ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6690702024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Barbara, California

Mean one-way trip17.3 min±1.1 min MOE
Worked from home18.9%±1.8 pp MOE
Drove alone60.8%±2.3 pp MOE
60+ minute trip3.5%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 the published estimate?

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

Mean commute17.4 min → 17.3 min▼ 0.1 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home13.1% → 18.9%▲ 5.8 pp

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

Public transit2.8% → 2.0%▼ 0.8 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone65.2% → 60.8%▼ 4.3 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone60.8% ±2.3 pp
Carpool8.5% ±1.5 pp
Public transit2.0% ±0.5 pp
Walk4.0% ±0.7 pp
Bicycle3.2% ±0.7 pp
Work from home18.9% ±1.8 pp

Each share uses 44,010 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.

7thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 93% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

71thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 71% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

71thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 71% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

18th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 82% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate87,779± 52 MOE
Workers age 16+44,010± 1,155 MOE
Workers with travel time35,700± 1,276 MOE
Estimated home workers8,310± 813 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.