What is the average commute in Santa Barbara County, California?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 20.8 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Santa Barbara County, California work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 13.4%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.7 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

COUNTY · CA · GEOID 60832024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Barbara County, California

Name: Commute estimates for Santa Barbara County, California
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 20.8 min one way; 13.4% worked from home, 64.7% drove alone, and 5.5% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip20.8 min±0.6 min MOE

Worked from home13.4%±0.7 pp MOE

Drove alone64.7%±0.9 pp MOE

60+ minute trip5.5%among commuters

U.S. Census Bureau ACS estimates for residents age 16+ who work. Commute time excludes people working from home.

01 / THE SHIFT

What changed in Santa Barbara County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed +0.2 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +3.4 percentage points.

These periods overlap: 2021 covers 2017–2021 and 2024 covers 2020–2024. Changes are directional comparisons, not independent annual measurements.

Mean commute20.7 min → 20.8 min▲ 0.2 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home10.1% → 13.4%▲ 3.4 pp

Share of workers age 16+ who usually worked from home.

Public transit2.3% → 2.2%▼ 0.1 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone67.5% → 64.7%▼ 2.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Santa Barbara County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 64.7%; 2.2% used public transit and 13.4% worked from home.

Drive alone64.7% ±0.9 pp

Carpool11.7% ±0.8 pp

Public transit2.2% ±0.3 pp

Walk3.9% ±0.5 pp

Bicycle2.4% ±0.3 pp

Work from home13.4% ±0.7 pp

Each share uses 201,783 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Santa Barbara County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 19th percentile among covered 100k–500k countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

Percentiles are single-metric context, never a “good commute” score.

19^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 81% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

61^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 61% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

92^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 92% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

47^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 53% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Santa Barbara County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 201,783 workers age 16+, including 174,681 workers with reported travel time and 27,102 home workers.

Population estimate443,701± — MOE

Workers age 16+201,783± 2,477 MOE

Workers with travel time174,681± 2,557 MOE

Estimated home workers27,102± 1,362 MOE

Why the ± matters

ACS values are survey estimates. The margin of error is the 90% confidence interval published by the Census Bureau or calculated for a share from published component margins. Small differences can be sampling noise.

05 / SAME STATE

Comparable California commute records for Santa Barbara County

These 8 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All California reports →