Driver Demographics Learn who America’s drivers are and how much they drive
In 2019, the United States had 228,679,719 licensed drivers and 299,267,114 registered vehicles. These motorists covered a total distance of 3,261,772,000,000 (almost three trillion) miles. (NHTSA, 2021) In 2021, more than 492,000 plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) were sold. Since 2010, almost 2.2 million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold. (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in battery electric vehicles are included in these figures.) 2021 (Argonne National Laboratory) (See
EVs will account for roughly 5% of SUVs and sedans sold in 2021, and more than 20% of all passenger vehicles sold. This is a significant increase from the 2% of passenger vehicle sales in 2018. (E&E News, 2021) A poll of about 5,000 US individuals aged 16 and older conducted in 2019–2020 indicated that 88.3 percent of respondents drove at least occasionally and made an average of 2.5 daily driving trips. Every day, they drove for an average of 59 minutes and approximately 30 miles. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021) (Source:
A poll of about 5,000 US adults aged 16 and older conducted in 2019–2020 indicated that 97 percent of respondents aged 35–49 drove at least occasionally, the highest percentage of any age group. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021) The percentage of US residents aged 16 and older who reported driving at least occasionally varied by educational level in 2019–2020. In comparison to those who did not complete high school, 97 percent of college graduates drove at least occasionally. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021) (See
Men are slightly more likely than women to drive. 94 percent of male US residents aged 16 and older drove at least occasionally in 2019–2020, compared to 93 percent of female inhabitants. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021) Married residents in the United States drove an average of 68.3 minutes and 34.9 miles in 2019–2020, higher than any other marital status. Widowed people drove the slowest, at an average of 32.0 minutes and 14.1 miles per hour. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021)
In 2019–2020, 96 percent of white residents, 90 percent of Hispanic people, and 88 percent of black residents in the United States drove at least occasionally. (American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021) In 2017, households drove 28 percent of their vehicle miles to and from work, 25 percent for social or recreational activities, 17 percent for family errands, 15 percent for shopping, and another 15 percent to and from school or church. (2020, US Department of Transportation)
Since the 1980s, the percentage of teenagers with a driver's license has decreased (although there has been a slight uptick since 2014). For example, 46.2 percent of 16-year-olds had a driver's license in 1983, but just 25.6 percent of 16-year-olds did in 2018. (2020, Federal Highway Administration) In 2021, the United States had 8,575,569 registered on-road motorbikes, nearly double the figure (4,320,807) in 2002. (IIHS, 2021)
Cruisers (39.9% of registered motorcycles) were the most popular kind of on-road motorcycles in 2021, followed by touring motorcycles (23.1 percent ). (IIHS, 2021) Motorcycles were owned by 8.02 percent of US households in 2018. (2019, Motorcycle Industry Council) In 2018, men made up 81 percent of motorbike owners, while women made up 19 percent. (2019, Motorcycle Industry Council) In 2019, 37.9 million trucks (excluding government and farmers) were registered and utilized for business purposes, accounting for 23.9 percent of all vehicles registered. 3.97 million Class 8 (heavy) trucks, such as truck tractors and dump trucks, were included. (2021, American Trucking Associations) All registered trucks traveled 300.05 billion miles in 2019, with combination trucks (tractor-trailers) covering 175.3 billion miles. (2021, American Trucking Associations) (Source:
In the United States, there were 3.5 million truck drivers employed in 2018. (2020, American Trucking Associations) More than 8% of truck drivers were female, according to an online survey conducted in August–September 2021. 14.5 percent of company drivers and 14.9 percent of owner-operator/independent carrier drivers (OO/ICs) had a bachelor's degree, and 1.6 percent of company drivers and 2.4 percent of OO/ICs had a master's degree. (2022, American Transportation Research Institute).
In August–September 2021, an online poll of 2,097 truck drivers indicated that 68.6% of OO/IC respondents worked for small operations (1–5 trucks), while 72.7 percent of Company Driver respondents worked for fleets with 21–1,000 trucks. OO/ICs leased to a motor carrier (22.6%) and OO/ICs with their own authority to move freight (17.6%) were more likely than Company Drivers to use five-axle flatbed trucks (5.8 percent ). 5-axle tanker trucks, on the other hand, were more common among Company Drivers (9.7%) than OO/ICs leased to a motor carrier (4.6%) or OO/ICs with their own authority (4.6%). (2.5 percent ). (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/) (American Transportation Research Institute, 2022)
Longer trip lengths were more common among OO/IC respondents, according to an online poll of 2,097 truck drivers conducted in August–September 2021. 73.9 percent of OO/IC respondents said their typical haul distance was over 500 miles per trip. 55.4 percent of Company Driver respondents said they operated local or regional journeys of fewer than 500 miles. (2022, American Transportation Research Institute). In August–September 2021, an online poll of 2,097 truck drivers looked at the factors that influenced each respondent's decision to become a Company Driver or an owner-operator/independent carrier (OO/IC), as well as the current level of driver satisfaction with each factor. (Source:
Job security/stability (88.5 percent), income (83.1 percent), and healthcare/retirement savings were the top three driving reasons among Company Drivers (79.1 percent ). Only 59.5 percent of Company Drivers, on the other hand, said they were happy with their healthcare/retirement savings. 84.3 percent of female Company Drivers said Healthcare/Retirement Savings was a major influence in their decision to become a Company Driver, and 68.6 percent said they were satisfied with Healthcare/Retirement Savings. (Source:
The top three motivating reasons for OO/ICs were independence/ability to set hours (94.8 percent), schedule/flexibility (93.6 percent), and route/haul length (93.6 percent) (91.3 percent ). Unlike Company Drivers, just 39.2% of OO/ICs rated Healthcare/Retirement Savings as a key motivating reason. (2022, American Transportation Research Institute). Around 276 million automobiles were on America's roads in the first quarter of 2019. (2020, Statista) (See https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/ for more information.)
