What is the average commute in San Jose city, California?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 27.3 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in San Jose city, California work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 20.3%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 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 6680002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

San Jose, California

Name: Commute estimates for San Jose 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 27.3 min one way; 20.3% worked from home, 62.9% drove alone, and 7.4% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip27.3 min±0.6 min MOE

Worked from home20.3%±0.5 pp MOE

Drove alone62.9%±0.7 pp MOE

60+ minute trip7.4%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 San Jose city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -2.5 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +7.3 percentage points.

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

Mean commute29.8 min → 27.3 min▼ 2.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home13.0% → 20.3%▲ 7.3 pp

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

Public transit3.5% → 2.4%▼ 1.1 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone69.2% → 62.9%▼ 6.2 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How San Jose city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 62.9%; 2.4% used public transit and 20.3% worked from home.

Drive alone62.9% ±0.7 pp

Carpool10.7% ±0.4 pp

Public transit2.4% ±0.2 pp

Walk1.8% ±0.2 pp

Bicycle0.5% ±0.1 pp

Work from home20.3% ±0.5 pp

Each share uses 504,395 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How San Jose city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 79th percentile among covered 500k+ places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

79^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 79% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

68^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 68% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

55^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 55% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

71^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 71% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind San Jose city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 504,395 workers age 16+, including 401,974 workers with reported travel time and 102,421 home workers.

Population estimate990,138± 103 MOE

Workers age 16+504,395± 3,900 MOE

Workers with travel time401,974± 4,635 MOE

Estimated home workers102,421± 2,665 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 San Jose 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 →