Work commute statistics show a long period of relative stability followed by a sharp change in how people traveled to work. The Census Bureau’s ACS commuting chart reports that mean one-way travel time was 25.0 minutes in 2006 and 25.7 minutes in 2018, before reaching 27.2 minutes in 2024. Over the same broad period, driving alone was the dominant commute mode, while working from home rose from 2.5 percent in 2006 to 13.3 percent in 2024.
On this page
- Travel time over time
- Long commutes
- Driving alone
- Public transportation
- Working from home
- Key years compared
Travel time over time
The mean one-way travel time to work stayed close to 25 minutes through the first part of the period covered by the Census Bureau ACS commuting chart. It was 25.0 minutes in 2006, 25.3 minutes in 2008, and 25.5 minutes in 2010. The measure then dipped to 25.1 minutes in 2012 before returning to 25.3 minutes in 2014.
The next readings were 25.5 minutes in 2016 and 25.7 minutes in 2018. Those figures describe a fairly narrow range: every reported year from 2006 through 2018 was between 25.0 and 25.7 minutes. In other words, the chart’s earlier observations show little movement in the average one-way trip.
Later observations are higher. Mean travel time was 25.6 minutes in 2021 and 26.4 minutes in 2022. It reached 27.2 minutes in 2024, the highest value in the supplied series. The 2024 figure is 2.2 minutes above the 2006 figure, while the 2022 figure is 1.4 minutes above 2006. These are differences between reported annual estimates, not a measure of any individual worker’s trip.
The measurement is one-way travel time to work. It should not be read as a daily round-trip total, a peak-hour traffic speed, or a commuting time for every worker. A worker with a 27.2-minute average one-way trip would have a longer daily round trip, but the supplied figures do not provide a separate round-trip estimate.
Long commutes
The share of workers traveling 60 minutes or more provides a different view of commuting burden than the mean. According to the Census Bureau ACS commuting chart, 7.9 percent of workers traveled at least 60 minutes in 2006. That share was 8.2 percent in 2008 and remained 8.2 percent in 2010.
The share then measured 7.8 percent in 2012 and 8.0 percent in 2014. It was 8.1 percent in 2016 and 8.3 percent in 2018. The early series therefore stayed close to 8 percent, with its lowest supplied value in 2012.
The later figures are higher: 8.5 percent in 2021, 8.9 percent in 2023, and 9.3 percent in 2024. The 2024 share is the highest reported value in this series. Compared with 2006, the share of workers traveling at least 60 minutes was 1.4 percentage points higher in 2024.
The mean and the long-commute share answer different questions. The mean describes the average one-way travel time across workers. The 60-minute measure identifies the portion of workers whose one-way travel reaches a stated threshold. A change in one measure does not establish the same change in the other, so both are useful when describing work travel.
Driving alone
Driving alone was reported as the leading commute mode throughout the earlier ACS commuting-chart observations. The share was 76.0 percent in 2006 and 76.1 percent in 2008. It was 75.5 percent in 2010, followed by 76.1 percent in 2012 and 76.6 percent in 2014.
The share was 76.4 percent in 2016 and 76.3 percent in 2018. Across 2006 through 2018, the supplied values remained between 75.5 percent and 76.6 percent. That narrow range contrasts with the lower later readings.
The Census Bureau ACS commuting chart reports driving alone at 67.8 percent in 2021 and 68.7 percent in 2022. The 2024 value was 69.2 percent. Thus, the reported share in 2024 was 6.8 percentage points below the 2006 value and 7.1 percentage points below the 2014 high in this dataset.
The 2021, 2022, and 2024 values should be kept distinct from the earlier observations rather than blended into one undated average. Each is tied to a specific measurement year and the same source label, while the magnitude of the change makes the year especially important when interpreting the trend.
Public transportation
Public transportation commuting accounted for 4.8 percent in 2006, according to the Census Bureau ACS commuting chart. The share was 4.9 percent in 2008 and 5.0 percent in 2010. It remained 5.0 percent in 2012, then measured 4.9 percent in 2014.
The ACS commuting chart reports 5.0 percent in both 2016 and 2018. Those observations place public transportation near 5 percent across the chart’s 2006–2018 sequence.
Other supplied Census Bureau source labels report additional years. The Census Bureau public transportation commuting report gives 5.7 percent for 2019. The Census Bureau commuting brief gives 3.1 percent for 2022, while the Census Bureau commuting at-a-glance page gives 3.7 percent for 2024.
These later figures should be identified by their source labels and years. The reported 2019 value is above the ACS-chart values from 2006 through 2018. The 2022 and 2024 values are below those earlier values. The available figures do not explain the reasons for each movement, so the statistics describe the reported shares without assigning a cause.
Working from home
Working from home was 2.5 percent in 2006, based on the Census Bureau ACS commuting chart. The share rose to 3.1 percent in 2008 and 3.5 percent in 2010. It was 3.9 percent in 2012 and 4.1 percent in 2014.
The chart reports 4.1 percent again in 2016 and 4.3 percent in 2018. From 2006 through 2018, the reported share increased by 1.8 percentage points, although it remained below 5 percent in every supplied year in that portion of the series.
The later Census Bureau commuting brief reports working from home at 17.9 percent in 2021 and 15.2 percent in 2022. The Census Bureau commuting at-a-glance page reports 13.3 percent in 2024. The 2021 value is the highest supplied figure, while the 2024 value is lower than 2021 and 2022 but still above every 2006–2018 observation.
Working from home and public transportation are separate reported categories. The supplied figures do not provide a complete mode-by-mode accounting in this article, so the percentages should not be added together or treated as mutually exhaustive without a stated table definition. They are best used as individual indicators of how work arrangements and travel modes were reported in particular years.
Key years compared
The following comparison keeps the measurement year and source labels visible. Travel time is a mean one-way measure; the other entries are shares of workers.
| Year | Mean one-way travel time | Traveling 60+ minutes | Driving alone | Public transportation | Working from home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 25.0 minutes | 7.9% | 76.0% | 4.8% | 2.5% |
| 2018 | 25.7 minutes | 8.3% | 76.3% | 5.0% | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 25.6 minutes | 8.5% | 67.8% | — | 17.9% |
| 2022 | 26.4 minutes | — | 68.7% | 3.1% | 15.2% |
| 2024 | 27.2 minutes | 9.3% | 69.2% | 3.7% | 13.3% |
For the 2006 and 2018 rows, all displayed values come from the Census Bureau ACS commuting chart. The 2021 driving-alone, long-commute, and work-from-home figures come from that chart where supplied, while the 2021 work-from-home figure is specifically labeled in the data as coming from the Census Bureau commuting brief; the table preserves the reported values without implying a single consolidated publication. The 2022 public transportation and work-from-home figures come from the Census Bureau commuting brief, and the 2024 public transportation and work-from-home figures come from the Census Bureau commuting at-a-glance page. A dash means that no value for that measure was supplied for that year.
Taken together, the figures show three distinct patterns. Mean one-way travel time was near 25 minutes in the earlier observations and reached 27.2 minutes in 2024. The share traveling at least 60 minutes moved from 7.9 percent in 2006 to 9.3 percent in 2024. Driving alone was around three-quarters of workers through 2018, then was reported below 70 percent in 2021, 2022, and 2024.
The work-from-home series has the largest visible shift in percentage points: 2.5 percent in 2006, 4.3 percent in 2018, 17.9 percent in 2021, 15.2 percent in 2022, and 13.3 percent in 2024. Public transportation was reported at about 5 percent in the earlier ACS-chart years, 5.7 percent in 2019, 3.1 percent in 2022, and 3.7 percent in 2024. These values are year-specific Census Bureau reports and should be interpreted with their stated measurement periods and source labels intact.