• Caroline Colvin commutes from New York City to Baltimore between one and three days a week.
• She said living in New York City helps her pursue acting on the side while keeping her other job.
• New York City's high cost of living has made her supercommuter lifestyle more difficult.

Caroline Colvin said regularly commuting three hours to her job is the best thing for her relationship and career — but it's come with significant downsides.

Last year, Colvin's fiancé accepted a job that required him to relocate from Baltimore to New York City. But Colvin kept her job as a social media specialist for the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

In January 2024, after the couple moved to Manhattan, Colvin began commuting to Baltimore. Colvin said she's required to work in person between one and three days a week, depending on the time of year. She said she currently goes in three days a week, but in the summer it was once a week.

Colvin is among the supercommuters who are making long trips to work. A Stanford University study published in June defined a supercommuter as anyone with a journey of more than 75 miles. The share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities was 32% greater between November 2023 and February than between the same time period four years prior, per the study.

This increase was likely driven by the uptick in remote working arrangements, per the study. For example, some Americans who left cities during the pandemic — in part for lower housing costs — decided they could stomach a long commute when their employers later called them back to the office.

On a typical commuting day, Colvin said she wakes up at 5 a.m., catches an Amtrak train about an hour later at Baltimore Penn Station, arrives at Moynihan Train Hall in New York around 8:30 a.m., and gets to the office 30 minutes later. She leaves work around 5:45 p.m. and is home by 9 p.m. When she has to commute the next day, she tries to be asleep by 11 p.m.

"It's a hard commute," the 23-year-old told Business Insider. But it's a commute Colvin said worthwhile, in part because being in New York helps her pursue a second career as an actor.

Balancing challenges with opportunities

Colvin said moving to the Big Apple has made it much easier for her to attend acting auditions, and that she's booked three roles — two of which required her to live in New York City. Additionally, she said Manhattan's prominent finance sector is a good fit for her fiancé, who works in the industry.

"New York City was always the end goal for both of us," she said. "The timing was admittedly sooner than expected, but it was an opportunity that ultimately made sense for both our careers."

While moving to New York City has helped Colvin supplement her salary with earnings from acting gigs, she said it's also had some financial downsides.

For one, New York City is among the most expensive places to live in the US. Colvin thinks she might have a higher salary if her job were based in New York City rather than Baltimore: She said she earns less than $100,000 annually.

"I'm paying a premium on bills and taxes to live in New York while only collecting a Baltimore salary," she said.

Commuting costs have also impacted her finances. Colvin said she used to buy a multi-ride Amtrak pass, which allowed her to reduce her per-ticket cost and not be locked into a specific train. But since Amtrak raised prices on multi-ride tickets for the Northeast Corridor this year, she said this option no longer made financial sense.

A 10-ride ticket from New York to Baltimore costs $750, while a monthly ticket (valid for up to two trips a day in one calendar month) costs $1,875. In comparison, Colvin said buying tickets individually typically costs between $35 and $50 per round-trip ticket — which has often amounted to less than $500 a month in combined ticket costs.

"The multi-ride pass offers more flexibility, but at least for my situation, is not worth the price difference," she said.

Colvin said she's reduced her commuting costs by buying tickets a few months in advance and taking advantage of Amtrak sales and promotions. Overall, she said she's been able to cover her living expenses and have some money left over for savings.

Another downside of Colvin's commute is the "fatigue" that comes with getting up early and regularly making a three-hour trip regularly, she said. But for now, she has no plans to change course or look for roles based in New York.

Do you have a long commute to work? Are you willing to share your story with a reporter? Reach out to [email protected].

• Grace Chang occasionally commutes from Washington, DC, to NYC for work.
• She said the four-hour commute is worth it because the job is a good fit for her.
• Remote working arrangements have made it easier for some Americans to become supercommuters.

Grace Chang says the occasional four-hour commute to her job is worth it but could be unsustainable in the long term.

Earlier this year, Chang, 28, felt burned out from her finance job at a hospitality company in Washington, DC. She began exploring new opportunities but struggled to find a role in DC that would allow her to grow and be less demanding.

After expanding her search outside the Beltway, Chang accepted a financial planning and analysis position, which she started in May. The role pays $120,000 annually, but it came with a downside: a commute roughly every other week from DC to New York City. Chang asked that the name of her employer be excluded for privacy reasons.

For her journey, Chang said she wakes up around 4 a.m. on Monday, catches the 5:05 a.m. Amtrak train at Union Station, arrives in New York City around 8:30 a.m., and is at her midtown Manhattan office 30 minutes later. She usually stays in New York until Wednesday or Thursday, and since her company doesn't pay for lodging, she crashes with friends or family who live in or near the city.

"I'm not 100% sure if the job is worth the commute, but it pays the bills and is a good stepping stone for other opportunities in the future," she said.

Chang is among the supercommuters who have embraced long treks to work in recent years: A Stanford University study published in June defined a supercommuter as anyone with a journey of more than 75 miles. The study, which was conducted by Stanford economists Nick Bloom and Alex Finan, found that the share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities was 32% higher between November 2023 and February than between the same time period four years earlier.

The economists said this uptick was likely tied to increased remote working arrangements. For example, some Americans who moved away from cities during the pandemic — in part for lower housing costs — decided they could tolerate their commute when their employers called them back to the office.

Supercommuting isn't the long-term goal

Chang said her employer doesn't have a specific in-office policy, but her manager wants her to work in person sometimes, particularly during busier periods.

When Chang landed the job, she never seriously considered moving to New York City. She and her husband have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and her husband works locally.

"We have friends and community here and didn't want to uproot so quickly," she said. "After I started making the commute, I just got used to it."

Staying with friends and family has helped Chang save money on accommodations while she's in New York, but her commute still comes with a financial cost. If she buys well in advance of her trip, she said she can generally get a one-way train ticket for less than $100. She said Amtrak offers a 10-ride ticket pass for $790, which amounts to $79 per one-way ticket.

However, Chang said her role would likely have a lower salary if it were based in DC, in part because the city has a lower cost of living than NYC.

In recent weeks, Chang's manager said she could reduce her commute to once a month. She said she'd previously requested a less frequent commute once she was fully trained for her job: She's been in the role for over six months.

While Chang is open to jobs closer to home, she said she's enjoying her current role and is getting the career development she wanted.

"It's definitely not a long-term goal or aspiration to continue to do this, but what has made this doable is having a positive mentality toward commuting," she said. "If I dreaded it every week, I would have quit in the first month."

Do you have a long commute to work? Are you willing to share your story with a reporter? Reach out to [email protected].