The next time you find yourself grumbling about your twenty-minute drive to work, consider this: The winner of a 2006 nationwide contest to find the longest commute was a Californian who drives 357 miles to work and back every day — that's seven hours behind the wheel every day. His commute may be unusual, but his case is only one in a growing trend. The average commute in this country is fifty minutes. Those so-called “extreme commuters” spend a minimum of three hours traveling to and from work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the ranks of extreme commuters have jumped 95 percent since 1990.

One reason for the long commutes is that affordable housing and high salaries aren't always found in the same place. In what's termed the “commuting paradox,” commuters accept the burden of a long drive in exchange for something of value: a better school district, bigger house, or higher salary. In reality, the tradeoff doesn't seem to be worth it. Studies show that, on average, commuters are much less satisfied with their lives than noncom-muters are. Economists at the University of Zurich's Institute for Empirical Research in Economics say that people usually overestimate the value of the things they'll gain by commuting and underestimate the value of what they're giving up — their social life, family time, health, or hobbies.

Even if you don't have a long commute, you are still spending more and more time in your car. The Texas Transportation Institute says that the average annual traffic delay per rush-hour traveler has increased from sixteen hours in 1982 to forty-seven hours in 2003. Nationwide, that's 3.7 billion hours wasted in traffic delays and billions of wasted gallons of gas, increased congestion, and worsening pollution.

But just to prove that there is no one-size-fits-all where work/life balance is concerned, remember that California commuter? His job satisfaction, commute, and lifestyle suit him just fine.