Highway Statistics Series
Highway Statistics 2021
Annual Vehicle Distance Traveled in Miles and Related Data - 2021 (1)
by Highway Category and Vehicle Type
Updated: January 2024
| YEAR | ITEM | LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES SHORT WB 2/ |
MOTOR- CYCLES |
BUSES | LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES LONG WB 2/ |
SINGLE-UNIT TRUCKS 3/ |
COMBINATION TRUCKS |
SUBTOTALS | ALL MOTOR VEHICLES |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALL LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES 2/ |
SINGLE-UNIT 2-AXLE 6-TIRE OR MORE AND COMBINATION TRUCKS |
|||||||||
| Motor-Vehicle Travel: (millions of vehicle-miles) | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Interstate Rural | 140,583 | 1,082 | 1,539 | 50,523 | 11,389 | 58,575 | 191,106 | 69,964 | 263,691 |
| 2020 | 123,042 | 961 | 1,383 | 44,587 | 10,075 | 51,770 | 167,629 | 61,845 | 231,818 | |
| 2021 | Other Arterial Rural | 227,383 | 2,127 | 2,194 | 100,463 | 19,381 | 32,860 | 327,847 | 52,240 | 384,408 |
| 2020 | 207,498 | 2,205 | 2,056 | 92,800 | 17,686 | 30,507 | 300,298 | 48,193 | 352,752 | |
| 2021 | Other Rural | 203,373 | 2,967 | 2,013 | 97,513 | 17,895 | 12,421 | 300,885 | 30,316 | 336,182 |
| 2020 | 192,895 | 2,711 | 1,747 | 93,178 | 16,386 | 12,041 | 286,073 | 28,427 | 318,957 | |
| 2021 | All Rural | 571,338 | 6,176 | 5,746 | 248,500 | 48,665 | 103,856 | 819,838 | 152,520 | 984,281 |
| 2020 | 523,434 | 5,877 | 5,186 | 230,565 | 44,147 | 94,318 | 754,000 | 138,465 | 903,527 | |
| 2021 | Interstate Urban | 363,954 | 1,970 | 2,275 | 104,795 | 21,428 | 52,051 | 468,749 | 73,480 | 546,474 |
| 2020 | 330,361 | 1,891 | 2,337 | 94,184 | 19,616 | 47,036 | 424,546 | 66,652 | 495,425 | |
| 2021 | Other Urban | 1,148,605 | 11,496 | 8,723 | 331,806 | 61,544 | 39,482 | 1,480,411 | 101,026 | 1,601,657 |
| 2020 | 1,080,947 | 10,180 | 7,514 | 313,496 | 54,069 | 38,463 | 1,394,443 | 92,532 | 1,504,669 | |
| 2021 | All Urban | 1,512,559 | 13,466 | 10,998 | 436,602 | 82,973 | 91,533 | 1,949,161 | 174,506 | 2,148,130 |
| 2020 | 1,411,308 | 12,071 | 9,851 | 407,680 | 73,685 | 85,499 | 1,818,989 | 159,184 | 2,000,095 | |
| 2021 | Total Rural and Urban 5/ | 2,083,898 | 19,642 | 16,744 | 685,101 | 131,637 | 195,389 | 2,768,999 | 327,026 | 3,132,411 |
| 2020 | 1,934,743 | 17,947 | 15,037 | 638,246 | 117,832 | 179,817 | 2,572,988 | 297,649 | 2,903,622 | |
| 2021 | Number of motor vehicles registered 2/ | 197,092,816 | 9,795,491 | 939,123 | 60,530,744 | 10,713,550 | 3,142,854 | 257,623,560 | 13,856,404 | 282,214,578 |
| 2020 | 194,788,825 | 8,347,435 | 1,010,304 | 58,890,431 | 9,908,410 | 2,990,962 | 253,679,256 | 12,899,372 | 275,936,367 | |
| 2021 | Average miles traveled per vehicle | 10,573 | 2,005 | 17,830 | 11,318 | 12,287 | 62,169 | 10,748 | 23,601 | 11,099 |
| 2020 | 9,933 | 2,150 | 14,883 | 10,838 | 11,892 | 60,120 | 10,143 | 23,075 | 10,523 | |
| 2021 | Person-miles of travel (millions) 4/ | 3,471,196 | 23,659 | 354,983 | 1,168,120 | 131,637 | 195,389 | 4,639,316 | 327,026 | 5,344,984 |
| 2020 | 3,225,210 | 21,618 | 318,778 | 1,084,960 | 117,832 | 179,817 | 4,310,170 | 297,649 | 4,948,215 | |
| 2021 | Fuel consumed (thousand gallons) | 85,306,944 | 446,802 | 2,274,325 | 38,493,966 | 17,169,260 | 30,439,397 | 123,800,910 | 47,608,657 | 174,130,694 |
| 2020 | 78,721,898 | 408,255 | 2,038,723 | 35,676,672 | 15,179,899 | 27,159,041 | 114,398,570 | 42,338,940 | 159,184,488 | |
| 2021 | Average fuel consumption per vehicle (gallons) | 433 | 46 | 2,422 | 636 | 1,603 | 9,685 | 481 | 3,436 | 617 |
| 2020 | 404 | 49 | 2,018 | 606 | 1,532 | 9,080 | 451 | 3,282 | 577 | |
| 2021 | Average miles traveled per gallon of fuel consumed | 24.4 | 44.0 | 7.4 | 17.8 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 22.4 | 6.9 | 18.0 |
| 2020 | 24.6 | 44.0 | 7.4 | 17.9 | 7.8 | 6.6 | 22.5 | 7.0 | 18.2 | |
1/ The FHWA estimates national trends by using State reported Highway Performance and Monitoring System (HPMS) data, fuel consumption data (MF-21), vehicle registration data (MV-1), other data such as the R. L. Polk vehicle data, and a host of modeling techniques.
2/ Light Duty Vehicles Short WB - passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles with a wheelbase (WB) less than or equal to 121 inches. Light Duty Vehicles Long WB - large passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles with wheelbases (WB) greater than 121 inches. All Light Duty Vehicles - passenger cars, light trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles regardless of wheelbase.
3/ Single-Unit - single frame trucks that have 2-Axles and at least 6 tires or a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 10,000 lbs.
4/ For 2021 and 2020, vehicle occupancy is estimated by the FHWA from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and the annual R.L. Polk Vehicle registration data. For single unit trucks and combination trucks, 1 motor vehicle miles traveled = 1 person-miles traveled.
5/ VMT data are based on the latest HPMS data available; it may not match previous published results.