It's official: D.C. has the worst traffic in the country
Why it matters: You're not imagining it. It's bad out there.
Driving the news: D.C. dethroned LA for its famous congestion, topping the list of America's 50 most populous cities with the worst congestion.
🚗 By the numbers:
Average daily commute: Over 33 minutes (longest in the U.S.)
Average length of weekday congestion: 6 hours, 35 minutes.
😱 That's the equivalent of 71 days spent in traffic per year.
Between the lines: The timing coincides with back-to-office orders for federal government employees, and many private sector organizations following suit.
Threat level: Low for fatal car crashes. Perhaps a silver lining of all the gridlock: D.C. ranks in the bottom 10, with less than 6 fatal crashes per 100,000 people, according to Consumer Affairs.
Yes, but: DMV drivers are still pretty risky.
D.C. and Baltimore drivers have some of the shortest gaps on average between reported collisions among motorists from the 200 biggest U.S. cities, per Allstate claims data.
The big picture: Allstate determined risk by analyzing how many years drivers go without a reported collision for its 2025 America's Best Drivers Report.
The nationwide average is over 10 years. D.C. drivers clock a collision nearly every four years, while Baltimore runs just over four.
Alexandria, Virginia, is pretty risky, too — an average six years between collisions.
How it works: Allstate's report, which defines collisions as incidents resulting in property or collision damage claims, is based on 2022-2023 claims data.
That means minor fender benders that go unreported — as common in city driving as potholes and work zones — aren't captured here.
The intrigue: D.C. recently passed a new set of road rules designed to deter and penalize dangerous drivers, levying lawsuits and heavy fines — including on out-of-state offenders — who've racked up violations.
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