What is the average commute in Watertown city, South Dakota?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 12.6 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Watertown city, South Dakota work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 4.8%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

PLACE · SD · GEOID 46693002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Watertown, South Dakota

Name: Commute estimates for Watertown city, South Dakota
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 12.6 min one way; 4.8% worked from home, 83.8% drove alone, and 1.9% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip12.6 min±1.3 min MOE

Worked from home4.8%±1.4 pp MOE

Drove alone83.8%±3.4 pp MOE

60+ minute trip1.9%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 Watertown 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 +0.1 percentage points.

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

Mean commute13.8 min → 12.6 min▼ 1.2 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home4.6% → 4.8%▲ 0.1 pp

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

Public transit0.0% → 0.6%▲ 0.6 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone85.9% → 83.8%▼ 2.2 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Watertown city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 83.8%; 0.6% used public transit and 4.8% worked from home.

Drive alone83.8% ±3.4 pp

Carpool9.1% ±2.6 pp

Public transit0.6% ±0.5 pp

Walk1.1% ±0.7 pp

Bicycle0.3% ±0.5 pp

Work from home4.8% ±1.4 pp

Each share uses 12,314 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Watertown city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 2th percentile among covered under 25k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

2^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 98% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

12^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 88% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

59^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 59% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

7^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 93% of covered places in the under 25k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Watertown city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 12,314 workers age 16+, including 11,728 workers with reported travel time and 586 home workers.

Population estimate23,044± 23 MOE

Workers age 16+12,314± 481 MOE

Workers with travel time11,728± 505 MOE

Estimated home workers586± 177 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 South Dakota commute records for Watertown city

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

All South Dakota reports →