West Chester residents feel they have it pretty easy when it comes to commuting. Those are the findings from a recent survey of 52 places in the Delaware Valley region. NerdWallet, an online consumer advice company based in San Francisco, conducted the study which included Philadelphia and surrounding areas in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

The survey used four factors to determine its findings: average commute time, gas prices, car insurance premiums and percentage of workers who commute by car and percentage who use public transportation.

West Chester fared well in all four categories and their average commute time of 20.2 minutes was the shortest out of the areas examined and less than the national average of 25 minutes.

Nationally, car insurance premiums average $1,100 while West Chester residents average $963 per year.

West Chester came in roughly in the middle on gas prices, averaging $3.51 a gallon compared to a high of $3.70 and a low of $3.17 in the areas surveyed.  As for how they get to work, 74.8 percent of West Chester residents travel by car while 3.5 percent use public transportation.

John Kuo, an analyst for NerdWallet, said “West Chester fared pretty well. The insurance costs in West Chester are pretty reasonable, the commuting time is a lot less than the national average.”

Phoenixville and Coatesville were also included in the survey, both finishing near the middle of the pack at 22nd and 29th respectively.

Both are comparable to West Chester on gas and insurance, but commute times balloon to 26.1 minutes in Phoenixville and 26 minutes in Coatesville. Modes of transportation for commuters also pointed out some differences.

Phoenixville checked in at 88.5 percent of residents using cars and 1.8 percent using public transportation, while Coatesville reports 84.5 percent traveling by car and 9.6 percent choosing public transportation.

So where’s the worst area for commuting in our region? Middletown, DE, home of the 35.3 minute commute and $1,908 average annual car insurance premium.  You can read more about the survey on Nerdwallet here or Mainline Media News here.

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