- 69% of American workers drive alone to work (2024), making solo driving still the dominant commuting mode, though down sharply from 2019 levels.
- Working from home (13.3%) is now the second most common way Americans get their work done, ahead of carpooling (9%) and public transit (3.7%) combined.
- The drive-alone share held remarkably stable at 76–77% for most of the 2010s, then dropped to 68% in 2021 and has only partly recovered, sitting at 69% in 2024, still about 7 points below 2019.
- Work-from-home surged from 5.7% in 2019 to 13.3% in 2024.
01 National Mode Share
69% of American workers drove alone to work in 2024, with working from home (13.3%) now the second most common commute mode, ahead of carpooling (9%) and public transit (3.7%) combined. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey asks every respondent how they usually get to work. The 2024 data shows the automobile is still dominant in American commuting, though noticeably less so than in 2019, and working from home has moved into a clear second place.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2024, United States total (data.census.gov bulk download)| Mode of Transportation | Share (2024) | Workers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Drove alone | 69.2% | 114.4 |
| Worked from home | 13.3% | 22.0 |
| Carpooled | 9.2% | 15.2 |
| Public transit | 3.7% | 6.1 |
| Walked | 2.4% | 4.0 |
| Bicycle | 0.5% | 0.8 |
| Other (taxi, motorcycle, etc.) | 1.7% | 2.8 |
Combined, 78% of American commuters use a personal vehicle (driving alone or carpooling) to get to work, down from about 85% in 2019.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2024: 69.2% + 9.2% = 78.4% personal vehicle commuters02 Mode Share by State
The drive-alone rate varies significantly by state, from under 30% in Washington D.C. to 80.8% in Alabama and 81.2% in Mississippi. In the table below, the states with the highest transit or work-from-home shares have the lowest solo driving shares.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801 by state, 2024| State | Drive Alone | Transit | WFH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 81% | 0.3% | 6% |
| Alabama | 81% | 0.4% | 8% |
| Texas | 72% | 1.0% | 13% |
| U.S. Average | 69% | 3.7% | 13% |
| California | 67% | 3.3% | 14% |
| Colorado | 65% | 1.7% | 20% |
| New York | 49% | 24.2% | 12% |
| D.C. | 29% | 26.6% | 23% |
For the full ranking of all 50 states plus D.C., including carpool share for every state, see Commute Mode by State.
03 Trends Since 2010
For most of the 2010s, the drive-alone commute share barely moved, hovering between 76% and 77% and the numbers since 2020 show a shift that has not reversed.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2010–2024 (data.census.gov bulk download)| Year | Drive Alone | Carpool | Transit | WFH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 77% | 10% | 4.9% | 4.3% |
| 2015 | 77% | 9% | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| 2019 | 76% | 9% | 5.0% | 5.7% |
| 2021 | 68% | 8% | 2.5% | 17.9% |
| 2023 | 69% | 9% | 3.5% | 13.8% |
| 2024 | 69% | 9% | 3.7% | 13.3% |
Carpooling and transit both drifted down slightly through the 2010s (carpool 10% to 9%, transit roughly flat in the 5% range) while working from home crept up gradually. The real story is the rise of working from home after 2020. WFH peaked at 17.9% in 2021. The years since show a partial recovery: drive-alone share climbed back from 68% to 69% (well below its 76–77% level through 2019), while WFH stayed far above its pre-2020 level, at 13.8% in 2023 and 13.3% in 2024. Most of the drop in driving alone since 2019 has not reversed.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2019–2024Estimate your vehicle's driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator04 The Work-From-Home Shift
The largest change in commuting patterns is the rise in working from home. Before 2020 the share grew slowly (4.3% in 2010 to 5.7% in 2019). It then rose sharply, and 13.3% of workers worked from home in 2024, more than double the 2019 rate.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2010, 2019 and 2024 (data.census.gov bulk download)The approximately 13.0 million additional remote workers (compared to 2019) matter for fuel. If each of them would otherwise have driven alone on a 14.4 mile each way commute (7,200 miles a year), at the on-road fleet fuel economy of 23.7 MPG (DOE/ORNL) and the 2025 average regular gasoline price of $3.10 per gallon, each avoids approximately $942 per year in commute fuel.
Calculated: 22.0M (2024 WFH, 13.3% × 165.4M workers) − 8.9M (2019 WFH, 5.7% × 156.9M workers) ≈ 13.0M additional (computed from the unrounded counts). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2019 and 2024 (data.census.gov bulk download). Fuel savings: 7,200 mi (14.4 mi × 2 × 250 days, 2022 NHTS) / 23.7 MPG (on-road fleet average, DOE/ORNL Transportation Energy Data Book Table 4.3) × $3.10 (EIA 2025 annual average regular gasoline, $3.097) = $942.05 Fuel Cost Implications
Under the same assumptions, a solo driver spends roughly $942 per year on commute fuel, a carpooler sharing the fuel with one other person about $471, and a transit rider or remote worker no personal commute fuel.
Solo driver fuel cost: 7,200 mi / 23.7 MPG × $3.10 = $942. Carpool split: $942 / 2 = $471. U.S. Census Bureau mode data; 2022 NHTS commute distance.| Commute Mode | Annual Fuel Cost | Share of Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Drive alone | ~$942 | 69% |
| Work from home | $0 | 13% |
| Carpool (2-person) | ~$471 | 9% |
| Public transit | $0 (fuel) | 3.7% |
| Walk / bike / other | $0 | 4.6% |
At the national level, the 114.4 million solo drivers consume roughly 34.8 billion gallons of gasoline annually just for commuting (7,200 miles × 114.4M workers / 23.7 MPG), if every solo driver commuted 7,200 miles a year. That is about 26% of the 135.9 billion gallons of motor gasoline supplied in the U.S. in 2024.
Calculated: 114.4M × 7,200 / 23.7 = ~34.8B gallons. EIA weekly U.S. product supplied of finished motor gasoline, 2024: mean of the weekly values (thousand barrels per day) × 366 days × 42 gallons = 135.9 billion gallons; 34.8 ÷ 135.9 = 26%.06 Data Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801: Commuting Characteristics, Means of Transportation to Work, 2024. data.census.gov
- EIA: Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices; Weekly U.S. Product Supplied of Finished Motor Gasoline. eia.gov
- DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition 40, Table 4.3: on-road fuel economy of the light-duty vehicle fleet, 23.7 MPG (2020, the most recent year published). tedb.ornl.gov