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Average Miles Driven Per Year by State (2026 Data)
The average American drives 13,735 miles a year. That figure comes from dividing the 3.29 trillion vehicle miles travelled on US roads in 2024 by the 239,824,944 licensed drivers recorded in the same year, both published by the Federal Highway Administration.
It varies enormously by state. Wyoming averages 21,568 miles per driver. The District of Columbia averages 8,382. That is a difference of more than two and a half times between the top and the bottom of the table.
Average miles driven per year by state
Ranked highest to lowest, using FHWA Highway Statistics 2024, the most recent full year available. The last two columns show the raw figures behind each calculation so you can check the working.
| Rank | State | Miles per licensed driver | Total VMT (millions) | Licensed drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | 21,568 | 9,720 | 450,658 |
| 2 | Mississippi | 19,960 | 41,554 | 2,081,880 |
| 3 | Alabama | 19,131 | 72,904 | 3,810,682 |
| 4 | Missouri | 18,879 | 81,807 | 4,333,249 |
| 5 | Indiana | 18,321 | 88,231 | 4,815,863 |
| 6 | New Mexico | 18,172 | 28,645 | 1,576,345 |
| 7 | Kansas | 18,146 | 31,670 | 1,745,260 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 18,112 | 46,456 | 2,564,949 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 17,719 | 49,168 | 2,774,913 |
| 10 | North Dakota | 16,976 | 10,030 | 590,836 |
| 11 | Louisiana | 16,106 | 55,109 | 3,421,652 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 16,073 | 131,008 | 8,151,045 |
| 13 | Texas | 15,783 | 308,461 | 19,543,658 |
| 14 | Montana | 15,770 | 13,865 | 879,210 |
| 15 | Utah | 15,674 | 36,160 | 2,307,046 |
| 16 | Georgia | 15,596 | 122,216 | 7,836,120 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 15,472 | 69,226 | 4,474,148 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 15,253 | 78,904 | 5,172,916 |
| 19 | West Virginia | 14,998 | 17,214 | 1,147,780 |
| 20 | South Dakota | 14,983 | 10,450 | 697,440 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 14,943 | 62,042 | 4,151,939 |
| 22 | Vermont | 14,941 | 7,208 | 482,424 |
| 23 | Virginia | 14,766 | 88,511 | 5,994,059 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 14,738 | 21,900 | 1,485,949 |
| 25 | Florida | 14,557 | 249,474 | 17,137,725 |
| 26 | Idaho | 14,155 | 20,046 | 1,416,161 |
| 27 | Iowa | 14,134 | 33,817 | 2,392,612 |
| 28 | Minnesota | 14,031 | 59,181 | 4,217,820 |
| 29 | Maine | 13,993 | 15,161 | 1,083,484 |
| 30 | Ohio | 13,523 | 116,036 | 8,580,551 |
| 31 | Arkansas | 13,260 | 39,372 | 2,969,286 |
| 32 | Maryland | 13,171 | 57,049 | 4,331,257 |
| 33 | Michigan | 12,745 | 99,661 | 7,819,619 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | 12,664 | 13,854 | 1,094,005 |
| 35 | Massachusetts | 12,491 | 62,013 | 4,964,434 |
| 36 | Nevada | 12,322 | 28,433 | 2,307,542 |
| 37 | Colorado | 12,147 | 55,068 | 4,533,480 |
| 38 | Arizona | 11,941 | 70,451 | 5,899,741 |
| 39 | Illinois | 11,852 | 104,290 | 8,799,495 |
| 40 | Oregon | 11,758 | 37,399 | 3,180,684 |
| 41 | Connecticut | 11,744 | 30,947 | 2,635,139 |
| 42 | California | 11,719 | 325,959 | 27,815,343 |
| 43 | New Jersey | 11,429 | 79,460 | 6,952,412 |
| 44 | Hawaii | 11,092 | 10,647 | 959,843 |
| 45 | Delaware | 10,951 | 9,937 | 907,403 |
| 46 | Pennsylvania | 10,452 | 95,194 | 9,107,421 |
| 47 | Alaska | 10,194 | 5,503 | 539,812 |
| 48 | Washington | 9,997 | 60,555 | 6,057,576 |
| 49 | Rhode Island | 9,936 | 7,656 | 770,502 |
| 50 | New York | 9,717 | 120,869 | 12,439,380 |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 8,382 | 3,539 | 422,196 |
| United States | 13,735 | 3,294,031 | 239,824,944 |
What these numbers actually measure
This is the part most published versions of this table leave out, and it matters if you are using the figures for anything serious.
Vehicle miles travelled counts every mile driven on a state’s roads. That includes long-haul freight, delivery fleets, rental cars, and drivers from neighbouring states passing through. Licensed drivers counts only the people who hold a licence issued by that state.
So the figure is miles driven on a state’s roads per resident licensed driver. It is not the same as how far a typical resident personally drives.
That explains the extremes. Wyoming tops the table because Interstates 80 and 25 carry enormous volumes of through freight across a state with only 450,658 licensed drivers. The freight miles land in the numerator; the truckers do not land in the denominator. The same effect inflates Mississippi, Alabama and New Mexico.
At the other end, the District of Columbia sits last because it is dense, compact and well served by transit, and because many people who work there are licensed in Virginia and Maryland.
Used sensibly, the table is a reliable guide to how car-dependent a state is. Used carelessly, it will tell you the average person in Wyoming drives 21,568 miles a year, which they do not.
Why annual mileage matters
Annual mileage drives a number of practical decisions:
- Insurance. Most US insurers band premiums by annual mileage, and pay-per-mile policies price it directly.
- Leasing. A standard lease allows 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year. A driver in Mississippi averaging 19,960 miles will exceed a 12,000-mile allowance every year and pay overage on roughly 8,000 miles.
- Resale. Valuation guides assume a mileage band for a vehicle’s age. Being well above or below it moves the price.
- Buying used. Knowing the state average tells you whether an odometer reading is plausible for where a car has lived.
The highest and lowest ten
The pattern is straightforward. Rural states with long distances and heavy freight corridors sit at the top. Dense coastal states with real public transport sit at the bottom.
Highest: Wyoming (21,568), Mississippi (19,960), Alabama (19,131), Missouri (18,879), Indiana (18,321), New Mexico (18,172), Kansas (18,146), Oklahoma (18,112), Kentucky (17,719), North Dakota (16,976).
Lowest: District of Columbia (8,382), New York (9,717), Rhode Island (9,936), Washington (9,997), Alaska (10,194), Pennsylvania (10,452), Delaware (10,951), Hawaii (11,092), New Jersey (11,429), California (11,719).
Alaska is the one that surprises people. It is the largest state by area but has very few connected roads, and most of its population lives in and around Anchorage.
Sources
- Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2024, Table VM-2 — annual vehicle miles of travel by state.
- Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2024, Table DL-22 — licensed drivers by state.
Figures are for calendar year 2024, the most recent complete data published by the FHWA. Miles per driver is calculated as total VMT divided by total licensed drivers. This page is updated when new Highway Statistics data is released.
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