ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6700982024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Santa Rosa, California

Mean one-way trip22.9 min±1.0 min MOE
Worked from home11.5%±0.8 pp MOE
Drove alone71.4%±1.5 pp MOE
60+ minute trip6.8%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 commute23.2 min → 22.9 min▼ 0.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home7.9% → 11.5%▲ 3.6 pp

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

Public transit1.6% → 1.3%▼ 0.3 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone76.1% → 71.4%▼ 4.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone71.4% ±1.5 pp
Carpool11.4% ±1.1 pp
Public transit1.3% ±0.3 pp
Walk2.4% ±0.5 pp
Bicycle0.7% ±0.2 pp
Work from home11.5% ±0.8 pp

Each share uses 88,080 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.

40thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 60% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

35thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 65% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

55thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 55% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

59th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 59% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate177,090± 70 MOE
Workers age 16+88,080± 1,807 MOE
Workers with travel time77,927± 1,790 MOE
Estimated home workers10,153± 694 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.