Transportation analytics company INRIX has released its 2025 Global Transportation Scorecard, ranking America’s most congested cities. To determine the ranking, the company measured the change in average travel time during peak periods from 2023 to the third quarter of 2025.
The typical U.S. driver loses 49 hours stuck in traffic, an 11% increase from 2024, according to the report. This equates to more than a full week’s worth of work hours, amounting to $894 in lost time per driver.
Last year, the United States lost approximately 4.7 billion hours due to congestion, costing approximately $86 billion in lost time.
“Congestion is increasing and infrastructure is struggling to keep up,” INRIX transportation analyst Bob Picheux told CNBC Make It. “When the road network cannot meet demand, traffic congestion occurs.”
The latest data from the Federal Highway Administration estimates that 290 billion vehicle miles were traveled in October, which Picheux said is a record and a sign that people are getting back on the roads and, in turn, congestion is increasing.
“With congestion, once you reach a certain point, the more people you add to the system, the more the impact is exponential and not linear,” said Ahmed Dalat, chief product officer at INRIX.
“We’re getting back to pre-COVID levels. We’re seeing a lot of activity happening that is much more similar to what it was in 2019 than what we saw between 2023 and 2024.”
For cities to successfully deal with congestion, Picheux says they need to do two things. First, we need to recognize a new normal that is close to, if not near, pre-pandemic levels. Next, we need to adjust our transportation systems accordingly.
“People rely so much on transit that it’s hard to reroute transit, right? But transit also needs to get more riders. It’s always a push and pull,” he says.
America’s most congested city: Chicago
According to INRIX, Chicago is now the most congested city in the United States, moving up from second place last year. The Windy City was ranked second in the world after Istanbul, Turkey.
chicago
Irina Olukhova | iStock | Getty Images
According to the INRIX report, Chicago drivers lost 112 hours due to traffic congestion, up from 102 hours in 2024. These delays cost the average driver $2,063 and the city $7.5 billion.
Chicago grew like the rest of the country, Picheux said, as driver time lost increased by 11% in the United States.
“Chicago has a strange geography because it’s completely cut off in one direction by water. Water just makes transportation more difficult,” he added.
Top 10 cities with the worst traffic congestion in the US
New York City ranked at the top of INRIX’s list for the past two years, but dropped to second place in 2025. According to the report, there was no increase in traffic congestion in the city this year.
In the world rankings, the Big Apple came in at No. 4, just below Mexico City.
New York City drivers lost 102 hours in 2025, the same as last year. According to the INRIX report, these delays cost the average driver $1,879 and the city $9.7 billion.
Picheux said New York City saw a rapid increase in crowds after the coronavirus pandemic.
“New York still has more people using transit than other cities. There are still a lot of people working hybrid jobs, but congestion is about the same as it was when everyone was commuting. This shows that there are still people who choose to go out and drive miles. So there’s more driving, but less commuting,” he says.
new york city
Bernd Obermann | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images
New York City has begun to address its congestion problem by introducing congestion pricing in 2024. Many drivers entering the decongestion zone south of 60th Street in Manhattan will be charged a $9 toll once a day during peak hours on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Overnight, the toll drops to $2.25.
In February, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that congestion pricing had resulted in nearly $50 million in tolls in the first month. The program is expected to generate $500 million in net revenue by the end of the year, according to the MTA.
Picheux said that while the new congestion pricing had to have an impact on congestion, that was not the main reason for keeping the fees unchanged this year.
The city has seen a rapid increase in congestion since the coronavirus pandemic, so it may have reached what Picheux calls a congestion plateau, where people simply say they don’t want to travel because of the congestion.
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