Americans drove a total of 3.279 trillion miles in 2024, but per capita VMT stayed the same.
American drivers drove 1 percent more miles in 2024 than in 2023, or 3.279 trillion vehicle-miles. According to the Eno Center for Transportation’s Traffic Volume Trends report, this is a return to pre-2004 norms, when driving grew by 2.5 percent per year.
Explaining the numbers, Jeff Davis notes that “At an individual level, using Census Bureau annual July 1 population estimates, VMT per capita in 2024 did not grow at all – 9,641 miles per person in 2024 versus 9,640 miles per person in 2023.” Per capita VMT peaked in 2004 at 10,117 miles.
The report also notes that the discrepancy between urban and rural total driving was nonexistent in 2024, and “The percentage of total VMT that took place on urban roads stayed the same at 68.9 percent.”
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