Average Commuting Time by Prefecture in Japan: Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic　|ニッセイ基礎研究所

岩﨑敬子 (いわさきけいこ)

研究・専門分野
応用ミクロ計量経済学・行動経済学　

■Summary

Amid growing interest in relocating from urban to rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic¹ and rising housing prices in major cities, this report examines whether average commuting times across Japan’s prefectures have changed. This report examines average one-way commuting times by prefecture in Japan between 2019 and 2025, drawing on analyses of annual surveys conducted by the NLI Research Institute since 2019. The aim is to determine whether commuting times before and after the pandemic show any noticeable differences. To summarize the results in advance, comparisons between 2019 and 2025 reveal no statistically significant differences in either the national average or prefecture-level averages. However, when looking at the trends during this period, an upward trend in commuting time was observed at the national level, at the metropolitan-area level in the Nagoya metropolitan area, and at the prefectural level in Yamanashi, Gifu, Tochigi, and Hokkaido. In contrast, Saitama Prefecture showed a downward trend.

¹ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. White Paper on Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan, 2021

■Index

1――Survey Overview
2――Average Commuting Time by Prefecture
3――Comparison of Average One-Way Commuting Times Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
4――Conclusion

岩﨑敬子 (いわさきけいこ)

研究・専門分野
応用ミクロ計量経済学・行動経済学　

日付	タイトル	執筆者	媒体
2025/12/09	Proportion of Extreme Commuters by Prefecture in Japan：Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic	岩﨑敬子	基礎研レポート
2025/12/09	都道府県別エクストリーム通勤者の割合－コロナ禍前後の変化分析－	岩﨑敬子	基礎研レポート
2025/12/08	Average Commuting Time by Prefecture in Japan: Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic	岩﨑敬子	基礎研レポート
2025/12/08	都道府県別平均通勤時間－コロナ禍前後の変化分析－	岩﨑敬子	基礎研レポート

Average Commuting Time by Prefecture in Japan: Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic | ニッセイ基礎研究所