oklahoma, has the shortest and least costly commute, at 37 minutes round-trip and $13 a day.
• Half of the cities with the 10 least costly commutes are also in the bottom 10 for median earnings.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Getting to the office each day can cost a lot of time and money. As companies draw up plans to bring staff back to in-person work, many people are dreading the idea of having to commute again.

Fortunately for workers in these 20 US cities, they have the least costly commutes in the nation, according to a new analysis from LendingTree. Commutes in these cities have the lowest opportunity costs which, in this case, is the value of the things people didn't do in the time they were commuting, such as sleeping in or being on the clock.

Read more: Employers are waging a war over work from home. WFH is winning.

Using the Census Bureau's 2019 one-year American Community Survey, the latest available federal data, the analysts looked at commute times for the 100 biggest cities in the US by worker count.

They then used Census Bureau data to estimate the average hourly earnings in these cities. When they multiplied this by the commute time, they were able to calculate these commutes' opportunity costs.

Here are the cities where American workers lose the least money when they're stuck in traffic:

1. Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Median full-time earnings: $41,302

Average round-trip commute time: 37 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $13

Annual cost of commute: $3,255

2. Toledo, Ohio

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Median full-time earnings: $37,148

Average round-trip commute time: 40 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $13

Annual cost of commute: $3,348

3. Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas.

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Median full-time earnings: $42,399

Average round-trip commute time: 38 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $14

Annual cost of commute: $3,431

4. Corpus Christi, Texas

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Median full-time earnings: $41,786

Average round-trip commute time: 40 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $14

Annual cost of commute: $3,461

5. Norfolk, Virginia

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Median full-time earnings: $37,334

Average round-trip commute time: 44 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $14

Annual cost of commute: $3,461

6. El Paso, Texas

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Median full-time earnings: $35,917

Average round-trip commute time: 47 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,650

7. Lincoln, Nebraska

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Median full-time earnings: $44,601

Average round-trip commute time: 37 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,672

8. Memphis

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Median full-time earnings: $38,843

Average round-trip commute time: 44 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,757

9. Tucson, Arizona

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Median full-time earnings: $37,393

Average round-trip commute time: 45 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,860

10. Cleveland

Ken Redding/Getty Images

Median full-time earnings: $37,272

Average round-trip commute time: 46 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,868

11. Buffalo, New York

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Median full-time earnings: $41,062

Average round-trip commute time: 41 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,873

12. Oklahoma City

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Median full-time earnings: $42,268

Average round-trip commute time: 44 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $15

Annual cost of commute: $3,873

13. Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Median full-time earnings: $40,525

Average round-trip commute time: 44 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $3,911

14. Boise, Idaho

Boise, Idaho.

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Median full-time earnings: $48,273

Average round-trip commute time: 37 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $3,933

15. Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Median full-time earnings: $41,707

Average round-trip commute time: 44 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $4,013

16. Salt Lake City

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Median full-time earnings: $46,628

Average round-trip commute time: 40 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $4,066

17. Omaha, Nebraska

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Median full-time earnings: $47,299

Average round-trip commute time: 40 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $4,089

18. Detroit

Photo by Mike Kline (notkalvin)/Getty Images

Median full-time earnings: $35,913

Average round-trip commute time: 51 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $4,091

19. Milwaukee

A partial view of the Milwaukee Skyline in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2018.

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Median full-time earnings: $41,076

Average round-trip commute time: 45 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $16

Annual cost of commute: $4,099

20. Richmond, Virginia

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Median full-time earnings: $42,348

Average round-trip commute time: 45 minutes

Daily cost of commute: $17

Annual cost of commute: $4,182

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