Traffic analytics company, INRIX, issued it’s 2025 Global Scorecard last month and it was not good news for Chicago, Illinois. Chicago was ranked as the most congested city in the United States for 2025, ahead of New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston.
Chicago drivers lose an average of 112 hours annually in peak traffic over the time they would have spent in normal traffic. That’s 10 more hours lost in peak traffic than drivers in New York (102 hours), which came in second in the U.S., followed by Philadelphia (101 hours), Los Angeles (87 hours) and Boston (83 hours). For Chicagoans, the lost time cost the average motorist $2,063, while the city as a whole lost $7.5 billion, according to INRIX.
Overall, congestion resulted in U.S. drivers losing an average of 49 hours annually to traffic jams, an increase of six hours from 2024. That’s also the equivalent of about six working days, costing $894 in lost time and productivity.
A snapshot of Chicago’s INRIX report can be seen by clicking here.
I think it’s important to point out several reasons why Chicago rose to the top spot. First, the mulityear Kennedy Expressway construction project was completed through a bulk of 2025. It started in March and ran through the end of November. The closed lanes and exits along 1-90/94, plus the closed express lane led to denser congestion and longer commutes all summer and fall.
Also, the Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) chose 2025 to close multiple bridges all at the same time for much needed repairs. Those include the Lake Street, Cortland Street, Chicago Avenue and State Street Bridges. The Cortland and Chicago Avenue closures make transportation incredibley difficult when driving between the east and west sides of the city and often times requires jumping on the Kennedy for short periods in order to cross the Chicago river.
All of this construction, all at once, has made commute times much worse for Chicagoans. I will be interested to see if Chicago improves next year now that the Kennedy construction is complete.
If you have been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC., for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or you can go directly to the website at www.blgchicago.com.