When it comes to housing, time is money

A look at the cost-per-minute of your commute in terms of housing

New Yorkers have some of the longest commute times in the nation. And since time is money, here is look at what your commute is actually worth in terms of housing costs.

Using Miller Samuel data, The New York Times divided the dollar amount of a median-price home near each station along Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven line by the time it takes to get to Grand Central Station. The result is a cost-per-minute figure.

The study found that homes with longer commutes to the city cost less and averaged $11,836 a minute to Grand Central Station.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

In Darien, Conn., a median-price home costs $22,881 per minute spent on the train, while traveling just 15 minutes farther to Westport reduced the cost to $17,493. Another 11 minutes to Fairfield and homebuyers pay $15,705 less per minute than those in Darien.

Farther still and prices really drop. After the 90-minute mark, in places like Stratford, Milford and West Haven, the cost-per-minute falls to a few thousand.

Obviously commuters are willing to spend money to save time. [NYT]Christopher Cameron