Atlanta is definitely no stranger to bad traffic. Locals and visitors alike will tell you that if there’s one thing they don’t ~love~ about the city, it’s the traffic. Sitting in hours and hours of traffic on the interstate, waiting to turn left with an onslaught of traffic coming your way… speeders, texters… you get it. And now, it’s official. According to a new study conducted by Consumer Affairs: Atlanta is one of the worst cities for traffic in the entire United States. Keep scrolling for all the details.
Where does Atlanta rank on the list of cities with the worst traffic?
Atlanta comes in at #5 on the list, trailing just behind San Francisco, CA.
Here are the top 5 cities with the worst traffic:
- Washington, D.C.
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- San Francisco, CA
- Atlanta, GA
Here’s what Consumer Affairs says about Atlanta,
Rounding out the top five cities for terrible traffic is Atlanta. With an average daily commute of more than 31 minutes, the Peach State’s capital city climbed the ranks this year from eighth worst in 2024 to take the fifth position from New York City.
A breakdown of Atlanta’s stats:
- Average daily commute time: 31.3 minutes (third highest)
- Average length of weekday congestion: 4 hours, 57 minutes (12th highest)
- Annual rate of fatal car crashes: 10.75 per 100,000 people (17th worst)
This is also important because last year (2024), Atlanta ranked #8 on the same list. This year, we’ve climbed in rank, dethroning NYC as the fifth worst city for traffic in the country… and that’s obviously not a good thing.
How did Consumer Affairs come up with this data?
The ConsumerAffairs Research Team analyzed the 50 most populous metro areas in the country across three different weighted metrics to identify the cities with the worst traffic. The metrics included:
- Average travel time to work
- Hours of congestion
- Fatal car crashes per 100,000 people
If you’d like to read more about the study, you can check out Consumer Affairs’ website, here.