ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6785962024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Thousand Palms, California

Mean one-way trip21.9 min±7.1 min MOE
Worked from home10.3%±6.3 pp MOE
Drove alone79.1%±11.7 pp MOE
60+ minute trip2.6%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 commute23.1 min → 21.9 min▼ 1.2 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home7.9% → 10.3%▲ 2.4 pp

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

Public transit0.0% → 0.0%— 0.0 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone82.0% → 79.1%▼ 2.9 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone79.1% ±11.7 pp
Carpool9.4% ±6.4 pp
Public transit0.0% ±0.6 pp
Walk0.5% ±0.8 pp
Bicycle0.0% ±0.6 pp
Work from home10.3% ±6.3 pp

Each share uses 3,218 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.

31thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 69% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

43thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 57% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

18thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 82% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

13th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 87% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate7,720± 1,609 MOE
Workers age 16+3,218± 627 MOE
Workers with travel time2,886± 629 MOE
Estimated home workers332± 212 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.