It's No Big Surprise This US City's Traffic Is Now The Worst In The Country (And What Makes It So Awful)

If you've ever driven around the nation's capital, it's likely been a slow, frustrating experience. Cars crawl for hours, and it can sometimes take you 45 minutes to get 10 miles down the road. Beating out Los Angeles — which is so notorious for its traffic, there's a recurring "Saturday Night Live" bit comparing routes in the city — Washington, D.C., officially has the worst traffic in the country as of 2025. The slowdowns make it difficult to admire D.C. as the best city in America for parks in 2025. It can take a while to get to some of its most attractive parks.

Consumer Affairs put out its annual traffic report for 2025, tracking traffic and congestion in 50 U.S. metro areas. The report revealed that in the last year, commuters in the D.C. area reported having an average 33.4-minute-long trip to work every day. That's compared to the 32.1 minutes of the next longest: San Francisco. 

The Capital Beltway, which circles the District of Columbia, is an eight-lane monstrosity (that can be as wide as 12 lanes in some areas) that carries commuters in and out of the city. Running through and connecting major parts of the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia), there's no predicting just when you may get stuck waiting in traffic or when you'll breeze right through. Traffic can be especially bad during the spring, during the breathtaking Washington D.C. National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Adding to Washington, D.C.'s increased travel time is a metro system that's not utilized nearly as much as, say, New York City's subway system. The transit offers fewer and more sporadically placed stops, making it an inefficient means of travel for some. Inside and outside the beltway, it's not always as simple as taking one metro line to your destination. For many D.C. commuters living in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, driving to a metro stop is the first step of their morning commute, adding to the traffic of those driving to and from work.

Los Angeles may have been a shoo-in for the nation's worst traffic problems, especially since it's the leader in roadway congestion duration with an average of 8 hours, but it still has a shorter average commute time. The report found that, in D.C., the average length of weekday congestion is 6 hours and 35 minutes — a pretty long stretch to avoid getting in the car. The reason for the delay for most is a combination of long commute times and the daily gridlock that occurs during those six hours of congestion.

While traffic in the D.C. metro area may be shockingly bad, some good news was also illuminated by Consumer Affairs. The report found that despite placing first in commute time this year, D.C. ranked in the bottom 10 states for rates of fatal car crashes, ranking the ninth lowest with 5.95 crashes per 100,000 residents. So while the Washington D.C. area can be incredibly frustrating to drive in, it remains a relatively safe one. If you're driving in Washington or another city for the first time, you may consider borrowing a safety technique from UPS drivers when you're flustered by traffic.