The number of vehicles in the United States is growing faster than the population.

The growth in vehicle-miles has slowed to 0.3%

from 2005-2015. See Table 8.2 for vehicles per capita and vehicle-miles per capita.

Table 8.1
Population and Vehicle Profile, 1950–2015

Number of
Resident Total vehicles in Total vehicle- Number of
populationa households operation miles licensed drivers
Year (thousands) (thousands) (thousands) (millions) (thousands)
1950 151,868 43,554 43,501 458,246 62,194
1951 153,892 b
46,580 491,093 64,444
1952 156,393 b
48,190 513,581 66,826
1953 158,956 b
50,895 544,433 69,870
1954 161,884 b
53,188 561,963 71,897
1955 165,069 47,874 56,540 605,646 74,686
1956 168,088 48,902 59,348 631,161 77,659
1957 171,187 49,673 61,208 645,004 79,631
1958 174,149 50,474 62,549 664,653 81,537
1959 177,135 51,435 65,619 700,480 84,498
1960 179,979 52,799 67,906 718,762 87,253
1961 182,992 53,557 69,897 737,421 88,744
1962 185,771 54,764 72,383 766,734 90,588
1963 188,483 55,270 75,395 805,249 93,573
1964 191,141 56,149 78,496 846,298 95,468
1965 193,526 57,436 82,066 887,812 98,502
1966 195,576 58,406 85,620 925,899 100,998
1967 197,457 59,286 87,956 964,005 103,172
1968 200,706 60,313 91,043 1,015,869 105,410
1969 202,677 62,214 95,081 1,061,791 108,306
1970 205,052 63,401 98,136 1,109,724 111,543
1971 207,661 64,778 101,600 1,178,811 114,426
1972 209,896 66,676 106,212 1,259,786 118,414
1973 211,909 68,251 111,217 1,313,110 121,546
1974 213,854 69,859 115,920 1,280,544 125,427
1975 215,973 71,120 120,054 1,327,664 129,791
1976 218,035 72,867 124,378 1,402,380 134,036
1977 220,239 74,142 128,126 1,467,027 138,121
1978 222,585 76,030 133,522 1,544,704 140,844
1979 225,055 77,330 137,259 1,529,133 143,284
1980 227,726 80,776 139,831 1,527,295 145,295
1981 229,966 82,368 141,908 1,555,308 147,075
 1982 232,188 83,527 143,854 1,595,010 150,234
1983 234,307 83,918 147,104 1,652,788 154,389
1984 236,348 85,407 152,162 1,720,269 155,424
1985 238,466 86,789 157,048 1,774,826 156,868
1986 240,651 88,458 162,094 1,834,872 159,487
1987 242,804 89,479 167,193 1,921,204 161,975
1988 245,021 91,066 171,741 2,025,962 162,853
1989 247,342 92,830 175,960 2,096,487 165,555
1990 250,132 93,347 179,299 2,144,362 167,015
1991 253,493 94,312 181,438 2,172,050 168,995
1992 256,894 95,669 181,519 2,247,151 173,125
1993 260,255 96,391 186,315 2,296,378 173,149
1994 263,436 97,107 188,714 2,357,588 175,403
1995 266,557 98,990 193,441 2,422,696 176,628
1996 269,667 99,627 198,294 2,485,848 179,539
1997 272,912 101,018 201,071 2,561,695 182,709
1998 276,115 102,528 205,043 2,631,522 184,980
1999 279,295 103,874 209,509 2,691,056 187,170
2000 282,385 104,705 213,300 2,746,925 190,625
2001 285,309 108,209 216,683 2,797,287 191,276
2002 288,105 109,297 221,027 2,855,508 194,296
2003 290,820 111,278 225,882 2,890,450 196,166
2004 293,463 112,000 232,167 2,964,788 198,889
2005 296,186 113,343 238,384 2,989,430 200,549
2006 298,996 114,384 244,643 3,014,371 202,810
2007 302,004 116,011 248,701 3,031,124 205,742
2008 304,798 116,783 249,813 2,976,528 208,321
2009 307,439 117,181 248,972 2,956,764 209,618
2010 309,347 117,538 248,231 2,967,266 210,115
2011 311,719 118,682 248,932 2,950,402 211,875
2012 314,103 121,084 251,497 2,969,433 211,815
2013 316,427 122,459 252,715 2,988,280 212,160
2014 318,907 123,027 258,027 3,025,656 214,092
2015 320,897 125,819 264,194 3,095,373 218,084
Average annual percentage change
1950–2015 1.2% 1.6% 2.8% 3.0% 1.9%
2005–2015 0.8% 1.0% 1.0% 0.3% 0.8%

Sources:
Resident population and civilian employed persons – U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Online
Data Retrieval, Washington, DC, 2017. (Additional resources: www.census.gov)
Vehicles in operation – IHS Automotive. FURTHER REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED.
(Additional resources: https://www.ihs.com/industry/automotive.html)
Licensed drivers and vehicle-miles - U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway
Statistics 2015, Tables DL-20 and VM-1, and annual. (Additional resources: www.fhwa.dot.gov)
a
Estimates as of July 1. Includes Armed Forces in the United States.
miles has slowed to 0.3%

Number of
civilian
employed
persons
(thousands)
58,920
59,962
60,254
61,181
60,110
62,171
63,802
64,071
63,036
64,630
65,778
65,746
66,702
67,762
69,305
71,088
72,895
74,372
75,920
77,902
78,678
79,367
82,153
85,064
86,794
85,846
88,752
92,017
96,048
98,824
99,303
100,397
 99,526
100,834
105,005
107,150
109,597
112,440
114,968
117,342
118,793
117,718
118,492
120,259
123,060
124,900
126,708
129,558
131,463
133,488
136,891
136,933
136,485
137,736
139,252
141,730
144,427
146,047
145,362
139,877
139,064
139,869
142,469
143,929
146,305
148,834

1.4%
0.5%

, Highway