DALLAS — If you make the drive to work here in North Texas, you know how that commute can be rough.
But how bad is it compared to elsewhere?
Well, a new Hire A Helper study ranked the top cities you should avoid in the country if you hate commuting -- and it may not surprise you to learn that three major Texas cities all stacked up next to each other among the worst in the country.
Here in North Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington combined as a metro region to be named the No. 6 worst commute, with an average one-way commute time of just over 27 minutes.
Something that impacts the ranking? More than three quarters of the people here using their own vehicle to get to the office.
One spot worst than us at No. 7 was the Houston metro, with an average one-way drive time of around 29 minutes.
Houston has more people using their own cars to get to work, but a lower population density.
In that same study, the Austin metro is just better than North Texas when it comes to large areas with bad commutes.
They do have a faster one-way commute time at just over 25 minutes, but the cities have a less diverse set of times when people leave for work.
Who rounded out the top five? Miami was No. 4, Atlanta No. 3, Riverside-San Bernardino in California No. 2 and Orlando was No. 1.
Orlando had a one-way commute time of around 28 minutes but with a high population density and high percentage of residents using their own car to get to work.
Well, you're already here -- so what can you do to shorten or improve your commute?
If possible, leave earlier. That usually means less people on the road.
You can also try to switch up your route.
Don't be afraid to pop a drive you routinely take into your GPS; it might show you a shorter route you're not as familiar with.
Carpool is another option because on some highways, you can take the HOV lanes which usually aren't as congested as the main lanes.
And almost always an option? Consider public transportation. The less of us on the roads, the faster the commute, so if you can, think about using it.
As always, if you have a traffic concern in your area, you can email us here.