Average for workers who did not work from home.
PLACE · IA · GEOID 19210002024 5-YEAR
COMMUTE PROFILE
Des Moines, Iowa
Mean one-way trip19.5 min±0.7 min MOE
Worked from home13.1%±1.0 pp MOE
Drove alone70.9%±1.0 pp MOE
60+ minute trip3.3%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.
Share of workers age 16+ who usually worked from home.
Public transportation excluding taxi.
Car, truck, or van—drove alone.
02 / MODE SHARE
How residents usually get to work
Each share uses 111,255 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.
Mean commute time is lower than about 85% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.
The work-from-home share is lower than about 52% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.
The public-transit share is lower than about 62% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.
The 60+ minute share is lower than about 85% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.
04 / ESTIMATE BASE
The counts behind the shares
Population estimate212,421± 197 MOE
Workers age 16+111,255± 1,866 MOE
Workers with travel time96,669± 1,806 MOE
Estimated home workers14,586± 1,109 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
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