Workers from cities surrounding Birmingham have the top ten longest commutes in the state (time wise) according to a study released last month by Stacker.

Chelsea was ranked as having the longest average one-way commute in Alabama at 35.4 minutes, which sits around 5 minutes under the average drive time from Chelsea into downtown Birmingham according to Google Maps.

The most likely explanation for this average commute time and similar averages for the other top ten cities is workers driving into the Birmingham metro each morning for their jobs according to James Fowler, director of the Birmingham Department of Transportation (BDOT).

“One of the biggest determinants of commute time is distance,” said Fowler. “Birmingham is lucky in that we are a jobs center for the region.

“We actually have the largest employer in the state located here in downtown, which is UAB. So, people that live in Birmingham are more likely to have a short distance to travel to get to their job. Some people in Birmingham actually walk to work. My own commute takes me about 12 minutes.”