The commuting behavior of workers in the United States: Differences between the employed and the self-employed

In this paper, we analyze the commuting behavior of workers in the United States, with a focus on the differences between employees and the self-employed. Using the American Time Use Survey for the years 2003-2014, our empirical results show that employees spend 7.22 more minutes per day commuting than their self-employed counterparts, which represents a difference of 17% of the average commuting time of employed workers. This is especially prevalent in non-metropolitan areas, and it also appears to depend on the size of the population of the area of residence. Our results suggest that there is a complex relationship between urban form and the commuting behavior of workers.