I’ve heard this sentiment in various iterations over the past week and to be fair he did make this statement before prices tilted past all time highs. I love looking at numbers though and would like to make some assumptions to see how this impacts the average American, using 2019 data to avoid the pandemic outliers.
The average American commutes 16 miles in 27.6 minutes to work, one way. The average fuel economy (excluding commercial) is 24.9 mpg. Assuming a 5 day work week, the average American will drive 160 miles a week, or 8,320 a year just getting to and from their job.
This also means that the average American will burn 6.4 gallons of gas a week, or 334.1 gallons a year on their commute.
At todays US average price of 4.17 a gallon that means that the average American would pay $26.69 a week, or $1393.20 a year. Every 25¢ increase in the cost of fuel adds $83.53 to that yearly figure.
In addition to the actual cost of fuel there is the opportunity cost of your time. The average American spends 4.6 hours a week, or 239.2 hours a year commuting. That’s almost 10 days a year, just commuting.
Now let’s have some fun. For every 1% of the US Work force (1.612 Million) that works from home full-time, it saves 538 million gallons of gas a year. Or at current prices it returns $2.2 Billion back into the hands of the workforce. It would also collectively save 385 Million hours per year commuting, time that those works could spend with their families. And again, that’s only if 1% of the US workforce moved to WFH.
Notes: I didn’t account for workers time off, vehicle maintenance and insurance, the increased risk of death or injury while commuting or EVs and other alternative fuels. I made quite a bit of assumptions so your mileage may vary.