U City Residents Report Short Commute Times

Being centrally located has its perks.

A new ranking of commuting times among residents of smaller U.S. cities puts near the top of the 3,012 small cities surveyed.

The information comes from a ranking produced by the American City Business Journals based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Business Journals analyzed data from the bureau's 2009 American Community Survey.

Cities and "census designated places" with populations from 10,000 to 50,000 were included in the survey, according to the Business Journals article. The Journals also reported on mid-sized cities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 in a separate report and related database.

The article reports that cities and similar communities "were awarded points for all commuters who drive less than 30 minutes to work. But they lost points for all workers above that threshold."

University City was ranked 916 out of the 3,012 communities included in the Business Journal database. With a 2010 population of 36,577, U City had 29.66 percent of its workforce driving less than 14 minutes to work.

On the high end, only 4.66 percent of U City residents reported commutes of more than 45 minutes.

The Business Journal noted that on average, 15.5 percent of U.S. workers have a commute of at least 45 minutes.

Fifty percent of workers commute between 15 and 30 minutes and the rest have commutes between 30 and 45 minutes.

Want help beating the traffic? Don't forget to check out University City Patch's real time traffic map.