ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · IA · GEOID 19016302024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Altoona, Iowa

Mean one-way trip22.5 min±3.2 min MOE
Worked from home13.0%±2.6 pp MOE
Drove alone81.0%±5.5 pp MOE
60+ minute trip3.4%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 commute22.0 min → 22.5 min▲ 0.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home8.3% → 13.0%▲ 4.7 pp

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

Public transit0.4% → 0.1%▼ 0.2 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone84.2% → 81.0%▼ 3.3 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone81.0% ±5.5 pp
Carpool3.7% ±1.3 pp
Public transit0.1% ±0.3 pp
Walk0.2% ±0.3 pp
Bicycle0.0% ±0.2 pp
Work from home13.0% ±2.6 pp

Each share uses 10,499 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.

35thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 65% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

56thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 56% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

42thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 58% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

21th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 79% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate21,495± 44 MOE
Workers age 16+10,499± 706 MOE
Workers with travel time9,133± 759 MOE
Estimated home workers1,366± 292 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.