What is the average commute in O'Brien County, Iowa?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 19.0 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in O'Brien County, Iowa work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 7.1%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 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 · IA · GEOID 191412024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

O'Brien County, Iowa

Name: Commute estimates for O'Brien County, Iowa
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 19.0 min one way; 7.1% worked from home, 79.3% drove alone, and 5.0% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip19.0 min±2.0 min MOE

Worked from home7.1%±1.7 pp MOE

Drove alone79.3%±2.8 pp MOE

60+ minute trip5.0%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 O'Brien County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed +1.5 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +3.0 percentage points.

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

Mean commute17.5 min → 19.0 min▲ 1.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home4.1% → 7.1%▲ 3.0 pp

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

Public transit1.3% → 0.3%▼ 1.0 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone81.8% → 79.3%▼ 2.5 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How O'Brien County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 79.3%; 0.3% used public transit and 7.1% worked from home.

Drive alone79.3% ±2.8 pp

Carpool9.8% ±3.1 pp

Public transit0.3% ±0.4 pp

Walk2.6% ±1.2 pp

Bicycle0.1% ±0.1 pp

Work from home7.1% ±1.7 pp

Each share uses 6,937 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How O'Brien County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 20th percentile among covered under 25k countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

20^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 80% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

47^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 53% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

74^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 74% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

24^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 76% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind O'Brien County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 6,937 workers age 16+, including 6,444 workers with reported travel time and 493 home workers.

Population estimate14,126± — MOE

Workers age 16+6,937± 300 MOE

Workers with travel time6,444± 280 MOE

Estimated home workers493± 120 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 Iowa commute records for O'Brien County

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

All Iowa reports →