Work One hundred people
How do 100 Americans get to work?
How 100 typical American workers got to work in 2024, from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Line up 100 American workers and ask how they got to work. About 69 drove alone. Thirteen didn't travel at all, because they worked from home. Nine shared a car, four took public transport, and the last handful walked, cycled or found another way.
See the numbers
| Usual way to work | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Drove alone | 69.2% |
| Worked from home | 13.3% |
| Carpooled | 9.2% |
| Public transit | 3.7% |
| Walk, bike or other | 4.5% |
What it shows
Each figure stands for one worker in a hundred. Driving alone is still the way most Americans get to work, at 69.2% of workers. Working from home, at 13.3%, is now the second most common answer, ahead of carpooling at 9.2%.
Public transport accounted for 3.7% of workers nationally: 1.7% by bus, 1.5% by subway or elevated rail, and smaller shares by commuter rail, light rail and ferry. Walking accounted for 2.4% and cycling for 0.5%.
For those who did travel, the average one-way trip took 27.2 minutes, according to the same survey. Made there and back on five workdays, that adds up to about four and a half hours a week on the road, the rails or the pavement.
What it leaves out
A national figure blends very different places. In big cities with dense transit networks, far more people take the train or walk; in much of the country, there is little realistic alternative to a car. The survey also asks how people usually got to work, so a worker who drives three days and works from home two is counted once, by their most common answer.
Working from home here means people whose usual commute was no commute at all. Many more split the week between home and an office, and the survey does not capture that mix. A chart like this shows what is common, not what is better; the right commute depends on the job, the place and the person.
Sources and method
Figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table B08301, Means of Transportation to Work, for workers aged 16 and over in the United States, as presented by Census Reporter. The survey asks how each worker usually got to work in the previous week. We grouped walking, cycling, taxis and ride-hailing, motorcycles and other means into one group so that a hundred figures stay readable; the parts are listed in the note under the drawing.
And the answer is → 69 drive alone, 13 stay home, 9 carpool, 4 take transit, and 5 walk, cycle or find another way.
