Commutes that cross two different state lines, going through three states?

[amroad17]

There have to be some commuters on I-275 who make their way from Ohio to Kentucky (and vice versa) with a five-minute dip into Indiana.

Count me as one who used to do this.  I live in the Latonia area of Covington, KY and used to manage the Bob Evans in Harrison, OH.  I would get on I-275 at the Taylor Mill interchange and go west around Cincinnati to get to Harrison.

[MikeTheActuary]

One very plausible commute I haven't seen mentioned:  between West Memphis, AR and Southaven, MS.

Pre-COVID, my commute was Windsor CT «» Montréal QC (2 state lines and an international border), but I did that monthly, not daily.

[bing101]

I heard the claim one time that certain investors of the Venture Capitalist companies commute from Austin, TX to San Jose, CA for work reasons

Or from Seattle, WA to San Francisco for work reasons yes its rare though but that story was out prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just not sure how true this is at this point.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-live-in-Seattle-and-commute-to-San-Francisco-every-day

[clong]

Anyone commuting from Northeast Alabama to Chattanooga will enter Georgia either by I-59 or I-24 and exit to Tennessee on I-24. If you cross the AL/TN line on US-72, you'll cross TN's southern border 3 times one way

I have several relatives that have made the AL to GA to TN commute. The alternate route for them would be AL to TN to GA to TN.

[KCRoadFan]

One very plausible commute I haven't seen mentioned:  between West Memphis, AR and Southaven, MS.

Well, actually - it was mentioned in the OP - which was by me.

[DandyDan]

Someone who commutes between La Crosse, WI and Decorah, IA (about an hour) would go through Minnesota.

I work with a guy who previously worked at my company's former distribution center in La Crosse who said he worked with people there from both New Albin and Lansing, Iowa. They routinely drove in through Minnesota.

One very plausible commute I haven't seen mentioned:  between West Memphis, AR and Southaven, MS.

Well, actually - it was mentioned in the OP - which was by me.

I wonder how many people drive from the Missouri Bootheel to Memphis.

[The Nature Boy]

Pittsburg, NH to Sherbrook, Quebec is 51 miles and you have to pass through Vermont to get there. Sherbrook is probably the biggest "city" in that region but I think that the international border is a barrier to actually commuting.

[SectorZ]

Pittsburg, NH to Sherbrook, Quebec is 51 miles and you have to pass through Vermont to get there. Sherbrook is probably the biggest "city" in that region but I think that the international border is a barrier to actually commuting.

Add 30 miles eastward to Upton, Maine and you have a conceivable 81 mile commute thru 3 states and a province.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Charles Town WV to Frederick MD, by way of VA, about 25 miles.
Or start at Harpers Ferry WV to cut it to about 20.

(Picking cities with a reasonable population and number of businesses that could be a realistic commute, as opposed to dinky little towns)

i have driven that route many times - charles town to columbia md via us 340/i-70 -- its quite a pretty drive, actually.

[dlsterner]

Charles Town WV to Frederick MD, by way of VA, about 25 miles.
Or start at Harpers Ferry WV to cut it to about 20.

(Picking cities with a reasonable population and number of businesses that could be a realistic commute, as opposed to dinky little towns)

i have driven that route many times - charles town to columbia md via us 340/i-70 -- its quite a pretty drive, actually.

Funny that you should mention that ... I just made that drive again earlier today.  Yes, a very scenic drive.

Actually went from central MD to Cumberland MD via I-70 - US 340 - VA 7 - I-81 - US 48 - US 220 - MD 53 which actually crossed five state lines!  MD -> VA -> WV -> VA -> WV -> MD.

Mind you, that's not the normal route between the two.  But this was a road-geeking trip.  I'm sure everybody here understands LOL!

[Road Hog]

Speaking of the Missouri Bootheel ... Rector, AR to Cairo, IL is only 108 miles. If you just crossed over to Kentucky, that's a 4-state commute.

[formulanone]

Speaking of the Missouri Bootheel ... Rector, AR to Cairo, IL is only 108 miles. If you just crossed over to Kentucky, that's a 4-state commute.

Who is commuting 108 miles from a town of about 1,900 people to a town with an ever-dwindling population of around 2,500?

(Don't get me wrong: if I was stuck there for some time, I'd totally try it at least once.)

[Jim]

A pretty short "cut the corner" would be from Hoosick, New York, to work in Williamstown, Mass.  One would likely cut the corner through Pownal, Vermont.  When I worked in Williamstown, I lived in town, but I knew some who lived in New York or Vermont.  I'm not sure if any of the New Yorkers commuted via Vermont.  I did "commute" to Troy for some research meetings from Williamstown, and often would go via Pownal to take Route 7 rather than the more scenic but much more winding Route 2 through Petersburg and Grafton.

[kphoger]

Cairo, IL to Union City, TN, is 51 miles through Missouri and Kentucky.

Possible, but more likely would be anyone commuting Western KY <-> Southeastern MO, since the Cairo, IL Ohio & Mississippi River Bridges are needed to make the commute without a boat

Yep.

It is was only about 15 miles from Wickliffe (KY) to Charleston (MO) by way of Illinois.  Very easy to imagine a commute to work at the Super 8 or the truck stop near I-57.

[hbelkins]

Cairo, IL to Union City, TN, is 51 miles through Missouri and Kentucky.

Possible, but more likely would be anyone commuting Western KY <-> Southeastern MO, since the Cairo, IL Ohio & Mississippi River Bridges are needed to make the commute without a boat

Yep.

It is was only about 15 miles from Wickliffe (KY) to Charleston (MO) by way of Illinois.  Very easy to imagine a commute to work at the Super 8 or the truck stop near I-57.

Similarly, there's a decent-sized paper mill south of Wickliffe along US 51, so it's feasible that someone living near Charleston or Sikeston might work there.

[debragga]

Ida, LA to Texarkana, TX is 35 miles through Arkansas

[Road Hog]

Speaking of the Missouri Bootheel ... Rector, AR to Cairo, IL is only 108 miles. If you just crossed over to Kentucky, that's a 4-state commute.

Who is commuting 108 miles from a town of about 1,900 people to a town with an ever-dwindling population of around 2,500?

(Don't get me wrong: if I was stuck there for some time, I'd totally try it at least once.)

I only presented a hypothetical which I assumed was the spirit of the OP.

[MikeTheActuary]

Pittsburg, NH to Sherbrook, Quebec is 51 miles and you have to pass through Vermont to get there. Sherbrook is probably the biggest "city" in that region but I think that the international border is a barrier to actually commuting.

If the crossing has NEXUS lanes, and if those lanes are open at the right times, it wasn't a huge barrier pre-COVID.  The best analogy would be a toll plaza where no electronic tolling was available.

The bigger hassle probably would have been getting the necessary authorizations to work.  Not a big deal if you already have status in the country where you're looking to work, but getting a work permit can be a bureaucratic hassle depending on the profession.  (I'm hoping the border will reopen before my Canadian work permit expires, as I imagine the border closure will complicate the renewal process.)

[mrsman]

MD to VA via DC is extremely common, especially for those who use the Metro system.

I had a commute from Silver Spring to Crystal City via DC using Metro for about 6 months.

A lot of Arlingtons' main emplolyment bases are close to DC and are metro-accessible.  So if you work in Rosslyn, Pentagon, or Crystal City areas and live in MD, you wil make this commute - most likely.  And it is likely only an additional 10 minutes each way from a MD-Downtwon DC commute.

[dlsterner]

MD to VA via DC is extremely common, especially for those who use the Metro system.

I had a commute from Silver Spring to Crystal City via DC using Metro for about 6 months.

A lot of Arlingtons' main emplolyment bases are close to DC and are metro-accessible.  So if you work in Rosslyn, Pentagon, or Crystal City areas and live in MD, you wil make this commute - most likely.  And it is likely only an additional 10 minutes each way from a MD-Downtwon DC commute.

Or those that commute between VA and MD (like one of my co-workers) over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, but it's kind of cheesy to count the few hundred feet that you are in DC without really noticing it

[jp the roadgeek]

Here's a 25 mile PA to NJ commute that takes you to 2 other states in between.

This one is a 30 mile commute to two spots in the same state that goes into 2 other states.

[SkyPesos]

Don't know any any other specific ones, but I can confirm/elaborate on a couple you mentioned.

I had a co-worker when I worked in Massachusetts who commuted from Maine every day.  He lived in Kittery, which is the closest Maine city to Mass.

I worked for a large Federal Agency in the Maryland suburbs of DC, and we always heard that we had commuters from 6 states plus DC.  Depending on where in W Va they lived, they might come through Virginia, and the ones from New Jersey had to commute either through Pennsylvania or Delaware.   Many of these people participated in van pools.

In the Cincinnati area, many people who live in Ohio commute to Kentucky by way of Indiana, and vice-versa.   Most Indiana people commute directly to Ohio or Kentucky as needed, unless they work in Cincinnati's far east/southeast Ohio suburbs, then they would probably commute via Kentucky.  If someone from Batesville IN were to commute to Ky, they would probably take 74 into Ohio, then 275 back into Indiana, and then into Kentucky, so three border crossings, but only three unique states.

Here's something else I found out recently:
From Lawrenceburg, IN to Downtown Cincinnati, I-275/I-75 via KY is 4 miles shorter than going via I-74 in OH.

[Roadgeekteen]

One very plausible commute I haven't seen mentioned:  between West Memphis, AR and Southaven, MS.

Pre-COVID, my commute was Windsor CT «» Montréal QC (2 state lines and an international border), but I did that monthly, not daily.

Did you live in an apartment in Montreal or something?

[MikeTheActuary]

Pre-COVID, my commute was Windsor CT «» Montréal QC (2 state lines and an international border), but I did that monthly, not daily.

Did you live in an apartment in Montreal or something?

Company paid for a hotel and parking.   I assume that will be the case when the border and the MTL office reopen, but the company is rolling out office re-opening stuff now, and is introducing some new bureaucracy around working from home and corporate travel....so we'll see.

[Roadgeekteen]

Pre-COVID, my commute was Windsor CT «» Montréal QC (2 state lines and an international border), but I did that monthly, not daily.

Did you live in an apartment in Montreal or something?

Company paid for a hotel and parking.   I assume that will be the case when the border and the MTL office reopen, but the company is rolling out office re-opening stuff now, and is introducing some new bureaucracy around working from home and corporate travel....so we'll see.

Hotel for a month? Wow.