The Times Square subway platform. | AP Photo/Richard Drew Report: Commute time for NYC residents longest in the nation

New York City residents face the longest commute times among workers in the nation's 30 largest cities—an average of 6 hours, 18 minutes per week—and have little flexibility in their schedules, a new report has found.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a seven-page study Tuesday night that compares the average travel times for workers across the country, using U.S. Census and American Community Survey data. The study found the average commute for New Yorkers was nearly an hour longer than for workers in San Francisco, who have the second longest average weekly commute at 4 hours, 57 minutes. Among the top 30 cities, workers in Milwaukee had the shortest average weekly commute—3 hours, 40 minutes.


And when actual work time is factored in, New Yorkers' combined work weeks are also the longest in the country (slightly more than 49 hours), even though New Yorkers do not spend as much time on the job, on average, as workers in many of the other cities included in Stringer's report.

Stringer's report also found that women in New York City are less likely to be employed than women in other major cities. And while men in the city between the ages of 23 and 64 are more likely to have jobs compared to men in the other 29 cities Stringer studied, women are roughly 2 percent less likely.

The comptroller blamed that on inflexible work schedules and long commutes.

He also discovered that 16.4 percent of women with children work part-time, compared to 17.3 percent in other large cities.

Even the good news is soured, the report says.

"The average full-time worker in New York City earns about 16 percent more than does the average full-time worker in the next 29 largest cities. However, that wage premium is less than it seems because full-time workers in NYC spend more than two additional hours per week working and commuting, making the actual wage premium closer to 11 percent," the report states.

In an interview Tuesday evening, Stringer called on the de Blasio and Cuomo administrations to increase their investments in mass transit.

"Our transportation network is grinding us down," the comptroller said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates with a $15 billion capital deficit. De Blasio allocated $40 million a year for the agency and his aides have said he plans to increase that investment when he releases his updated capital plan next month.

Stringer also said the city and state should require companies to offer better flex-time policies to allow working parents easier schedules.