What is the average commute in Palo Alto County, Iowa?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 17.2 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Palo Alto County, Iowa work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 4.9%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 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 191472024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Palo Alto County, Iowa

Name: Commute estimates for Palo Alto 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 17.2 min one way; 4.9% worked from home, 77.4% drove alone, and 5.1% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip17.2 min±2.2 min MOE

Worked from home4.9%±1.5 pp MOE

Drove alone77.4%±1.8 pp MOE

60+ minute trip5.1%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 Palo Alto County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed +1.0 minutes and the work-from-home share changed -0.1 percentage points.

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

Mean commute16.3 min → 17.2 min▲ 1.0 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home5.0% → 4.9%▼ 0.1 pp

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

Public transit0.0% → 0.5%▲ 0.5 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone77.7% → 77.4%▼ 0.3 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Palo Alto County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 77.4%; 0.5% used public transit and 4.9% worked from home.

Drive alone77.4% ±1.8 pp

Carpool10.3% ±2.7 pp

Public transit0.5% ±0.5 pp

Walk5.1% ±1.7 pp

Bicycle0.7% ±0.9 pp

Work from home4.9% ±1.5 pp

Each share uses 4,573 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Palo Alto County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 14th percentile among covered under 25k countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

14^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 86% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

25^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 75% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

81^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 81% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

25^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 75% of covered countys in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Palo Alto County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 4,573 workers age 16+, including 4,347 workers with reported travel time and 226 home workers.

Population estimate8,863± — MOE

Workers age 16+4,573± 223 MOE

Workers with travel time4,347± 229 MOE

Estimated home workers226± 69 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 Palo Alto 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 →