ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · MI · GEOID 26394002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Houghton Lake, Michigan

Mean one-way trip24.8 min±6.5 min MOE
Worked from home13.0%±6.4 pp MOE
Drove alone67.0%±6.2 pp MOE
60+ minute trip8.7%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 commute24.6 min → 24.8 min▲ 0.1 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home8.5% → 13.0%▲ 4.6 pp

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

Public transit0.6% → 0.1%▼ 0.4 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone61.5% → 67.0%▲ 5.5 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How residents usually get to work

Drive alone67.0% ±6.2 pp
Carpool18.8% ±7.2 pp
Public transit0.1% ±0.2 pp
Walk1.0% ±0.9 pp
Bicycle0.0% ±0.8 pp
Work from home13.0% ±6.4 pp

Each share uses 2,063 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.

50thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 50% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

56thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 56% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

42thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 58% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

63th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 63% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind the shares

Population estimate5,769± 402 MOE
Workers age 16+2,063± 295 MOE
Workers with travel time1,794± 271 MOE
Estimated home workers269± 138 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.