ACS 2024 5-YEAR ESTIMATES↗ DIRECTIONAL CHANGE FROM 2021UPDATED JAN 29, 2026
COMMUTESHIFTHow America gets to work
PLACE · ND · GEOID 38838602024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Watford City, North Dakota

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 20.8 min one way; 7.9% worked from home, 77.1% drove alone, and 11.1% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip20.8 min±5.3 min MOE
Worked from home7.9%±5.0 pp MOE
Drove alone77.1%±6.8 pp MOE
60+ minute trip11.1%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 Watford City city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed +1.5 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +6.1 percentage points.

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

Mean commute19.3 min → 20.8 min▲ 1.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home1.9% → 7.9%▲ 6.1 pp

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

Public transit0.0% → 0.0%— 0.0 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone87.0% → 77.1%▼ 9.9 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Watford City city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 77.1%; 0.0% used public transit and 7.9% worked from home.

Drive alone77.1% ±6.8 pp
Carpool11.8% ±5.7 pp
Public transit0.0% ±0.4 pp
Walk1.0% ±1.3 pp
Bicycle2.1% ±2.2 pp
Work from home7.9% ±5.0 pp

Each share uses 3,438 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Watford City city compares with similar-size places

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

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

25thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 75% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

30thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 70% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

18thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 82% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

75th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 75% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Watford City city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 3,438 workers age 16+, including 3,165 workers with reported travel time and 273 home workers.

Population estimate6,039± 29 MOE
Workers age 16+3,438± 316 MOE
Workers with travel time3,165± 308 MOE
Estimated home workers273± 174 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 North Dakota commute records for Watford City city

These 5 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All North Dakota reports →