ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · MA · GEOID 25734052024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Watertown, Massachusetts

Mean one-way trip27.6 min±2.3 min MOE
Worked from home29.1%±2.8 pp MOE
Drove alone49.7%±2.7 pp MOE
60+ minute trip7.1%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 commutenan min → 27.6 min— nan min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from homenan% → 29.1%— nan pp

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

Public transitnan% → 6.6%— nan pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alonenan% → 49.7%— nan pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone49.7% ±2.7 pp
Carpool6.6% ±1.5 pp
Public transit6.6% ±1.4 pp
Walk4.4% ±1.1 pp
Bicycle2.2% ±0.7 pp
Work from home29.1% ±2.8 pp

Each share uses 20,846 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.

64thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 64% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

93thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 93% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

93thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 93% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

55th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 55% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate35,543± 33 MOE
Workers age 16+20,846± 678 MOE
Workers with travel time14,786± 694 MOE
Estimated home workers6,060± 617 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.