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Commuter Market Access Dataset
Introducing the first freely available database that shows the time-distance between US car commuters and jobs
For a city’s economy to thrive, its residents and employers must be able to access each other. The Mercatus Commuter Market Access Dataset for Congested Auto Travel (McMADCAT) contains useful data to analyze the mutual accessibility of jobs and residents.
A well-functioning labor market is the foundation of a city’s economy. It generates surpluses and taxes that allow citizens to enjoy many desirable services and amenities.
Lack of accessibility between jobs and homes, however, can make the labor market less productive, even in large and prosperous cities. If every resident could reach every job within an hour, labor market productivity would increase.
Most Americans commute by car. If they commute during peak hours, they may face serious congestion delays. To measure the time-distance between a home and a job, it’s important to take congestion into account. We did this by calculating the travel time between Census Tracts for someone departing at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Then, for each Census Tract, we calculated how many jobs that person could reach in 0–5 minutes, 5–10 minutes, and so on, up to 55–60 minutes.
Mercatus Commuter Market Access Dataset for Congested Auto Travel (McMADCAT)
Researchers may want to apply different discounts or calculate the accessibility of jobs in particular industries or workers with particular education levels. To do so, they can use the rich data details provided in the database at each time-distance. Please see the technical documentation for a full description of the data and methodology
Other users will find our summary file more helpful. It presents the numbers of workers and jobs within each Census Tract, along with two Commuter Market Access scores based onthe discounted sum of all workers or jobs available within 60 minutes.
The Commuter Market Access Dataset contains data that can illustrate high-access and low-access areas of different states. Mapping resident commuter market access across Massachusetts reveals clear patterns. People in the eastern part of the state, around Boston, have access to vastly more jobs. But even within that region, large differences remain. Those who live closer to downtown and along major highways have greater access by car to jobs.
Conversely, the lowest job access is on the small island of Nantucket. Although it is a wealthy retreat, those who summer there make their money elsewhere, not via the island economy.
Firm commuter market access shows the employer’s perspective: How many workers can reach this location from their residences? Eastern Massachusetts job sites still dominate, but unlike jobs, which are concentrated in the urban core, workers are more evenly spread across the region. In fact, the single location with the greatest access to car commuters is in suburban Stoneham on Interstate 93.
In both maps, Greater Boston’s hub-and-spoke highway network is clearly visible. The inner ring is Route 128; the outer is Interstate 495, which passes through Lowell and Foxborough. We look forward to learning what you will discover with this new data.