What is the average commute in Madison city, Wisconsin?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 19.4 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Madison city, Wisconsin work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 20.5%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 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 · WI · GEOID 55480002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Madison, Wisconsin

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

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 19.4 min one way; 20.5% worked from home, 56.7% drove alone, and 2.2% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip19.4 min±0.7 min MOE

Worked from home20.5%±1.0 pp MOE

Drove alone56.7%±1.2 pp MOE

60+ minute trip2.2%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 Madison city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.2 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +8.5 percentage points.

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

Mean commute19.6 min → 19.4 min▼ 0.2 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home12.1% → 20.5%▲ 8.5 pp

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

Public transit7.1% → 5.3%▼ 1.8 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone60.5% → 56.7%▼ 3.8 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Madison city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 56.7%; 5.3% used public transit and 20.5% worked from home.

Drive alone56.7% ±1.2 pp

Carpool5.8% ±0.6 pp

Public transit5.3% ±0.5 pp

Walk7.6% ±0.5 pp

Bicycle2.9% ±0.4 pp

Work from home20.5% ±1.0 pp

Each share uses 159,698 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Madison city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 14th percentile among covered 100k–500k places; each percentile describes one metric only.

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

14^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 86% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

78^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 78% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

88^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 88% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

2^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 98% of covered places in the 100k–500k population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Madison city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 159,698 workers age 16+, including 126,901 workers with reported travel time and 32,797 home workers.

Population estimate278,001± 92 MOE

Workers age 16+159,698± 1,991 MOE

Workers with travel time126,901± 2,316 MOE

Estimated home workers32,797± 1,606 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 Wisconsin commute records for Madison city

These 1 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All Wisconsin reports →