Rockville Ranks Low on National Commuting Index

Nearly one-third of Rockville residents' commutes to work take between 15 and 29 minutes, according to recently published commuting data for towns nationwide. More than a quarter of Rockville residents have commutes of 45 minutes or longer.

The database of medium-sized American cities, published by The Business Journals, lists “483 cities, villages, incorporated towns and census designated places (CDPs) with populations between 50,000 and 100,000.”

The database was created using data compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s five-year version of the 2009 American Community Survey.

With a commuting index of -13.319, Rockville ranked 439 out of 483 medium-sized cities.

“The study awarded points for every commuter who takes less than 30 minutes to get from home to his or her job, and it took away points for every commuter above that threshold,” G. Scott Thomas wrote on The Business Journals’ “On Numbers” blog.

Rockville, with a population of 59,825 residents, reported the following commuting times:

• 14 minutes or less: 18.96 percent of workers.
• 15 to 29 minutes: 30.93 percent.
• 30 to 44 minutes: 22.49 percent.
• 45 minutes or more: 27.63 percent.

On average nationally, 28.7 percent of workers have commutes of less than 15 minutes, The Business Journals reported. Another 15.5 percent commute 45 minutes or more.

Among neighboring addresses:

• Bethesda ranked 404 (with an index score of -10.420).
• Gaithersburg ranked 436 (-13.048).
• Aspen Hill ranked 478 (-20.470).
• Germantown ranked 459 (-16.269).
• Wheaton-Glenmont ranked 476 (-20.194).
• Silver Spring ranked 479 (-20.514).

Towson, with an index score of -0.765, ranked highest of the medium-sized Maryland cities on the list, at 223. Bowie, with an index score of -20.832, ranked lowest, at 480.

A number of towns in the Washington metropolitan area find themselves at the bottom of the rankings. Burke, Va. ranked 475 with an index score of -20.171. among the 483 medium-sized cities listed.

A separate list ranked small towns.

Grand Forks, N.D. had the highest index score among medium-sized American cities, with 68.5 percent of its workers commuting less than 15 minutes and just 2.4 percent with commutes of 45 minutes or more.

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