What is the average commute in Ames city, Iowa?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 15.6 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Ames city, Iowa work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 12.1%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

PLACE · IA · GEOID 19018552024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Ames, Iowa

Name: Commute estimates for Ames city, Iowa
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 15.6 min one way; 12.1% worked from home, 62.5% drove alone, and 2.1% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip15.6 min±1.1 min MOE

Worked from home12.1%±1.4 pp MOE

Drove alone62.5%±1.8 pp MOE

60+ minute trip2.1%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 Ames city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -1.1 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +2.8 percentage points.

These periods overlap: 2021 covers 2017–2021 and 2024 covers 2020–2024. Changes are directional comparisons, not independent annual measurements.

Mean commute16.7 min → 15.6 min▼ 1.1 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home9.3% → 12.1%▲ 2.8 pp

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

Public transit7.4% → 5.5%▼ 1.8 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone64.3% → 62.5%▼ 1.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Ames city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 62.5%; 5.5% used public transit and 12.1% worked from home.

Drive alone62.5% ±1.8 pp

Carpool7.3% ±1.2 pp

Public transit5.5% ±1.1 pp

Walk10.2% ±1.1 pp

Bicycle1.7% ±0.5 pp

Work from home12.1% ±1.4 pp

Each share uses 37,081 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Ames city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 3th percentile among covered 25k–100k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

Percentiles are single-metric context, never a “good commute” score.

3^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 97% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

42^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 58% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

90^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 90% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

4^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 96% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Ames city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 37,081 workers age 16+, including 32,592 workers with reported travel time and 4,489 home workers.

Population estimate67,669± 39 MOE

Workers age 16+37,081± 1,022 MOE

Workers with travel time32,592± 1,084 MOE

Estimated home workers4,489± 541 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.

05 / SAME STATE

Comparable Iowa commute records for Ames city

These 8 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All Iowa reports →