If a symbol of the American lifestyle exists, it might very well be the car. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, according to the Federal Highway Administration, the average American drives an average of 14,000 miles per year or just under 1,200 miles a month. That’s enough for a round-trip drive from Miami to Seattle twiceâwith a few hundred miles left over.
Another way to measure driving is with vehicle miles traveled per capita, the sum of annual miles traveled by vehicles divided by the state’s total population. Collectively, Americans drive roughly 3.2 trillion miles every yearâwhich measures out to 9,780 miles per capita.
But people in different states drive different amounts. Population density and the cost of gas are among the factors influencing driving habits. CheapInsurance.com used data from the Federal Highway Administration and the Census Bureau to find out which state’s residents do the most driving. The data are ranked by the average number of vehicle-miles driven in each state, by capita. Driving data are from September 2021 through August 2023, and population data are from 2022.
Southern and Western states lead the rankings of where drivers spend more time behind the wheel. The top five states are more rural and have lower population densities than others, meaning they may have longer distances to travel for work or regular errands. It’s also likely they have less access to public transportation.
At the other end of the list, the five states with the lowest miles driven per capita are in the Northeast and along the Pacific coast. Some of them are home to cities with the best public transportation systems in the country.
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#51. Washington DC
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 3.25 billion
—Per capita: 4,843.7
#50. New York
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 112.65 billion
—Per capita: 5,724.9
#49. Hawaii
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 10.48 billion
—Per capita: 7,278.2
#48. Rhode Island
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 8.10 billion
—Per capita: 7,407.7
#47. Washington
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 59.18 billion
—Per capita: 7,600.6
#46. Alaska
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 5.80 billion
—Per capita: 7,902.3
#45. Pennsylvania
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 103.89 billion
—Per capita: 8,008.7
#44. Illinois
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 101.66 billion
—Per capita: 8,079.8
#43. California
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 319.63 billion
—Per capita: 8,189.5
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#42. Connecticut
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 30.40 billion
—Per capita: 8,383.7
#41. New Jersey
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 78.62 billion
—Per capita: 8,488.2
#40. Oregon
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 36.49 billion
—Per capita: 8,606.8
#39. Nevada
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 27.54 billion
—Per capita: 8,666.1
#38. Massachusetts
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 62.12 billion
—Per capita: 8,897.6
#37. West Virginia
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 16.35 billion
—Per capita: 9,211.6
#36. Maryland
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 57.68 billion
—Per capita: 9,355.9
#35. Colorado
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 54.67 billion
—Per capita: 9,361.6
#34. Virginia
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 83.20 billion
—Per capita: 9,580.9
#33. Ohio
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 113.94 billion
—Per capita: 9,692.2
#32. New Hampshire
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 13.61 billion
—Per capita: 9,753.9
#31. Delaware
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 10.02 billion
—Per capita: 9,839.0
#30. Michigan
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 99.17 billion
—Per capita: 9,883.6
#29. Texas
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 299.85 billion
—Per capita: 9,985.0
#28. Idaho
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 19.47 billion
—Per capita: 10,043.2
#27. Minnesota
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 57.78 billion
—Per capita: 10,106.9
#26. Utah
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 34.35 billion
—Per capita: 10,161.5
#25. Iowa
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 33.15 billion
—Per capita: 10,356.1
#24. Arizona
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 77.38 billion
—Per capita: 10,514.5
#23. Florida
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 234.29 billion
—Per capita: 10,532.4
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#22. Nebraska
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 20.86 billion
—Per capita: 10,598.5
#21. South Dakota
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 9.75 billion
—Per capita: 10,718.6
#20. Vermont
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 6.97 billion
—Per capita: 10,774.8
#19. Maine
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 14.93 billion
—Per capita: 10,780.0
#18. Kansas
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 31.67 billion
—Per capita: 10,782.2
#17. Kentucky
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 50.26 billion
—Per capita: 11,138.4
#16. North Carolina
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 119.59 billion
—Per capita: 11,178.1
#15. Wisconsin
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 65.88 billion
—Per capita: 11,179.9
#14. Oklahoma
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 45.20 billion
—Per capita: 11,243.3
#13. South Carolina
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 60.26 billion
—Per capita: 11,407.8
#12. Georgia
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 125.48 billion
—Per capita: 11,498.3
#11. Indiana
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 80.70 billion
—Per capita: 11,810.9
#10. North Dakota
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 9.33 billion
—Per capita: 11,978.0
#9. Tennessee
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 84.72 billion
—Per capita: 12,014.5
#8. Montana
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 13.53 billion
—Per capita: 12,045.1
#7. Louisiana
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 55.33 billion
—Per capita: 12,054.7
#6. Arkansas
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 38.25 billion
—Per capita: 12,560.3
#5. Missouri
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 80.59 billion
—Per capita: 13,045.1
#4. New Mexico
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 27.62 billion
—Per capita: 13,068.4
#3. Mississippi
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 40.49 billion
—Per capita: 13,771.5
#2. Alabama
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 77.64 billion
—Per capita: 15,300.3
#1. Wyoming
Annual vehicle-miles driven: 10.69 billion
—Per capita: 18,378.7
Story editing by Jeff Inglis. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.
