Average Miles Driven, Total Miles, Number of Drivers : 1980 to 2010

The other day I shared a table showing the average number of miles driven by age and sex.   Now lets look at the average miles driven over the past 3 decades.

I got the data from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's highway statistics series for 2010   Specifically the number of drivers and the total miles driven.

Here is the chart for the total number of miles and the number of drivers over time :

And from those 2 figures we can derive the average number of miles driven per driver. 

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Average Miles Driven Annually by Age and Sex

I've been using 12,000 miles as a estimate of the number of miles people drive annually.    Thats roughly what its been in the recent past but it tends to go up gradually over time.   The Dept. of Transportation Federal Highway administration has data on the amount of miles people drive. 

Here are the numbers :

Age	Male	Female	Average
16-19	8,206	6,873	7,624
20-34	17,976	12,004	15,098
35-54	18,858	11,464	15,291
55-64	15,859	7,780	11,972
65+	10,304	4,785	7,646
Average	16,550	10,142	13,476

These numbers were updated as of April 2011.

The average miles driven annually across the entire population is 13,476.  

It is notable that the amount of miles drives varies significantly across age groups and between the genders.   For all age groups women dirve a less than men and sometimes a lot less.   Overall women drive around 38% less than men do.

Teens and seniors drive less than middle age adults.  The amount people drive peaks in the 20 to 34 and 35-54 age groups which makes sense because thats the prime working years so you've got more miles driven commuting to work.

Of course the national averages don't really mean too much to individuals.   Each of us drives a different amount given out own circumstances.   There are undoubtedly some women out their in their 60's who drive 20,000 miles a year and men in their 30's who don't even clock 1,000 miles.

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Best of Blog Posts for Week of September 21st

Every Friday afternoon I share some of the more interesting or notable posts that I have seen in the personal finance blogs and other sources for the past week.

Planet Money gives us The 47 Percent, In One Graphic

FMF asks What Are You Doing to Make Millions More?

Apex at FMF writes Real Estate 101: The Benefits of Investing in Real Estate


HighGear warns us of Five new 2012 hybrid cars to consider steering clear of
and Popular Mechanics lists 9 electric cars you can actually buy in 2012


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I've Made $272.24 via Ebates

Ebates is an easy way to get some money back when you shop online.   I've been using them since 2008 and so far I've made  $272.24 from them.  

Here's my current report :

Now, $272.24 over 4 years is not a ton of money.   But its simple and easy to earn so as far as bang for the buck, its a pretty good deal.   For me most of the money I've made from rebates has been via online travel reservations.   When I book a hotel or flight I go through Ebates and typically earn 3-4% or so cash back.  So if I spend $300 on a hotel room I can stand to get ~$9 cash back.

To get the cash back you need to be signed up with Ebates.  Then simply go to Ebates to get the referral to the the store before you do your shopping.  I also get a referral bonus if you use my links to sign up with Ebates.


--This article may contain referral links which pay this site a commission for purchases made at the sites.