1 in 10 Americans rarely or never drive a car

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Driving is deeply ingrained in American culture. Most U.S. households have access to a car, and the vast majority of adults say they drive at least a few times a month.

Still, 10% of U.S. adults are nondrivers – that is, they say they seldom or never drive a car or other vehicle – according to a new Pew Research Center survey. This includes 6% who say they don’t drive at all.

Where people live plays a role in whether they drive. About two-in-ten adults living in urban areas (18%) say they seldom or never drive. That’s about double the shares of those who say this and live in suburban (7%) or rural areas (8%).

Those who live in the Northeast (17%) are more likely than those in the South (10%), West (8%) and Midwest (7%) to be nondrivers.

Beyond these geographic differences, certain groups of Americans are especially likely to say they seldom or never drive a car:

Adults in lower-income households: 19% of those living in lower-income households seldom or never drive, compared with 6% of those in middle-income households and 3% of those in upper-income households.

Black Americans: 21% of Black adults are nondrivers, compared with smaller shares of Asian (13%), Hispanic (12%) and White (7%) adults.

Younger Americans: Adults under 30 (15%) are more likely than those ages 30 to 49 (9%), 50 to 64 (7%) and 65 and older (11%) to be nondrivers.

How Americans get to work

We were also interested in how a large subset of Americans get around – namely, workers. The U.S. Census Bureau offers a window into this group by asking about the main form of transportation they typically use to get to work.

Overall, 78% of workers ages 16 and older said they usually drove to their job in a car, truck or van during the previous week, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates from its 2023 American Community Survey (ACS). Looking at just auto commuters, the vast majority (88%) drove alone rather than carpooling.

Relatively few workers primarily got to work other ways: 4% took public transportation, 2% walked and fewer than 1% bicycled to work. Another 14% worked from home the previous week and did not commute. Fewer than 2% used another form of transportation (including taxis and motorcycles, among other methods).

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