Those who were fortunate enough to work from home found relief during the pandemic when social distancing eliminated one of their biggest stressors — commuting.
Countless lives were improved by not having to sit in traffic for hours on end, and people found that they suddenly had more time and money on their hands, alongside reducing their environmental footprint.
So, how much money did people save and how much less pollution did they emit by working from home in 2021?
TodayTesting.com looked at commute times in 100 major cities across the country using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and AAA. They discovered that Atlanta workers saved an average of $3,987 last year by working remotely. Even more impressive, they saved about 5,700 pounds of carbon dioxide in tailpipe emissions.
While Atlanta residents benefited the most out of all cities, according to the study, the average American worker could have saved up to $2,398 in commuting costs by working from home and could have avoided putting out 3,428 pounds of carbon dioxide in tailpipe emissions.
Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Nashville, Detroit, Birmingham, Chicago, St. Louis and Charlotte round out the top ten cities that benefited from not commuting in 2021 in terms of money and emissions saved.
