ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · IA · GEOID 19385952024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Iowa City, Iowa

Mean one-way trip17.3 min±1.1 min MOE
Worked from home12.2%±1.5 pp MOE
Drove alone56.2%±2.6 pp MOE
60+ minute trip2.2%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 commute18.0 min → 17.3 min▼ 0.7 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home8.4% → 12.2%▲ 3.8 pp

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

Public transit6.5% → 6.0%▼ 0.4 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone59.3% → 56.2%▼ 3.1 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone56.2% ±2.6 pp
Carpool6.7% ±1.1 pp
Public transit6.0% ±0.9 pp
Walk14.6% ±1.9 pp
Bicycle2.8% ±0.6 pp
Work from home12.2% ±1.5 pp

Each share uses 41,577 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.

7thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 93% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

43thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 57% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

91thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 91% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

4th60+ 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 the shares

Population estimate75,752± 43 MOE
Workers age 16+41,577± 1,143 MOE
Workers with travel time36,494± 1,196 MOE
Estimated home workers5,083± 657 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.