ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
COUNTY · CA · GEOID 60832024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Barbara County, California

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 the published estimate?

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 residents usually get to work

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

Compared with similar-size countys

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

19thMean commute percentile

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

61thWork-from-home percentile

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

92thTransit percentile

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

47th60+ 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 the shares

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.