Contents
- US vehicle miles traveled statistics: national totals and long-term trends
- US vehicle miles traveled statistics by road type and urban or rural setting
- US vehicle miles traveled statistics by vehicle type
- US vehicle miles traveled statistics per registered vehicle and licensed driver
- US vehicle miles traveled: Interstate and functional-class VMT patterns
- US vehicle miles traveled: Vehicle miles traveled, gasoline use, and fuel economy
- Sources
US vehicle miles traveled statistics: national totals and long-term trends
Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) measures the distance motor vehicles travel on roads over a defined period. FHWA describes segment-level VMT as roadway length multiplied by vehicle traffic volume for a given period; annual national VMT sums travel across road segments. It measures distance, rather than the number of trips, vehicles, or people. The annual public-road totals below cover the 50 States and the District of Columbia. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
| Year | Annual public-road VMT (billion miles) |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 3,049 |
| 2008 | 2,993 |
| 2009 | 2,976 |
| 2010 | 2,985 |
| 2011 | 2,965 |
| 2012 | 2,969 |
| 2019 | 3,276 |
| 2020 | 2,917 |
| 2021 | 3,154 |
| 2022 | 3,211 |
| 2023 | 3,262 |
| 2024 | 3,309 |
From 2007 to 2009, annual public-road VMT moved from 3,049 billion miles to 2,976 billion. The reported observations for 2010 through 2012 were 2,985 billion, 2,965 billion, and 2,969 billion miles, respectively. The available values show the year-to-year pattern without establishing its causes. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
In the later observations, annual VMT was 3,276 billion miles in 2019 and 2,917 billion in 2020. The next four reported years each rose from the previous observation, reaching 3,154 billion in 2021, 3,211 billion in 2022, 3,262 billion in 2023, and 3,309 billion in 2024. These are annual totals, not monthly travel. The 2024 figure is the latest observation used here, not a current-year estimate. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
FHWA also reports vehicle-class travel in Highway Statistics Table VM-1, in millions of vehicle-miles. That table and the national annual series use different unit presentations. Keep the unit and scope attached to each figure when comparing them. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Table VM-1 - Highway Statistics 2024
US vehicle miles traveled statistics by road type and urban or rural setting
FHWA reports 2024 Interstate travel by setting. Urban Interstates carried 583 billion vehicle-miles and rural Interstates carried 272 billion. The published total for Interstate travel was 854 billion vehicle-miles, or 26% of all VMT. FHWA also reports that urban areas accounted for 68% of Interstate System VMT. These are Interstate statistics: they do not describe all travel in urban or rural areas. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
| Interstate setting and year | Annual VMT (billion miles) |
|---|---|
| Rural, 1957 | 3.2 |
| Urban, 1957 | 3.6 |
| Rural, 2002 | 281 |
| Rural, 2024 | 272 |
| Urban, 2024 | 583 |
The earlier observations show rural Interstate travel at 3.2 billion miles and urban Interstate travel at 3.6 billion in 1957. Rural Interstate VMT later reached a reported peak of 281 billion miles in 2002; the 2024 observation was 272 billion. Each number concerns annual travel on the Interstate System in the named setting, not all roads in rural or urban places. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
FHWA’s functional-class figures offer a separate way to describe roadway travel. In 2024, arterials carried 73% of VMT, collectors carried 14%, and local roads carried 13%. Functional class describes roadway role; urban and rural labels describe setting. The categories address different characteristics of roads. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
US vehicle miles traveled statistics by vehicle type
FHWA Highway Statistics Table VM-1 gives 2024 motor-vehicle travel on total rural and urban roads, measured in millions of vehicle-miles. All motor vehicles accounted for 3,294,031 million vehicle-miles. The all-light-duty subtotal was 2,924,107 million miles, while the short-wheelbase light-duty category alone accounted for 2,222,415 million miles. FHWA, Table VM-1 - Highway Statistics 2024
| Vehicle category or subtotal | 2024 vehicle-miles (millions) |
|---|---|
| Short-wheelbase light-duty vehicles | 2,222,415 |
| Long-wheelbase light-duty vehicles | 701,693 |
| All light-duty vehicles | 2,924,107 |
| Motorcycles | 22,241 |
| Buses | 18,083 |
| Single-unit trucks | 137,080 |
| Combination trucks | 192,520 |
| Specified truck subtotal: single-unit 2-axle, 6-tire-or-more and combination trucks | 329,600 |
| All motor vehicles | 3,294,031 |
The wheelbase distinction matters when reading the light-duty rows. FHWA defines short-wheelbase light-duty vehicles as passenger cars, light trucks, vans, and SUVs with a wheelbase of at most 121 inches. Long-wheelbase vehicles have a wheelbase greater than 121 inches. Accordingly, the short-wheelbase figure is one category; 2,924,107 million miles is the separately reported subtotal for all light-duty vehicles. FHWA, Table VM-1 - Highway Statistics 2024
The truck figures also include distinct categories and a specifically named subtotal. Single-unit trucks traveled 137,080 million miles and combination trucks traveled 192,520 million miles. The table reports 329,600 million miles for the subtotal of single-unit 2-axle, 6-tire-or-more trucks and combination trucks. Motorcycles traveled 22,241 million miles; buses traveled 18,083 million. Each observation is for 2024 and total rural and urban roads. FHWA, Table VM-1 - Highway Statistics 2024
FHWA’s VM-1 footnote says national trends are estimated using State-reported Highway Performance Monitoring System data, fuel consumption, vehicle registration, other vehicle data, and modeling techniques. The table is therefore an estimate with a defined scope, and its published unit is millions of vehicle-miles. FHWA, Table VM-1 - Highway Statistics 2024
US vehicle miles traveled statistics per registered vehicle and licensed driver
Per-vehicle and per-driver VMT figures use different denominators. The registered-vehicle measure divides VMT by registered vehicles; the driver measure reports VMT per licensed driver. These averages describe different populations and should be read separately. FHWA, Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Drivers | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
Average miles traveled per registered vehicle peaked at 12,211 in 1998. FHWA reports 10,523 miles per registered vehicle in 2020 and 11,071 in 2024. The 2020 and 2024 figures are observations for those years, rather than projections for later periods. FHWA, Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
For licensed drivers, FHWA identifies 15,005 miles per driver in 2005 as the peak. The measure was 14,328 in 2019, 12,724 in 2020, and 13,735 in 2024. FHWA says 2024 was the fourth consecutive annual increase after 2020. This describes the reported sequence, without explaining why it changed. FHWA, Drivers | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
Neither average describes the mileage of every individual vehicle or licensed driver. An average can combine people or vehicles with differing travel distances, and the denominator defines which population the measure represents. Thus, a per-registered-vehicle figure and a per-licensed-driver figure cannot be substituted for one another. FHWA, Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Drivers | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
US vehicle miles traveled: Interstate and functional-class VMT patterns
Selected annual observations allow the rural and urban Interstate series to be read side by side. Urban Interstate travel was greater than rural Interstate travel in each listed year. Values are annual VMT in billion miles. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
| Year | Rural Interstate VMT (billion miles) | Urban Interstate VMT (billion miles) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 246 | 480 |
| 2013 | 234 | 505 |
| 2019 | 262 | 576 |
| 2021 | 264 | 546 |
In the selected series, rural Interstate VMT was 246 billion miles in 2010, 234 billion in 2013, 262 billion in 2019, and 264 billion in 2021. Urban Interstate VMT was 480 billion in 2010, 505 billion in 2013, 576 billion in 2019, and 546 billion in 2021. The values describe travel on Interstate roads by setting; they do not identify reasons for changes between observations. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
Functional class gives a distinct VMT breakdown. In 2024, arterials carried 73% of VMT, collectors 14%, and local roads 13%. These percentages describe shares of VMT by class, not road length, lane miles, or congestion. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
Interstate status and functional class classify roads in different ways, while rural or urban describes setting. These views can be useful together, but the figures here do not provide every possible cross-classification. Keep each statistic tied to its stated road category and measure rather than infer a breakdown that is not reported. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
US vehicle miles traveled: Vehicle miles traveled, gasoline use, and fuel economy
FHWA’s motor-fuel tables include a VMT measure defined as the annual average of monthly VMT. It was 229 billion miles in 2000, 242 billion in 2020, and 275 billion in 2024. This is an annual average of monthly values, not an annual total, so it should not be substituted for the public-road totals reported earlier. FHWA, Motor Fuel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
FHWA reports average VMT per gallon of 11.9 miles per gallon in 1973, 16.7 in 1994, 18.2 in 2020, and 19.2 in 2024. The agency identifies 1973 as the low and 2024 as the highest recorded value in the series. VMT per gallon connects travel distance with gasoline use at the level of a national average; it is not a figure for every vehicle or a specific model. FHWA, Motor Fuel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
These measures describe several dimensions of road travel: annual distance on public roads, VMT by vehicle and road category, mileage per registered vehicle or licensed driver, and average VMT per gallon. Their periods and denominators differ. Retaining those definitions makes each statistic easier to interpret within its stated scope and avoids treating distinct measures as interchangeable. FHWA, Travel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Drivers | Our Nation’s Highways 2026; FHWA, Motor Fuel | Our Nation’s Highways 2026