ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
COUNTY · NC · GEOID 371192024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 25.1 min one way; 28.5% worked from home, 58.6% drove alone, and 4.5% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip25.1 min±0.5 min MOE
Worked from home28.5%±0.6 pp MOE
Drove alone58.6%±0.6 pp MOE
60+ minute trip4.5%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 Mecklenburg County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.8 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +11.4 percentage points.

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

Mean commute25.9 min → 25.1 min▼ 0.8 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home17.1% → 28.5%▲ 11.4 pp

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

Public transit2.3% → 1.7%▼ 0.6 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone69.3% → 58.6%▼ 10.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Mecklenburg County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 58.6%; 1.7% used public transit and 28.5% worked from home.

Drive alone58.6% ±0.6 pp
Carpool8.1% ±0.4 pp
Public transit1.7% ±0.2 pp
Walk1.7% ±0.2 pp
Bicycle0.2% ±0.0 pp
Work from home28.5% ±0.6 pp

Each share uses 619,000 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Mecklenburg County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 34th percentile among covered 500k+ countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

34thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 66% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

95thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 95% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

48thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 52% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

22th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 78% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Mecklenburg County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 619,000 workers age 16+, including 442,592 workers with reported travel time and 176,408 home workers.

Population estimate1,154,681± — MOE
Workers age 16+619,000± 3,701 MOE
Workers with travel time442,592± 4,713 MOE
Estimated home workers176,408± 3,972 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 North Carolina commute records for Mecklenburg County

These 2 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All North Carolina reports →