ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6690842024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Clara, California

Mean one-way trip22.6 min±1.3 min MOE
Worked from home25.7%±1.7 pp MOE
Drove alone58.2%±1.7 pp MOE
60+ minute trip4.1%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 commute24.0 min → 22.6 min▼ 1.4 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home17.2% → 25.7%▲ 8.4 pp

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

Public transit3.0% → 2.5%▼ 0.6 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone64.8% → 58.2%▼ 6.6 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone58.2% ±1.7 pp
Carpool7.3% ±0.8 pp
Public transit2.5% ±0.5 pp
Walk2.8% ±0.6 pp
Bicycle1.3% ±0.4 pp
Work from home25.7% ±1.7 pp

Each share uses 73,978 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.

37thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 63% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

91thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 91% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

73thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 73% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

29th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 71% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate130,256± 69 MOE
Workers age 16+73,978± 1,573 MOE
Workers with travel time54,987± 1,803 MOE
Estimated home workers18,991± 1,311 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.