ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · CA · GEOID 6817362024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Valley Center, California

Mean one-way trip37.6 min±9.1 min MOE
Worked from home18.1%±5.1 pp MOE
Drove alone71.2%±5.1 pp MOE
60+ minute trip17.0%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 commute32.9 min → 37.6 min▲ 4.7 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home14.9% → 18.1%▲ 3.3 pp

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

Public transit0.4% → 0.0%▼ 0.4 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone77.4% → 71.2%▼ 6.3 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone71.2% ±5.1 pp
Carpool9.2% ±3.2 pp
Public transit0.0% ±0.4 pp
Walk0.2% ±0.3 pp
Bicycle0.0% ±0.4 pp
Work from home18.1% ±5.1 pp

Each share uses 5,195 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.

96thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 96% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

74thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 74% 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.

91th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 91% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate11,119± 1,479 MOE
Workers age 16+5,195± 720 MOE
Workers with travel time4,253± 617 MOE
Estimated home workers942± 297 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.