ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
COUNTY · TX · GEOID 482012024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Harris County, Texas

Mean one-way trip29.0 min±0.3 min MOE
Worked from home12.9%±0.3 pp MOE
Drove alone70.3%±0.3 pp MOE
60+ minute trip9.2%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 commute29.1 min → 29.0 min— 0.0 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home8.1% → 12.9%▲ 4.8 pp

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

Public transit2.3% → 2.0%▼ 0.3 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone76.2% → 70.3%▼ 5.9 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone70.3% ±0.3 pp
Carpool10.7% ±0.2 pp
Public transit2.0% ±0.1 pp
Walk1.4% ±0.1 pp
Bicycle0.3% ±0.0 pp
Work from home12.9% ±0.3 pp

Each share uses 2,295,484 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.

66thMean commute percentile

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

19thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 81% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

54thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 54% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

63th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 63% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate4,838,303± — MOE
Workers age 16+2,295,484± 9,320 MOE
Workers with travel time1,999,414± 10,030 MOE
Estimated home workers296,070± 6,209 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.