ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · MI · GEOID 26700402024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Royal Oak, Michigan

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 23.8 min one way; 27.4% worked from home, 67.1% drove alone, and 4.9% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip23.8 min±1.5 min MOE
Worked from home27.4%±1.8 pp MOE
Drove alone67.1%±2.1 pp MOE
60+ minute trip4.9%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 Royal Oak city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -1.2 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +12.5 percentage points.

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

Mean commute25.0 min → 23.8 min▼ 1.2 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home14.9% → 27.4%▲ 12.5 pp

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

Public transit0.2% → 0.1%▼ 0.1 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone78.8% → 67.1%▼ 11.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Royal Oak city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 67.1%; 0.1% used public transit and 27.4% worked from home.

Drive alone67.1% ±2.1 pp
Carpool3.1% ±0.9 pp
Public transit0.1% ±0.1 pp
Walk1.5% ±0.5 pp
Bicycle0.3% ±0.2 pp
Work from home27.4% ±1.8 pp

Each share uses 35,348 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Royal Oak city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 39th percentile among covered 25k–100k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

39thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 61% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

91thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 91% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

11thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 89% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

34th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 66% of covered places in the 25k–100k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Royal Oak city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 35,348 workers age 16+, including 25,664 workers with reported travel time and 9,684 home workers.

Population estimate57,950± 32 MOE
Workers age 16+35,348± 874 MOE
Workers with travel time25,664± 836 MOE
Estimated home workers9,684± 668 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 Michigan commute records for Royal Oak city

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

All Michigan reports →