ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · IA · GEOID 19824252024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Waterloo, Iowa

Mean one-way trip15.9 min±0.9 min MOE
Worked from home7.6%±1.2 pp MOE
Drove alone78.1%±1.8 pp MOE
60+ minute trip2.9%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 commute16.4 min → 15.9 min▼ 0.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home5.6% → 7.6%▲ 2.0 pp

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

Public transit0.7% → 0.4%▼ 0.2 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone78.4% → 78.1%▼ 0.3 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone78.1% ±1.8 pp
Carpool11.4% ±1.6 pp
Public transit0.4% ±0.2 pp
Walk1.6% ±0.6 pp
Bicycle0.5% ±0.3 pp
Work from home7.6% ±1.2 pp

Each share uses 31,828 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.

4thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 96% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

16thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 84% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

33thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 67% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

12th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 88% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate67,008± 37 MOE
Workers age 16+31,828± 825 MOE
Workers with travel time29,411± 822 MOE
Estimated home workers2,417± 398 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.