- 69% of American workers drive alone to work (2023), making solo driving still the dominant commuting mode, though down sharply from pre-pandemic levels.
- Working from home (13.8%) is now the second most common way Americans get their work done—ahead of carpooling (9%) and public transit (3.5%) 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 2023—still about 7 points below pre-pandemic.
- Work-from-home surged from 5.7% in 2019 to 13.8% in 2023, the largest commuting mode shift in Census history.
01 National Mode Share
69% of American workers drove alone to work in 2023, with working from home (13.8%) now the second most common commute mode—ahead of carpooling (9%) and public transit (3.5%) combined. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey asks every respondent how they usually get to work. The 2023 data shows the automobile is still dominant in American commuting, though noticeably less so than before the pandemic—and working from home has moved into a clear second place.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2023, United States total (data.census.gov bulk download)| Mode of Transportation | Share (2023) | Workers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Drove alone | 69.2% | 112.4 |
| Worked from home | 13.8% | 22.4 |
| Carpooled | 9.0% | 14.6 |
| Public transit | 3.5% | 5.7 |
| Walked | 2.4% | 3.9 |
| Bicycle | 0.5% | 0.8 |
| Other (taxi, motorcycle, etc.) | 1.5% | 2.4 |
Combined, 78% of American commuters use a personal vehicle (driving alone or carpooling) to get to work—down from over 85% before the pandemic, as some of the driving-alone population shifted permanently to remote work. Automobile dependence is still the fundamental driver of household fuel spending in America, just a somewhat smaller one than it used to be.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2023: 69.2% + 9.0% = 78.2% personal vehicle commuters02 Mode Share by State
The drive-alone rate varies significantly by state, from under 30% in Washington D.C. to over 80% in Alabama and Mississippi. States with higher transit usage, walkability, or remote-work rates have lower solo driving shares.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801 by state, 2023| State | Drive Alone | Transit | WFH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 80% | 0.2% | 6% |
| Alabama | 80% | 0.3% | 9% |
| Texas | 72% | 0.9% | 14% |
| U.S. Average | 69% | 3.5% | 14% |
| California | 67% | 3.1% | 15% |
| Colorado | 66% | 1.6% | 20% |
| New York | 49% | 24% | 12% |
| D.C. | 29% | 23% | 27% |
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% despite investments in public transit, bike infrastructure, and ride-sharing platforms. The pandemic broke that pattern, and the numbers since show the shift stuck rather than 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. The 2021 pandemic year was an outlier, but the years since show a partial, not full, recovery: drive-alone share climbed back from 68% to 69%—nowhere near its 76–77% plateau—while WFH settled at a permanently higher level, ticking down only slightly from 13.8% in 2023 to 13.3% in 2024. The workers who left solo driving in 2021 mostly didn't come back to it.
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 most dramatic change in commuting patterns is the permanent shift toward remote work. Before 2020, working from home was growing slowly (4.3% in 2010 to 5.7% in 2019). The pandemic accelerated this trend dramatically, and even after the return-to-office movement, 13.8% of workers continued to work primarily from home in 2023—more than double the pre-pandemic rate.
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2010, 2019 and 2023 (data.census.gov bulk download); BLS, American Time Use Survey, telework supplementsThis shift has significant fuel consumption implications. The approximately 13.5 million additional remote workers (compared to 2019) each avoid roughly 7,200 commute miles per year. At the actual on-road fleet fuel economy of 23.7 MPG (DOE/ORNL) and $4.211 per gallon, each remote worker saves approximately $1,279 per year in commute fuel.
Calculated: 22.4M (2023 WFH, 13.8% × 162.4M workers) − 8.9M (2019 WFH, 5.7% × 156.9M workers) ≈ 13.5M additional. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801, 2019 and 2023 (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) × $4.211 = $1,279.05 Fuel Cost Implications
Commuting mode choice has direct and significant implications for household fuel spending. A solo driver spends roughly $1,279 per year on commute fuel, while a carpooler sharing with one other person spends about $640, and a transit rider or remote worker spends near zero on commute fuel.
Solo driver fuel cost: 7,200 mi / 23.7 MPG × $4.211 = $1,279. Carpool split: $1,279 / 2 = $640. U.S. Census Bureau mode data; 2022 NHTS commute distance.| Commute Mode | Annual Fuel Cost | Share of Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Drive alone | ~$1,279 | 69% |
| Work from home | $0 | 14% |
| Carpool (2-person) | ~$640 | 9% |
| Public transit | $0 (fuel) | 3.5% |
| Walk / bike / other | $0 | 4.4% |
At the national level, the 112.4 million solo drivers consume roughly 34.1 billion gallons of gasoline annually just for commuting (7,200 miles × 112.4M workers / 23.7 MPG). This represents close to one-quarter of total U.S. gasoline consumption.
Calculated: 112.4M × 7,200 / 23.7 = ~34.1B gallons. EIA total gasoline consumption: ~135B gal/year.06 Data Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0801: Commuting Characteristics, Means of Transportation to Work, 2023. data.census.gov
- BLS: American Time Use Survey, Telework Supplements. bls.gov
- EIA: U.S. Gasoline Consumption. 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