Living in New York isn’t just expensive, it’s also time-consuming: According to a new report, the majority of New Yorkers spend over 40 minutes commuting to work every day — almost double the 26-minute national average.

The study, published by the Center for an Urban Future, uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey to chart commute times and patterns across city neighborhoods. A big trend is that more New Yorkers are working in the borough where they live.

Here’s what we found to be the most interesting:

  • In Borough Park, 22 percent of commuters walk or bike to work, the most of any Brooklyn neighborhood.
  • In Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, more than 7 percent of employed residents primarily work from home. Indeed, the rate of New Yorkers working from home increased 37 percent in Brooklyn between 2000 and 2014.
  • Only 6 percent of Brooklynites commute to jobs outside of the city, the lowest of any borough.
  • A near majority of Brooklynites (49 percent) work in Brooklyn, while 37 percent of Brooklynites work in Manhattan.
Fort Greene Brooklyn Biking
Photo by Mary Hautman

Below, Brooklyn neighborhood commutes ranked from shortest to longest:

1. Borough Park: 35.1 minutes
2. Brooklyn Heights/Fort Greene: 36 minutes
3. Williamsburg/Greenpoint: 36.2 minutes
4. Park Slope/Carroll Gardens: 38 minutes
5. Bushwick: 40.3 minutes
6. Flatbush: 40.9 minutes
7. Crown Heights South: 41.2 minutes
8. Bed Stuy: 41.9 minutes
9. Crown Heights North/Prospect Heights: 41.9 minutes
10. Coney Island: 43 minutes
11. Sunset Park: 43.2 minutes
12. Sheepshead Bay/Gravesend: 43.5 minutes
13. Bay Ridge: 44.5 minutes
14. East New York/Starrett City: 44.8 minutes
15. Bensonhurst: 45.4 minutes
16. East Flatbush: 45.6 minutes
17. Flatlands/Canarsie: 48.1 minutes
18. Brownsville/Ocean Hill: 48.2 minutes

The report concludes by recommending the MTA reduce subway fares and the city adopt the Move NY plan. To read the full study, visit Center for an Urban Future’s website.

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