Drive-alone commute share, explained
Share of workers who drive alone to work.
What it measures
The drive-alone share is the percentage of workers 16 and older who commute to work by car, truck, or van, alone. The numerator excludes carpoolers, public-transit users, walkers, cyclists, and people who work from home. The denominator is the same set of workers, total workers commuting to a workplace plus work-from-home workers (the WFH workers are typically grouped into the same denominator for cleaner comparison with the other commute-mode percentages).
Drive-alone is by far the dominant US commute mode and has been for decades; even in the densest US metros it captures the majority of commuters.
Why it matters
Drive-alone share is the cleanest single measure of how car-dependent a metro is. It predicts greenhouse-gas emissions per capita, road congestion patterns, parking demand, and the size of the auto-related local economy (dealerships, mechanics, gas stations, insurance brokers). Metros with high drive-alone shares typically have lower transit ridership, lower walking and cycling shares, and higher per-capita vehicle ownership.
Top US places by drive alone to work
Top 25 per geography type from the latest ACS vintage. See the full ranking links for the complete eligible universe.
Top states (2024)
SEE ALL 51 →Top metro areas (2024)
SEE ALL 925 →Top counties (2024)
SEE ALL 3,144 →Top cities (2024)
SEE ALL 6,826 →Top ZIP codes (2024)
SEE ALL 16,889 →How the Census measures it
ACS Table B08301, Means of Transportation to Work. CensusEasy computes drive-alone as the share of workers reporting "car, truck, or van, drove alone" as their primary commute mode.
How to read the numbers
The US drive-alone share is about 68%. State rates range from about 50% (New York, driven by NYC's massive transit ridership) to over 80% (most Sunbelt and rural states). Among large metros, New York is the clear outlier at about 50%; the Bay Area, Boston, Washington DC, and Chicago cluster in the 55-65% range; most other large metros exceed 75%. A metro drive-alone share above 80% indicates a fundamentally auto-oriented transportation system; below 60% requires either a strong transit system or a very compact urban core.
Caveats and limitations
Drive-alone share fell during the pandemic as work-from-home expanded; the remaining commuters are typically the ones least able to work remotely (frontline, manual, and service workers), who often have longer absolute commutes. Compare drive-alone share alongside WFH share to track the structural commute-mode mix.