ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · KS · GEOID 20535502024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Ottawa, Kansas

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 20.2 min one way; 9.6% worked from home, 75.0% drove alone, and 3.2% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip20.2 min±2.9 min MOE
Worked from home9.6%±2.7 pp MOE
Drove alone75.0%±4.2 pp MOE
60+ minute trip3.2%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 Ottawa city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.1 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +4.0 percentage points.

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

Mean commute20.3 min → 20.2 min▼ 0.1 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home5.6% → 9.6%▲ 4.0 pp

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

Public transit0.0% → 0.1%▲ 0.1 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone80.0% → 75.0%▼ 4.9 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Ottawa city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 75.0%; 0.1% used public transit and 9.6% worked from home.

Drive alone75.0% ±4.2 pp
Carpool9.4% ±4.0 pp
Public transit0.1% ±0.0 pp
Walk1.6% ±1.0 pp
Bicycle0.0% ±0.3 pp
Work from home9.6% ±2.7 pp

Each share uses 6,508 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Ottawa city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 22th percentile among covered under 25k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

22thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 78% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

39thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 61% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

39thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 61% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

18th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 82% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Ottawa city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 6,508 workers age 16+, including 5,882 workers with reported travel time and 626 home workers.

Population estimate12,678± 37 MOE
Workers age 16+6,508± 411 MOE
Workers with travel time5,882± 438 MOE
Estimated home workers626± 177 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 Kansas commute records for Ottawa city

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

All Kansas reports →