A Note on Commute Times and Average Income Levels

Abstract: In this paper, the relationship between average commute time and average wage in a population center is investigated. The goal of thisresearch is to determine whether there is a positive relationship between average commute time and wages as economic theory would suggest.While this theory has been investigated to some extent in the past, the results of such studies have been limited to one or a few large metropolitanareas. The results of this study show that there is a positive relationship between the two. These results imply that businesses undergoing networkdesign or redesign decisions should consider commute time in prospective metropolitan areas as part of their location decisions and could savemoney by choosing an area with shorter commute time.