ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6217122024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

El Cajon, California

Mean one-way trip24.8 min±1.5 min MOE
Worked from home11.4%±1.4 pp MOE
Drove alone72.6%±1.9 pp MOE
60+ minute trip5.5%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 the published estimate?

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

Mean commute26.1 min → 24.8 min▼ 1.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home7.5% → 11.4%▲ 3.9 pp

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

Public transit3.6% → 2.3%▼ 1.3 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone75.2% → 72.6%▼ 2.6 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone72.6% ±1.9 pp
Carpool9.4% ±1.2 pp
Public transit2.3% ±0.7 pp
Walk2.3% ±0.7 pp
Bicycle0.4% ±0.3 pp
Work from home11.4% ±1.4 pp

Each share uses 43,310 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

Compared with similar-size places

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

54thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 54% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

34thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 66% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

71thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 71% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

49th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 51% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate104,449± 64 MOE
Workers age 16+43,310± 1,493 MOE
Workers with travel time38,374± 1,466 MOE
Estimated home workers4,936± 615 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.