ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6432802024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Los Altos, California

Mean one-way trip22.3 min±2.2 min MOE
Worked from home39.4%±3.4 pp MOE
Drove alone50.7%±2.8 pp MOE
60+ minute trip2.4%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 commute23.7 min → 22.3 min▼ 1.4 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home25.1% → 39.4%▲ 14.3 pp

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

Public transit2.4% → 0.7%▼ 1.7 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone64.3% → 50.7%▼ 13.6 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone50.7% ±2.8 pp
Carpool4.2% ±1.2 pp
Public transit0.7% ±0.4 pp
Walk1.9% ±0.9 pp
Bicycle2.3% ±0.7 pp
Work from home39.4% ±3.4 pp

Each share uses 13,218 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.

30thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 70% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

100thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 100% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

44thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 56% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

6th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 94% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate30,698± 67 MOE
Workers age 16+13,218± 434 MOE
Workers with travel time8,014± 494 MOE
Estimated home workers5,204± 483 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.