ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6683642024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

San Rafael, California

Mean one-way trip25.3 min±2.0 min MOE
Worked from home26.3%±1.7 pp MOE
Drove alone48.3%±2.7 pp MOE
60+ minute trip9.2%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 commute27.2 min → 25.3 min▼ 1.9 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home18.1% → 26.3%▲ 8.2 pp

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

Public transit6.6% → 5.6%▼ 1.0 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone57.3% → 48.3%▼ 9.0 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone48.3% ±2.7 pp
Carpool12.8% ±2.2 pp
Public transit5.6% ±1.4 pp
Walk4.5% ±1.3 pp
Bicycle0.8% ±0.5 pp
Work from home26.3% ±1.7 pp

Each share uses 29,866 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.

49thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 51% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

89thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 89% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

91thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 91% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

69th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 69% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate60,433± 83 MOE
Workers age 16+29,866± 1,173 MOE
Workers with travel time22,022± 1,039 MOE
Estimated home workers7,844± 601 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.