Sweet home far away from work

Mar. 6, 2011, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

MARION — Jessica Abrams has a job she enjoys.

But to maintain gainful employment, she spends two hours in her car each day. She doesn’t want to move from Marion to Columbus.

The cost of living is lower where she lives, and she prefers the school system. But it puts a strain on her family.

“I don’t think I could find a job here making the kind of money that I do now, but I hope to eventually,” said Abrams, 31.

The average commute for Ohio workers has increased from 20 minutes in 1990 to 22.6 minutes in the past five years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

It doesn’t sound like much on the surface, but that amounts to an additional 21 hours in the car each year.