How Many People Drive Cars? 239.8M US Licensed Drivers (2024)

The United States had 239,824,944 licensed drivers in 2024, which is 84.6% of residents of all ages, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). No official source read for this update gives a worldwide count of drivers, so global figures online are estimates. This guide separates licensed drivers, people who drive and vehicles, and gives the year and source for every number.

Global Car Ownership and Driver Numbers

There is no single official number for how many people drive cars in the world. Licensing rules, record keeping and the way a "driver" is counted differ by country, and the FHWA, Census Bureau and World Health Organization pages read for this update publish no global driver total. The one global vehicle figure in them comes from the WHO’s road traffic injuries fact sheet (dated 20 July 2026): low- and middle-income countries have around 60% of the world’s vehicles. The fact sheet does not state a year for that share. See the WHO fact sheet.

For counts of cars rather than drivers, our how many cars are in the world page compares the published sources. What follows uses only official US data, where the definitions are documented.

Licensed Drivers, People Who Drive and Vehicles: What Each Number Counts

Three different things get called "how many people drive". They are not interchangeable, and mixing them is the main reason published figures disagree.

Term	What it counts	Latest figure used here	Source
Licensed drivers	Driver license records in a state, including restricted and graduated licenses (FHWA footnote to Table DL-1C)	239,824,944 in the US, 2024	FHWA Table DL-20
People who drive	Anyone who actually drives, licensed or not, daily or rarely. The pages read give no national headcount; the closest official measure is how workers get to work	69.2% of workers drove alone to work, 2024	Census Bureau, ACS 1-year
Registered vehicles	Motor vehicles registered with states: automobiles, buses, trucks and motorcycles, private and publicly owned	297,525,836 in the US, 2024	FHWA Table MV-1
Vehicle-miles traveled	Miles driven by all motor vehicles, an FHWA estimate	3,294,031 million miles in the US, 2024	FHWA Table VM-1

How Many People Drive Cars in the US? The Numbers by Source

This table lists each measure with its year, geography and source. All US figures are for 2024 unless the row says otherwise, and they describe that report year, not today.

Measure	Value	Year	Geography	Source
Licensed drivers	239,824,944	2024	United States	FHWA DL-20
Licensed drivers as percent of population, all ages	84.6%	2024	United States	FHWA DL-20
Licensed drivers per 1,000 residents	707	2024	United States	FHWA DL-1C
Licensed drivers per 1,000 people aged 16 and over	872	2024	United States	FHWA DL-1C
Licensed drivers per private and commercial registered vehicle	0.82	2024	United States	FHWA DL-1C
All registered motor vehicles	297,525,836	2024	United States	FHWA MV-1
Registered light-duty vehicles	271,085,742	2024	United States	FHWA VM-1
Workers who drove alone to work	69.2%	2024	United States	Census ACS 1-year
Workers who worked from home	13.3%	2024	United States	Census ACS 1-year
Share of world vehicles in low- and middle-income countries	around 60%	Not stated	World	WHO fact sheet

FHWA’s population base for these ratios is 339,058,370 residents, of whom 274,996,535 are 16 or older. Our own arithmetic on the same tables: 297,525,836 registered motor vehicles is about 1.24 vehicles per licensed driver, but that count includes buses, motorcycles and publicly owned vehicles, so it does not mean the average driver owns 1.24 cars. If you want the car-count side, see how many cars are in the US.

Growth has been steady. FHWA’s DL-220 table counts 93,573 thousand licensed drivers in 1963 and 239,825 thousand in 2024, about 2.6 times as many by our arithmetic.

Year	Licensed drivers (thousands)
1963	93,573
1980	145,295
2000	190,624
2010	210,114
2020	228,196
2024	239,825

Demographics Of Drivers

FHWA Table DL-20 splits the 2024 count by age and sex relative to Census population estimates. Licensing climbs quickly after 16 and then stays above 89% from the late 20s through the 60s.

Age group	Licensed drivers	Percent of age-group population
16	1,189,261	26.2%
17	2,015,370	44.4%
18	2,694,602	60.4%
19	3,033,979	68.8%
20-24	17,881,504	80.9%
25-29	19,831,612	89.3%
40-44	20,375,375	91.4%
60-64	19,675,632	92.4%
75-79	10,875,551	90.7%
80-84	6,391,081	87.5%
85 and over	4,580,986	71.2%
All ages	239,824,944	84.6%

By sex, FHWA counts 118,750,405 male and 121,004,560 female licensed drivers, equal to 85.3% of men and 83.7% of women. Female drivers outnumber male drivers overall, but women hold licenses at lower rates at the oldest ages: among those 85 and over, 86.9% of men hold licenses against 61.7% of women. The table notes that totals include drivers of unknown sex.

The youngest ages deserve a caution. DL-220 shows 1,470 thousand 16-year-old licensed drivers in 2000 and 1,189 thousand in 2024, but those are counts, not rates, and FHWA’s footnote says reporting rules for the youngest drivers changed over the years (graduated licenses were added from 2006 and learner permits excluded from 2012). The data alone do not prove that fewer teens drive.

Drivers vs. Cars: Why the Numbers Aren’t the Same

FHWA Table MV-1 counted 297,525,836 registered motor vehicles in 2024. Per the table’s own columns, that is 97,413,321 automobiles, 189,754,931 trucks, 1,096,335 buses and 9,261,249 motorcycles, private and publicly owned together. Against 239,824,944 licensed drivers the totals look close, but they measure different things: a household can register several vehicles for one driver, fleets and public agencies register vehicles with no individual owner, and many licensed people own no vehicle.

Vehicle type (MV-1, 2024)	Registered
Automobiles	97,413,321
Trucks	189,754,931
Buses	1,096,335
Motorcycles	9,261,249
All motor vehicles	297,525,836

Table DL-1C divides licensed drivers by private and commercial registered vehicles only and gets 0.82 for the nation. State values range widely because states report registrations differently: Delaware shows 2.07 and Montana 0.36. FHWA does not explain those outliers in the table, so treat state ratios as a data-quality flag, not a measure of how many people drive. The same caution applies to the per-1,000 figures below.

State (DL-1C, 2024)	Licensed drivers per 1,000 people aged 16+
Arkansas	1,202
Delaware	1,054
South Dakota	959
California	871
Texas	800
New York	761
Kentucky	756
Kansas	745
District of Columbia	726
United States	872

A value above 1,000 means the state reports more licenses than residents of driving age. FHWA’s table does not say why, so we do not guess.

Urban Vs. Rural Driving

FHWA’s VM-1 table estimates 3,294,031 million vehicle-miles for all motor vehicles in 2024: 2,269,186 million on urban roads (68.9% by our arithmetic) and 1,024,845 million on rural roads (31.1%). The average registered motor vehicle traveled 11,071 miles that year, and the average light-duty vehicle 10,787 miles. Dividing all vehicle-miles by licensed drivers gives roughly 13,700 miles per driver, but that is our own rough ratio and it includes trucks and buses, so do not read it as how far a typical person drives.

How Many People Drive to Work?

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey is the main official source on commuting. Its 2024 1-year estimates, summarized on the Census commuting at a glance page, show that 69.2% of workers drove alone to work, no different from 69.2% in 2023. Public transportation carried 3.7% of workers (3.5% in 2023), and 13.3% worked from home (13.8% in 2023). Mean one-way travel time was 27.2 minutes, up from 26.8, and 9.3% of workers traveled 60 minutes or more. These are shares of workers, so they say nothing about retirees, students or weekend driving. For a related global angle, see what percentage of the world drives.

Myths About How Many People Drive

Myth	What the official data show
Everyone drives	FHWA DL-20 shows 84.6% of US residents of all ages hold a license; at age 16 it is 26.2%, and at 85 and over 71.2% (2024).
1.6 billion people drive worldwide	This figure circulates online, but none of the official pages read for this update publish it, so this page no longer uses it.
More vehicles than drivers means every driver owns a car	297,525,836 registered vehicles include 1,096,335 buses and 189,754,931 trucks, some publicly owned; DL-1C puts licensed drivers at 0.82 per private or commercial vehicle.
Young people no longer drive	80.9% of 20-24 year olds held licenses in 2024. 16-year-old license counts fell from 1,470 thousand (2000) to 1,189 thousand (2024), but counts are not rates.
Most commuters carpool	69.2% of workers drove alone to work in 2024 (ACS).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people drive cars daily?

No official source read for this update counts daily drivers. The closest official measure is the Census Bureau’s 2024 ACS estimate that 69.2% of workers drove alone to work. FHWA also estimates 3,294,031 million vehicle-miles traveled in 2024, which measures miles, not people.

What percentage of people drive cars?

In the US, FHWA reports 239,824,944 licensed drivers in 2024, equal to 84.6% of residents of all ages and 87.2% of people aged 16 and over (872 per 1,000). Licensed is not the same as drives regularly. The official pages read give no worldwide percentage.

How many licensed drivers are there worldwide?

No worldwide total appears in the FHWA, Census or WHO pages read for this update, so we do not state one. The US figure is 239,824,944 licensed drivers in 2024 (FHWA Table DL-20). Treat any single global number you see online as an unsourced estimate unless it names its method.

How many cars are on the road worldwide?

The WHO fact sheet says low- and middle-income countries have around 60% of the world’s vehicles but gives no worldwide total. For the US, FHWA Table MV-1 counted 297,525,836 registered motor vehicles in 2024, including 97,413,321 automobiles.

Why is it hard to get an exact global driver count?

Definitions and record keeping differ. FHWA itself notes that its under-16 driver counts changed with state reporting rules, and the state ratios in Table DL-1C range from 0.36 to 2.07 licensed drivers per vehicle. Across countries those inconsistencies grow, so a precise global total is not published in the sources read.

How many licensed drivers are there in the US?

FHWA Table DL-20 counts 239,824,944 licensed drivers in 2024: 118,750,405 men and 121,004,560 women, with drivers of unknown sex included in the total. The count covers restricted and graduated licenses and describes 2024, not today.

Conclusion

The best-supported answer is a US one: 239,824,944 licensed drivers in 2024, about 87 in every 100 people of driving age, alongside 297,525,836 registered vehicles and 3.29 trillion vehicle-miles. Anything bigger than that, especially a worldwide driver count, needs a source that states its definition and year. Check the FHWA licensed drivers table DL-20 for the next update, and see how many people own cars in the US for the ownership side.