(NEXSTAR) – The average American saved more than a week of time by not commuting last year, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered offices and sent much of the workforce to their home desks.
According to a study conducted by Make A Living Writing, the average amount of time Americans saved by not driving into the office last year was 8.6 days.
The study used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and calculated the above rate by averaging the number of days most people work in a year. On average, Americans work about 242.8 days a year, factoring in sick and vacation time.
The most time saved was centered around large cities across the country — from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Atlanta and Philadelphia.
In highway-heavy Los Angeles, for example, the average commuter saved 10.25 days last year by working from home. In Houston, that number was 9.95.
You can view the interactive map here.
According to a December Pew Research study, about 71 percent of the American workforce was working from home at that time. Only 20 percent worked from home before the pandemic.
About half of those Pew surveyed said they want to continue to work from home after the pandemic ends — perhaps they’ve gotten used to the break from commuting.