Vehicle Ownership and Use

A key measure of vehicle use is vehicle miles traveled, or VMT. VMT is calculated by dividing the number of miles traveled in a car trip by the number of occupants in the car. Table 1 shows that VMT decreased substantially from 2019 to 2021, then rebounded from 2021 to 2023. In 2023, individuals drove 17 miles per day. Households accrued 42 miles of vehicle travel per day on average in 2023.

Table 1: Vehicle Miles Traveled by Year (Weighted)

Survey Year	Household-Level VMT		Person-Level VMT
	Average	Standard Error	Average	Standard Error
2019	54.9	0.9	22.2	0.3
2021	37.2	1.6	15.1	0.5
2023	42.0	1.5	17.0	0.5

Figure 1 shows Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per person per day, segmented by gender, age group, and survey year (2019, 2021, and 2023). For all age groups, males generally accrue more VMT per day than females. The 35-64 age group shows the highest VMT per day for both genders across all survey years. The VMT per day decreased across both genders from 2019 to 2021. The VMT per day then increased slightly for each gender and age group from 2021 to 2023, with the exception of the 18-34 age group who saw little change in VMT per day from 2021 to 2023.

These trends hint at a host of socioeconomic, social, cultural, and behavioral factors at play. For example, men may be more likely to work in jobs that require longer commutes or have jobs that require travel for work (driver, sales); women may be less likely to have access to the household vehicle in households led by heterosexual couples; and men may have higher incomes than women, allowing for more discretionary travel.

Figure 1: Vehicle Miles Traveled by Age and Gender (Weighted)

Figure 2 shows how household-level VMT varies according to household income. Across all years, higher-income households accrue more VMT than people in lower-income households. Households earning $100,000 or more saw the greatest declines in VMT from 2019 to 2023, likely owing to the propensity of this income group to adopt working from home during the pandemic.

Figure 2: Vehicle Miles Traveled by Income (Weighted)

Figure 3 shows how VMT varies by job type. Those who drive for work or have a job with multiple job sites accrue the greatest VMT, and those who work only from home accrue the least. In 2023, hybrid workers had similar VMT (23 miles traveled) as those who work only one location outside of the home (24 miles traveled).

Figure 3: Vehicle Miles Traveled by Job Type (Weighted)

Figure 4 shows how VMT at the household level varies by household size. Instead of doubling for every person added, VMT increases only slightly as household size increases past 3 or more people.

Larger households saw the greatest decreases in VMT after the pandemic compared to smaller households (1 or 2 persons).

Figure 4: Vehicle Miles Traveled by Household Size (Weighted)

In all 3 waves, about half of vehicle trips ended at a parking lot, ramp, or garage (Figure 5). However, the share of trips ending at a parking lot decreased from 2019 to 2021, consistent with decreases in commutes to work; this rebounded slightly from 2021 to 2023. Meanwhile, a greater share of trips ended at home or were drive-through trips.

Figure 5: Vehicle Park Location by Year (Weighted)

	Vehicle Park Location	2019	2021	2023
	Home driveway/garage (yours or someone else's)	26%	33%	34%
	Someone else's driveway	4%	NA	NA
	Parking lot/ramp/garage	53%	46%	48%
	On-street parking	10%	12%	9%
	Park & Ride lot	0%	0%	0%
	Didn't park (waited, drop-off, drive-thru, gas)	6%	9%	8%
	Other	1%	1%	1%
Total	—	100%	100%	100%