ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · MA · GEOID 25110002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mean one-way trip25.8 min±1.2 min MOE
Worked from home30.8%±1.5 pp MOE
Drove alone19.7%±1.1 pp MOE
60+ minute trip5.4%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 commute26.2 min → 25.8 min▼ 0.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home20.3% → 30.8%▲ 10.5 pp

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

Public transit22.3% → 18.0%▼ 4.3 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone23.1% → 19.7%▼ 3.4 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone19.7% ±1.1 pp
Carpool2.5% ±0.4 pp
Public transit18.0% ±1.1 pp
Walk19.2% ±0.9 pp
Bicycle7.8% ±0.7 pp
Work from home30.8% ±1.5 pp

Each share uses 69,864 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.

58thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 58% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

96thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 96% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

99thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 99% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

48th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 52% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate118,796± 73 MOE
Workers age 16+69,864± 1,388 MOE
Workers with travel time48,353± 1,251 MOE
Estimated home workers21,511± 1,143 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.