Most Americans like turkey dinner, football games and finding deals on Black Friday. Unfortunately, not every Thanksgiving tradition is all smiles. With almost 47 million people expected to hit the road this weekend, we analyzed our data to predict the most congested cities, traffic delays around the busiest malls and travel times to major airports.
Top 10 Busiest Cities for Thanksgiving Traffic
Families planning road trips on Wednesday can expect getting out of town to be at least 21% longer than normal. If you’re one of those hitting the road, leave early – the pre-Thanksgiving rush hour is expected to start four hours earlier than a typical work day. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Diego top this year’s list of worst traffic cities with trips expected to take from 36-44% longer than a normal commute afternoon.
| Rank | Metropolitan Area | Rank Last Year |
2014 Peak Time | 2015 Peak Time | Additional Trip Time | Change YoY |
| 1 | San Francisco | 4 | 3PM-4PM | 2:30PM-4:30 PM | 44% | +1.4% |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 1 | 3PM-5PM | 2:30PM-5PM | 42% | +1.2% |
| 3 | Seattle | 5 | 3PM-4PM | 3PM-5PM | 37.5% | +1.6% |
| 4 | San Diego | 11 | 3PM-5PM | 2:30PM-4:30 PM | 36.5% | +1.7% |
| 5 | Boston | 8 | 2:30PM- 4:30PM | 3:30PM-5:30PM | 36% | +1.7% |
| 6 | Portland OR | 2 | 3PM-4PM | 4PM-6PM | 33.5% | +0.9% |
| 7 | New York | 3 | 3PM-5PM | 2:30PM-5PM | 32% | +1.6% |
| 8 | Hartford CT | 13 | 3PM-4PM | 1PM-2:30PM | 31.5% | +0.3% |
| 9 | Miami | 9 | 3:30PM- 5:30PM | 4PM-5:30PM | 28% | +0.4% |
| 10 | Chicago | 14 | 3PM-4PM | 4:30PM-6PM | 25% | +1.6% |
| 11 | Houston | 10 | 3PM-4PM | 4PM-5:30PM | 24.5% | +1.2% |
| 12 | Washington, D.C. | 6 | 2PM-4PM | 2PM-4PM | 23.5% | +0.9% |
| 13 | Philadelphia | 7 | 3PM-4PM | 12PM-1:30PM | 21% | +1.4% |
Top 10 Busiest Airport Routes
Key routes to major airports are expected to be significant bottlenecks. Drivers planning to fly can expect about a 19-minute delay getting to the airport. Travelers around Chicago O’Hare could see delays up to an additional 50 minutes. Although drivers heading to airports such as Denver and Houston should experience shorter delays than last year, their overall trip time is still expected to be longer than usual.
| Metro Area | Airport Route | Distance | Peak Hours | Travel Time | Expected Delay | Change YoY |
| Chicago O’Hare | Downtown to O Hare via Kennedy Exwy | 16.8 miles | 12-6PM | 73 min | 50 min | +87.2% |
| New York JFK | Hunters Point to JFK via Long Island Exwy | 15.2 miles | 3-7PM | 60 min | 36 min | +33.3% |
| Las Vegas | Las Vegas to McCarran Int Airport via I-15 | 8.2 miles | 7-10AM & 3-5PM | 40 min | 30 min | +90.4% |
| Miami | Downtown to Miami via Dolphin Exwy | 6.2 miles | 3-7PM | 39 min | 31 min | +34.4% |
| LAX | Downtown to LAX via I-110 | 17.3 miles | 7-9AM | 37.5 min | 15 min | +1.3% |
| Charlotte | Downtown To Charlotte Douglas International Airport | 10.4 miles | 9-10AM & 4-7PM | 37 min | 20 min | +85.0% |
| Dallas-Ft Worth | Downtown to DFW Airport via TX-183 | 18.2 miles | 4-6PM | 36 min | 17 min | +9.1% |
| Denver | Downtown to DIA via I-70 E and Pena Blvd | 19.7 miles | 3-7PM | 35 min | 10 min | -7.9% |
| Houston Bush | Downtown to Intercontinental via US-59 | 17.2 miles | 1-4PM | 29 min | 11 min | -44.2% |
| Phoenix | Phoenix to Sky Harbor Airport via I-10 | 6.5 miles | 7-9AM & 3-5PM | 23 min | 12 min | +21.1% |
Black Friday Shopping Center Forecast
During peak hours, the country’s busiest malls will average a 63% increase in traffic on Black Friday. INRIX estimates that traffic levels around shopping centers will peak during the early afternoon, specifically between 12:00-3:00p.m. If you’re headed to Palisades Center in West Nyack (NY), get ready to spend up to 250% longer than usual in mall traffic.
| Top 10 Busiest US Shopping Centers | Increase of Travel Time | Worst Time for Traffic | Extra Time at Worst Hour |
| Palisades Center, West Nyack, NY | 46% | 12PM-4PM | 250% |
| Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ | 26% | 2PM-6PM | 53% |
| The Galleria, Houston, TX | 25% | 3PM-6PM | 110% |
| Roosevelt Field, Garden City, NY | 14% | 12PM-3PM | 67% |
| Sawgrass Mills, Sunrise, FL | 12% | 1PM-3PM | 31% |
| Tyson’s Corner Center, McLean, VA | 11% | 4PM-5PM | 50% |
| Bellevue Square, Bellevue, WA | 10% | 12PM-3PM | 12% |
| Del Amo Fashion Center, Torrance, CA | 7% | 12PM-1PM | 17% |
| Mall of America, Minneapolis, MN | 6% | 2PM-3PM | 15% |
| Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL | 4% | 7AM-8AM | 12% |
Stay on top of the latest traffic conditions during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with INRIX XD™. Available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, the INRIX traffic app provides free, up-to-the-minute insight into current traffic.