San Francisco Bay Area Rankings

2004 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau

August 30, 2005

The Census Bureau’s 2004 American Community Survey (ACS) data was released 8/30/05. Data is available for places, counties, metropolitan areas and states of over 250,000 population. Data collected in calendar year 2005 will be published in summer 2006, for areas of greater than 65,000 total population.

I.  Places Greater than 250,000 Total Population

The San Francisco Bay Area has three cities greater than 250,000 population:

• San Jose: 874,000
• San Francisco: 725,000
• Oakland: 365,000.

A.  Mean Commute Travel Time, Home-to-Work (Large Cities)

• San Francisco resident commuters reported an average commute of 28.7 minutes from home-to-work in 2004. This ranks ninth in the U.S. among large cities, 250,000+ population.
• Oakland resident commuters reported an average commute of 28.4 minutes from home-to-work in 2004. This ranks tenth in the U.S. among large cities, and is statistically the same as San Francisco.
• San Jose resident commuters reported an average commute of 24.6 minutes from home-to-work in 2004. This ranks 24^th, out of the 70 cities with population 250,000+. San Jose’s commute time is very similar to other cities such as Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and Dallas.
• New York City ranks first in the nation with an average home-to-work commute time of 38.4 minutes. New York is followed by Chicago (35.0 minutes), Philadelphia (33.7 minutes), Newark (32.3 minutes) and Los Angeles (30.0 minutes).

Large U.S. Cities Ranked by Travel Time to Work, 2004

B.  Public Transit Share of Commute-to-Work (“Commute Mode Share”) (Large Cities)

• San Francisco City ranks fourth among United States large cities in transit share for the journey-to-work, with 29.6 percent of commuters using transit in their daily commute.
• Oakland ranks eighth in the United States in transit share, with 22.3 percent of commuters using transit in their daily commutes.
• San Jose ranks 49^th out of 70 large U.S. cities, with 2.2 percent of commuters using transit in their home-to-work commutes.
• New York City ranks first in the nation in terms of transit share of commute, at 53.2 percent of commuters taking transit to work. New York is followed by Washington, DC (33.7 percent), Boston (31.8 percent) and San Francisco.
• The transit commute share in the United States in 2004 is 4.6 percent. The transit commute share for California resident workers is 4.8 percent.

Large U.S. Cities Ranked by Transit Share in Journey-to-Work, 2004

II.  Counties Greater than 250,000 Total Population

The San Francisco Bay Area has seven counties with a year 2004 population greater than 250,000:

• Alameda: 1,428,000
• Contra Costa: 998,000
• San Francisco: 725,000
• San Mateo: 689,000
• Santa Clara: 1,656,000
• Solano: 397,000
• Sonoma: 456,000

Marin and Napa Counties are not reported separately in the 2004 ACS, but will be reported separately beginning with the release of the 2005 ACS in summer 2006.

A.  Mean Commute Travel Time, Home-to-Work (Large Counties)

• Contra Costa County resident commuters reported the longest commute duration in the Bay Area, at 32.2 minutes per one-way home-to-work commute. Contra Costa ranks 15^th in the nation in terms of large U.S. Counties (236 total counties, greater than 250,000 population).
• Solano County ranks second in the Bay Area, and 18^th in the nation, in term of longest commute durations, at 31.4 minutes per one-way commute.
• Santa Clara County resident commuters reported the shortest commute durations among large Bay Area counties, at  23.7 minutes per one-way commute. Santa Clara ranks 125^th out of 236 large U.S. counties.
• The average commute time in the United States in 2004 is 24.7 minutes. The average commute time for California resident workers is 27.1 minutes.

Large U.S. Counties Ranked by Travel Time to Work, 2004

B.  Public Transit Share of Commute-to-Work (“Commute Mode Share”) (Large Counties)

• San Francisco County residents workers ranked seventh of the nation’s 236 counties in terms of transit share for the journey-to-work, in year 2004, at 29.6 percent transit commute.
• Alameda County ranked 19^th in the U.S. in 2004 transit commute share at 12.2 percent.
• Contra Costa County ranked 30^th in the U.S. in 2004 transit commute share at 9.1 percent.
• San Mateo County ranked 37^th in the U.S. in 2004 transit commute share at 8.3 percent.
• The U.S. Counties with the largest 2004 transit commute share are Bronx County and Kings County (Brooklyn) at 57.9 percent. New York County (Manhattan) ranks third in the U.S. at 56.0 percent.

Large U.S. Counties Ranked by Transit Share in Journey-to-Work, 2004

**************************************************************
Charles L. Purvis, AICP
Principal Transportation Planner/Analyst
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
101 Eighth Street
Oakland, CA 94607-4700
(510) 817-5755 (office) [new, 8/1/05]
(510) 817-7848 (fax) [new, 8/1/05]
www: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/
Census WWW: http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/
**************************************************************