Editorial: Naperville is wonderful. Unless you have to drive to Chicago every day.

Naperville has gained a reputation as one of the best places in the country to buy a house and raise a family. For three years straight, it's been ranked the best place to livein the U.S.

It earned another less enviable accolade: Illinois’ third-largest municipality is considered a "burnout belt," ranking as one of the worst commuter towns in the country, according to a new survey.

How can a place deemed so nice to inhabit also be so frustrating? One reason: the suburban commute. Mental health care provider A Mission for Michael, which released the burnout survey, characterizes burnout belts as places where the stress, unpredictability and duration of the daily trip to work contribute to chronic stress and exhaustion for workers.

So while Naperville may be a charming place to own a home, that appeal dwindles if you need to drive downtown. It's a more than 30-mile drive from the western suburb to the Loop. With no traffic, that takes about 35 to 45 minutes. During rush hour, drive time can easily double or triple, especially if construction, weather or crashes intervene.

These expressway warriors may show up to the office at 9 a.m., but they've probably been on the move since about 6 a.m.

We envision many a suburban driver taking a deep breath and rolling up their sleeves before turning the keys in the ignition, steeled against the darkness with a hot thermos of coffee and as many audiobooks as their Audible budget affords. Imagine sitting in your car for an hour and a half just to pull up a chair and sit in meetings all day, and it becomes easy to understand the burnout phenomenon playing out.

Remember: Chicago traffic rivals New York City for worst in the nation. A report from Inrix consultants showed Chicago commuters in 2025 spent a whopping 102 hours a year in bumper-to-bumper traffic. For comparison's sake, commuters in Los Angeles racked up 88 hours, and Bostonians lost 79 hours annually stopping and starting.

Of course, Naperville isn't alone. Folks in Crystal Lake, Joliet, Libertyville and many other far-flung suburbs find themselves in the same predicament. And yet these are many of the more affordable, spacious options available to people whose career keeps them in the Chicago area, even if their budget doesn't stretch to buying a single-family home in the city. Schools also play a factor, and the suburbs offer better public options for growing families. That is, again, if you can afford it.

We imagine that when folks from these locales got the email that their companies expected them to ditch their work-from-home setups in favor of returning to the office three or four days a week, plenty of shoulders slunk and heads hung low. It turns out "quality of life" calculations change considerably once you factor in brake lights.

For those of our readers suffering from the I-290 blues, you have our sympathies, and we commend your herculean efforts to join us down here in the Loop. Might we also recommend the train?

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 5:17 AM.