What is the average commute in Los Angeles city, California?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 30.7 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Los Angeles city, California work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 19.5%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.2 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.

PLACE · CA · GEOID 6440002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Los Angeles, California

Name: Commute estimates for Los Angeles city, California
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 30.7 min one way; 19.5% worked from home, 59.8% drove alone, and 11.9% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip30.7 min±0.3 min MOE

Worked from home19.5%±0.2 pp MOE

Drove alone59.8%±0.3 pp MOE

60+ minute trip11.9%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 Los Angeles city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.9 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +7.1 percentage points.

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

Mean commute31.6 min → 30.7 min▼ 0.9 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home12.4% → 19.5%▲ 7.1 pp

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

Public transit7.7% → 6.1%▼ 1.6 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone65.2% → 59.8%▼ 5.4 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Los Angeles city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 59.8%; 6.1% used public transit and 19.5% worked from home.

Drive alone59.8% ±0.3 pp

Carpool8.7% ±0.2 pp

Public transit6.1% ±0.2 pp

Walk3.2% ±0.1 pp

Bicycle0.6% ±0.0 pp

Work from home19.5% ±0.2 pp

Each share uses 1,896,780 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Los Angeles city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 92th percentile among covered 500k+ places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

92^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 92% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

63^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 63% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

79^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 79% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

92^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 92% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Los Angeles city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 1,896,780 workers age 16+, including 1,526,463 workers with reported travel time and 370,317 home workers.

Population estimate3,857,263± 151 MOE

Workers age 16+1,896,780± 7,372 MOE

Workers with travel time1,526,463± 7,728 MOE

Estimated home workers370,317± 4,702 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 California commute records for Los Angeles city

These 5 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All California reports →