ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6681542024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

San Luis Obispo, California

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 16.1 min one way; 17.1% worked from home, 63.8% drove alone, and 2.5% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip16.1 min±1.6 min MOE
Worked from home17.1%±1.9 pp MOE
Drove alone63.8%±3.1 pp MOE
60+ minute trip2.5%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 San Luis Obispo city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed +0.3 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +6.2 percentage points.

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

Mean commute15.7 min → 16.1 min▲ 0.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home10.9% → 17.1%▲ 6.2 pp

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

Public transit1.7% → 1.0%▼ 0.7 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone67.1% → 63.8%▼ 3.4 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How San Luis Obispo city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 63.8%; 1.0% used public transit and 17.1% worked from home.

Drive alone63.8% ±3.1 pp
Carpool6.8% ±1.3 pp
Public transit1.0% ±0.6 pp
Walk6.1% ±1.4 pp
Bicycle4.5% ±0.9 pp
Work from home17.1% ±1.9 pp

Each share uses 24,961 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How San Luis Obispo city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 4th percentile among covered 25k–100k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

4thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 96% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

64thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 64% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

53thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 53% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

7th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 93% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind San Luis Obispo city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 24,961 workers age 16+, including 20,686 workers with reported travel time and 4,275 home workers.

Population estimate48,491± 43 MOE
Workers age 16+24,961± 992 MOE
Workers with travel time20,686± 1,069 MOE
Estimated home workers4,275± 508 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 Luis Obispo city

These 8 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All California reports →