I’ll Give You 3 Guesses – Which City Ranks 1st for Worst Traffic in Texas?

Think your commute here in Central Texas is bad? Be thankful you don't have to deal with the congestion of a Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex or the madness of Austin traffic in rush hour. Even those cities fail to compare to the city that ranks at #1 in Texas for worst traffic.

Houston Traffic

TomTom released the results of their "United States of America traffic" report, which shows the cities in the U.S. with the absolute worst traffic.

Houston topped the list for cities in Texas, with McAllen, Austin, and Dallas/Fort Worth all landing in the top 50. Houston finished at #16 with drivers wasting 46 hours last year thanks to the traffic congestion.

Houston We Have a Problem

CultureMap Houston reports that the congestion rate in Houston is at 20%, meaning that the average travel time in congested traffic is 20% longer than at uncongested times. That's a 4% increase from last year, meaning it's just getting worse from year to year.

Is Houston Traffic The Worst?

As bad as it is to drive through Houston, it's even worse in other cities. The other top 5 cities were:

5 - San Francisco
4 - Baton Rouge
3 - Miami
2 - Los Angeles
1 - New York

Where is the Worst Traffic Spot in Houston?

According to a report from Texas A&M Transportation Institute, the worst spot for traffic in Houston is the 610 West Loop, which took the top spot from the I-35 stretch in Austin.

Could Be Worse

As bad as Houston traffic is, it could be worse. Houston finished at #16 in the U.S., but only at 214th in the world for 2021. In case you were wondering, here are the top 5 worst traffic cities in the world according to TomTom:

5 - Mumbai, India
4 - Bogota, Columbia
3 - Kyiv, Ukraine
2 - Moscow, Russia
1 - Istanbul, Turkey

In Istanbul, Turkey, drivers waste on average 142 hours per year in congested traffic, with a 62% congestion level. That means drivers spend 62% more time in a traffic jam than those who don't.