What's your commute to work?

I'm interviewing at a job that's 42 miles from my house each way. Currently work is 15 miles away, just wondering if thats in the very far category? What say the hive 

Mine is fifteen currently. Takes almost exactly fifteen minutes too. 

My closest was about five miles. With the farthest away being around thirty or so. 

I'd say 42 would be pretty far based on my previous commutes.

I'm about right at 25......feet, not miles. 

Part of my commute can involve airplanes .

For me the question is more, how long does it take? Out here 42 miles each way isn’t great but really doable, whereas it would be a nightmare in the SF Bay Area...

26 miles / 45 miles each way, over what used to be one of my favorite sports car roads in the state. Now I'm pretty tired of it and I will often take a slightly longer but much straighter route. I just want to get home. 

Soul-crushing.  

Putting that into a more readily comparable metric, about 35 miles in the greater Philadelphia area (actually DE over the bridge to NJ, for anyone that cares).  At the right time of day it is 40 minutes and the only hazard is the terrible drivers.  On a bad day, the record is 4 hours when a truck overturned right before the bridge and it was too late to exit the highway.  

42 miles in Massachusetts (per your profile) sounds like a lot unless you’re driving straight away from people and towards rural VT/NH.  

About 26 each way for me.  40-50 min depending on traffic. It was about 50 each way before transferring to the main office. Saves me about an hour of driving each day and it's much easier for me to work earlier hours (usually 6:30 to 3:30).  That said, there are some downsides.  The longer commute was a more pleasant drive and driving one of my classic cars wasn't as much of a hair-raising experience.  I'm not sure I'd want to drive my GT6 or Spitfire across the PA Turnpike with its 70 mph speed limit.  Although I have seen a brave soul in an MGB a couple of times so... maybe.

But in general - I agree - where that 42 miles is matters as much as the actual distance.

89 miles one way. Vehicle gets 18mpg around these hills in wv....

Almost exactly 30 minutes here, but it's an easy drive. Starts off gorgeous, then turns into a series of straight 40 mph roads that are always going 40 mph. No real traffic to speak of but no opportunity to have any fun. So as 30 minute commutes go, it's very pleasant but it's still an hour of my life each day lost transporting myself back and forth.

years ago, before I moved and the shop moved, it was a mile to get to work. I had an extra hour each day to get stuff done. It's amazing how that adds up.

In reply to Flynlow :

Its in the Mass Pike heading due east towards Boston. 

Tomorrow's my interview at 8 am  so I get to see how the traffic is, waze says 42 miles 51 minutes. I'm going during rush hour per say I'm hoping for a lot more money though, going up 15 to 20k a year more than my current job

Mine is roughly 35 miles and 45-50 minutes, all two lane back roads. The main road I take isn't the most interesting, but the views are nice, traffic is light, and I have a near infinite number of 'long ways' to take home. Aside from the odd accident or road work, the worst part is the too-common truck or old person doing 40 in a 55. 

I actually enjoy my commute most days, but I think that would be a different story if it was all traffic clogged highway miles.

37-40 miles depending on which interstates or back roads I take.  North Eastern suburbs of Atlanta to the airport.  Early mornings are a breeze, 5 p.m. ride back home is a big suck.  Lots of podcast, audible books, or good tunes help the time pass.  I have been known to say to hell with it and spend an hour or two sipping on a beer until traffic breaks

Here in MA that 42 miles could be an hour and a half depending on your road options.  I live in Plymouth and work all over eastern MA. One of the sites I go to in Waltham is 67 miles from home, an hour and 10 minutes to get there in the morning and sometimes 2 - 2 and a half hours to get home at night.  I'd guess if you are bailing off the pike by Framingham, traffic may not be too big a deal. After that it will get progressively heavier. The biggest gripe I have with long commutes is like Keith said, you loose at least an hour a day if you like to do stuff at the end of the day. Sometimes a slightly longish drive home gives you time to unwind if you can relax a little,  betting the pike isn't  very relaxing but maybe there are fun roads you could alternate with the highway.  Good luck with the interview. 

My office is 8 miles from my house.  I don't think I could handle commuting 42 miles each way on a daily basis.

Was about 30 minutes but as of now unemployed sooo no commute 

Had a 38 mile commute for nearly 30 years. Old state four lane w/ the last four miles state two lane, maybe 15 traffic lights in all. Allow extra time for daylight traffic, weather, construction, accidents etc. Typical 50 minutes and worth every nickel. No carpooling for sanity sake.

Last two years, same old four lane w/ different turn off and fewer lights. 50 minutes also. When I started driving this commute again it seemed like twenty minutes. New toll road had opened but only saved a few minutes, not worth the cost. Midnight had 10% the traffic of daylight and the morning return better as the white knucklers were driving in as I drove out.

40-45 miles / less than one hour would be my limit now. 50-60 miles or 1.5 hours into the city w/ parking and all, no way. But money talks don't it?

You'll probably know it when you see it. 

Good luck w/ the interview. 

I work in the trades so mine varies depending on where the job site is. It averages around 90 minutes, but can be 2 hours plus. Much more than that and they put us in a hotel for a few days.

They supply the vehicle (E150 van) and the gas, so it's not bad. One guy drives in the morning, the other in the afternoon so there's equal opportunity for paid naps. It's not a bad gig, but if it wasn't for the company truck, I couldn't do it.

35 miles one way.  That's 5 miles closer than my last job that I had for 13 years.  Time is now between 39 minutes (all lights green, no traffic) and 50 minutes (miss a few lights, mild traffic) without major issues.  If I have 15 minutes of traffic, I think it's the end of the world.  I'm glad I don't live in Houston or L.A. anymore.

My commute is about 7 miles one way. Takes about 30 mins. 

4 miles one way, about 15 minutes.  Sometimes I run it and it takes about 45 minutes.   My next house will make my commute about 150 yards.   

My wife and i are each about 3 miles. mine is about 6 minutes and hers is about 10.  I forget to turn the radio on some days.

I drive about 50 miles one way and takes about 45 min. The drive is 90% interstate, the first 35 miles are prefight speeds then speed usually tank and it turns in to door handle combat.

My last apartment and Job were only 24 miles apart and two hour commutes happened about twice a week and sometimes on the same day, record was 3 hours each way, on the same day.

It all depends on the area, time of day AND is this worth your time away from family members and home. I am single and most of my family lives close to my employer.

YMMV Paul B

Time is a bigger deciding factor over distance. 30 minutes in fast traffic beats an hour of bumper to bumper even if its half the miles.

 I drive 35-45 minutes in and 45-60 home.  Watch what is developing along the route and past it.  Years ago in a different home and job I had a 20 minute morning commute become a 30 minute over the period of 2 years. New housing and businesses opened and created that much more traffic that fast.

If you have a short commute now (like 10 minutes or less "short").. I wouldn't do it. IMO it's not worth a 15 grand raise unless you're presently making very very little. The fuel + wear and tear on a car will eat that raise.. while stealing too many hours from your life.

My commute is 25 miles each way, but I park a mile from home then ride a bus then a train. Door to door 1:10 in the morning, 1:20 at night. Occasionally, like tonight, the bus gets caught in traffic or somebody does something stupid on the train and the time grows. Those days suck but driving in this town is far worse IMO.

A LOT of my life wasted - but using public transit (employer paid) saves a lot of money and wear/tear on my cars. And I can get work done or do the podcast/internet reading thing without any stress of driving in bumper to bumper traffic. It's nice, honestly.

If I could get paid the same and work at home or very close to home, I would do it in a heartbeat. I'd be willing to take a lot less money to get the wasted hours of my life back.

You're looking at about 30 miles more each way. 60 miles per day. 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year (assuming 2 weeks of vacation), and that's an additional 15,000 miles per year on your vehicle. So your anticipated pay raise would basically pay you $1/mile. Subtract fuel, insurance, maintenance and depreciation costs from that.

Another way to look at it, would be to consider the time that it's going to take you to cover the extra distance. If you're lucky, you might cover 1 mile/ minute, so you'll probably spend at least an additional hour behind the wheel each work day. More if you're in heavy traffic. You'll have to decide how valuable those 250+ hours of free time would be to you. That's more than 10 entire days per year spent just getting to work.