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

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 25.7 min, excluding people who worked from home.

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

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 19.3%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 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 60872024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Cruz County, California

Name: Commute estimates for Santa Cruz 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 25.7 min one way; 19.3% worked from home, 62.2% drove alone, and 9.4% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip25.7 min±0.9 min MOE

Worked from home19.3%±1.1 pp MOE

Drove alone62.2%±1.3 pp MOE

60+ minute trip9.4%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 Cruz County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -1.3 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +5.3 percentage points.

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

Mean commute26.9 min → 25.7 min▼ 1.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home13.9% → 19.3%▲ 5.3 pp

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

Public transit1.9% → 1.9%— 0.0 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone66.2% → 62.2%▼ 4.0 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Santa Cruz County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 62.2%; 1.9% used public transit and 19.3% worked from home.

Drive alone62.2% ±1.3 pp

Carpool8.1% ±0.8 pp

Public transit1.9% ±0.4 pp

Walk4.2% ±0.5 pp

Bicycle2.2% ±0.4 pp

Work from home19.3% ±1.1 pp

Each share uses 125,770 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Santa Cruz County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 64th percentile among covered 100k–500k countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

64^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 64% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

91^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 91% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

90^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 90% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

77^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 77% of covered countys in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Santa Cruz County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 125,770 workers age 16+, including 101,503 workers with reported travel time and 24,267 home workers.

Population estimate264,926± — MOE

Workers age 16+125,770± 1,985 MOE

Workers with travel time101,503± 2,161 MOE

Estimated home workers24,267± 1,453 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 Cruz 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 →