Few things are more frustrating for Houston drivers than sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. You're late, you're stuck, and you're wasting time and gas — every single day. It's no surprise that the Bayou City has ranked inside the top 10 in a new list of cities with the worst traffic.

The average Houston driver lost 62 hours to traffic delays in 2023, according to Inrix's latest Global Traffic Scorecard. That's 16 hours more than the time tallied in 2022, and 20 hours more than the national average of 42 hours lost. Ouch!

Trends across the country after the pandemic continue to contribute to congestion. Remote work has led to a longer stretch of high-traffic hours instead of the usual pre-9 am and post-5 pm rush hour surges — and less predictable peaks at that.

"On any given day, everybody might be going into the office and no one is expecting it," David Schrank, a senior research scientist at Texas A&M Transportation Institute, told The Hill in June 2024. "What if next Monday everybody gets called in? Then boom — it's gridlock."

On top of that, truck-related congestion (as anyone driving across Texas knows) has increased with the continued rise of e-commerce and home delivery, with one truck equaling two to three cars on the road.

To see where congestion is the biggest problem nationwide, Stacker ranked the 25 cities in the U.S. with the most time lost per driver due to congestion, according to data from Inrix. Houston lands at No. 8, the worst in Texas. Of course, Houstonians don't need a new survey to tell them just how miserable our traffic is - as our late, beloved columnist Ken Hoffman expressed earlier this year.

Three other cities in Texas have made the top 25-worst list: Dallas is No. 17, Austin is No. 21, and San Antonio rounds out the whole list at No. 25.

Stacker's analysis includes how much delays cost drivers based on median hourly wages in each metro area, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and comparisons to pre-COVID-19 pandemic hours lost, measured in 2019. Inrix calculated commute times by looking exclusively at the time it takes to get to and from major employment centers based on anonymized GPS data.

Downtown speed is the speed at which a commuter should expect to travel 1 mile into the city's downtown or central business area during peak morning hours, and the first quarter of 2024 versus the first quarter of 2023 metric is the change in travel times during those two periods.

Read on to find out how Houston compared with other cities in the U.S. and Texas, including a city that topped (yikes!) 100 hours lost on average per driver.

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25. San Antonio

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 35 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +17%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: +1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $607
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $625 million
• - Average downtown speed: 19 mph

GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock

24. New Orleans

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 37 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +9%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -2%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $641
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $329 million
• - Average downtown speed: 14 mph

Khairil Azhar Junos // Shutterstock

23. King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 53 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -18%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -5%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $918
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $9 million
• - Average downtown speed: 22 mph

Sean Xu // Shutterstock

22. Denver

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 37 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -11%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -4%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $640
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $831 million
• - Average downtown speed: 14 mph

GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock

21. Austin

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 38 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -14%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -3%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $663
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $632 million
• - Average downtown speed: 16 mph

arbsimages // Shutterstock

20. Stamford, Connecticut

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 41 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +12%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -8%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $706
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $265 million
• - Average downtown speed: 13 mph

Hrach Hovhannisyan // Shutterstock

19. Portland, Oregon

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 39 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -8%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -2%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $679
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $665 million
• - Average downtown speed: 15 mph

Theodore Trimmer // Shutterstock

18. Honolulu

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 42 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -3%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $739
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $270 million
• - Average downtown speed: 17 mph

travelview // Shutterstock

17. Dallas

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 38 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +12%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -3%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $658
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $2.2 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 16 mph

Grindstone Media Group // Shutterstock

16. Charlotte, North Carolina

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 41 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -10%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -2%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $711
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $794 million
• - Average downtown speed: 17 mph

4kclips // Shutterstock

15. Pittsburgh

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 43 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -14%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -9%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $749
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $724 million
• - Average downtown speed: 20 mph

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

14. Baltimore

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 44 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -24%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -7%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $762
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $905 million
• - Average downtown speed: 13 mph

seand67 // Shutterstock

13. San Francisco

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 45 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -6%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -6%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $787
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $1.3 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 12 mph

Marcus E Jones // Shutterstock

12. Nashville, Tennessee

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 56 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -8%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: +1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $985
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $852 million
• - Average downtown speed: 20 mph

Nina Henry // Shutterstock

11. San Juan, Puerto Rico

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 57 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +14%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -2%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $994
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $802 million
• - Average downtown speed: 20 mph

meunierd // Shutterstock

10. Seattle

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 58 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -11%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,010
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $1.6 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 17 mph

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

9. Atlanta

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 61 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -3%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -4%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,066
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $2.6 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 16 mph

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

8. Houston

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 62 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +1%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,082
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $3.2 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 17 mph

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

7. Washington DC

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 63 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -9%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -4%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,095
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $2.7 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 11 mph

f11photo // Shutterstock

6. Philadelphia

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 69 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +2%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -9%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,209
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $2.9 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 11 mph

Bilanol // Shutterstock

5. Miami

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 70 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +18%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -1%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,219
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $3.1 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 14 mph

f11photo // Shutterstock

4. Boston

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 88 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -1%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -10%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,543
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $2.9 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 10 mph

JW.photography31 // Shutterstock

3. Los Angeles

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 89 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: -4%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -5%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,545
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $8.3 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 19 mph

Dennis MacDonald // Shutterstock

2. Chicago

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 96 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +18%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -8%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,672
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $6.1 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 11 mph

Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB // Shutterstock

1. New York City

• - Time lost per driver due to congestion, 2023: 101 hours
• --- Change from pre-COVID: +11%
• --- Change from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024: -11%
• - 2023 cost per driver: $1,762
• - 2023 city-wide cost: $9.1 billion
• - Average downtown speed: 11 mph

Story by Ali Hickerson. Editing by Jaimie Etkin. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.