In 2023, the highway network in the United States had a total length of around 4.2 million statute miles. One statute mile is approximately equal to 5,280 feet. The United States has one of the most extensive road networks worldwide.

In 2022, the total length of U.S. urban and rural public roads and streets was between *** and *** million miles. Rural mileage made up over ** percent of the country's total mileage.

Annual Public Road Mileage and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) from 1900 through 2023 and Lanes Miles from 1980 through 2023 from Highway Statistics Tables VMT-421C and VMT-422C.

Graph and download economic data for Moving 12-Month Total Vehicle Miles Traveled (M12MTVUSM227NFWA) from Dec 1970 to Apr 2025 about miles, travel, vehicles, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Vehicle Miles Traveled (TRFVOLUSM227SFWA) from Jan 2000 to Apr 2025 about miles, travel, vehicles, and USA.

This statistic illustrates the mileage of toll roads in the United States between 2003 and 2023, with breakdown by type. In 2023, U.S. drivers were tolled for traveling on around 2,564 miles of non-interstate road facilities.

United States Public Road Length: Paved data was reported at 2,750,499.000 Mile in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,735,207.000 Mile for 2015. United States Public Road Length: Paved data is updated yearly, averaging 2,577,963.000 Mile from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,750,499.000 Mile in 2016 and a record low of 2,271,225.000 Mile in 1993. United States Public Road Length: Paved data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Highway Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA001: Public Road and Street Length.

Urban highways were in a worse condition than rural highways in the United States in 2023. That year, 4.58 percent of all urban interstates were in poor condition as measured by the international roughness index. Meanwhile, 2.2 percent of rural interstates were in poor condition.

United States Public Road Length: Paved: Urban data was reported at 340,656.000 Mile in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 339,085.000 Mile for 2015. United States Public Road Length: Paved: Urban data is updated yearly, averaging 272,263.000 Mile from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 340,656.000 Mile in 2016 and a record low of 234,716.000 Mile in 1992. United States Public Road Length: Paved: Urban data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Highway Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA001: Public Road and Street Length.

In 2023, the District of Columbia was by far the territory in the United States with highways in the worst condition. Meanwhile, nearly half of urban highways in Puerto Rico had pavement in poor condition, while that figure amounted to 42 percent in California. Alabama, Minnesota, and Indiana had the highest share of urban highways in fair or good condition.

Annual estimated length of lane miles by federal-aid system and rural /urban for the 50 States, DC, and Puerto Rico from the Highway Statistics table HM-48.

The Highway Statistics Series consists of annual reports containing analyzed statistical information on motor fuel, motor vehicle registrations, driver licenses, highway user taxation, highway mileage, travel, and highway finance. These information are presented in tables as well as selected charts. It has been published annually since 1945.

Annual vehicle miles of travel by functional system for each of the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico from the Highway Statistics table VM-2. (Note: In 2009, the Urban functional class of Collectors became Major Collectors and Minor Collectors. Also in 2009, the system added the Rural functional class of Other Freeways and Expressways.)

Rhode Island was the state in the United States with the highest share of rural highway miles in poor condition in 2023. Nevertheless, nearly ** percent of the highways in Puerto Rico, although not a state, had pavement in poor condition. On the other hand, Georgia, Florida, and Nevada had the best rural highways in the United States.

United States Public Road Length: Unpaved data was reported at 1,362,044.000 Mile in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,391,593.000 Mile for 2015. United States Public Road Length: Unpaved data is updated yearly, averaging 1,417,904.000 Mile from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,633,496.000 Mile in 1993 and a record low of 1,324,245.000 Mile in 2008. United States Public Road Length: Unpaved data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Highway Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA001: Public Road and Street Length.

This statistic represents the miles traveled by passengers on highways in the United States from 1990 through 2019. In 2019, U.S. passengers covered a distance of around 5.57 trillion miles on highways.

The National Highway Freight Network (NHFN) dataset was compiled on January 27, 2023 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). Congress established a new National Highway Freight Program (NHFP) in 23 U.S.C. 167 to improve the efficient movement of freight on the National Highway Freight Network (NHFN) and support several goals. The law required the FHWA Administrator to strategically direct Federal resources and policies toward improved performance of the network. The NHFP provides formula funding apportioned annually to States, for use on the NHFN. The definition of the NHFN is established under 23 U.S.C. 167(c) and consists of four separate highway network components: the PHFS; Critical Rural Freight Corridors (CRFCs); Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs); and those portions of the Interstate System that are not part of the PHFS.

Primary Highway Freight System (PHFS): This is a network of highways identified as the most critical highway portions of the U.S. freight transportation system determined by measurable and objective national data. The network consists of 41,800 centerlines miles, including 38,014 centerline miles of Interstate and 3,785 centerline miles of non-Interstate roads. Other Interstate portions not on the PHFS: These highways consist of the remaining portion of Interstate roads not included in the PHFS. These routes provide important continuity and access to freight transportation facilities. These portions amount to an estimated 10,265 centerline miles of Interstate, nationwide, and will fluctuate with additions and deletions to the Interstate Highway System. Critical Rural Freight Corridors (CRFCs): These are public roads not in an urbanized area which provide access and connection to the PHFS and the Interstate with other important ports, public transportation facilities, or other intermodal freight facilities. Nationwide, there are 5,389 centerline miles designated as CRFCs as of January 27, 2023. CRFCs are not included in GIS data base. Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs): These are public roads in urbanized areas which provide access and connection to the PHFS and the Interstate with other ports, public transportation facilities, or other intermodal transportation facilities. Nationwide, there are 2,656 centerline miles designated as CUFC as of January 27, 2023. CUFCs are not included in GIS data base.

United States Public Road Length: Unpaved: Urban Local data was reported at 72,969.000 Mile in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 58,207.000 Mile for 2015. United States Public Road Length: Unpaved: Urban Local data is updated yearly, averaging 40,959.000 Mile from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 72,969.000 Mile in 2016 and a record low of 31,781.000 Mile in 1995. United States Public Road Length: Unpaved: Urban Local data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Highway Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.TA001: Public Road and Street Length.

Annual lane miles in the National Highway System by rural / urban and functional system for the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico from the Highway Statistics table HM-43. (Note: In 2009, Functional System changed attributes.)

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR Daily Miles Traveled (T15)

FULL MEASURE NAME Per-capita vehicle miles traveled

LAST UPDATED July 2017

DESCRIPTION Daily miles traveled, commonly referred to as vehicle miles traveled (VMT), reflects the total and per-person number of miles traveled in personal vehicles on a typical weekday. The dataset includes metropolitan area, regional and county tables for per-capita vehicle miles traveled.

DATA SOURCE Federal Highway Administration: Highway Statistics Series 2015 Table HM-71; limited to urbanized areas https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm

U.S. Census Bureau: Summary File 1 2010 http://factfinder2.census.gov

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) "Vehicle miles traveled reflects the mileage accrued within the county and not necessarily the residents of that county; even though most trips are due to local residents, additional VMT can be accrued by through-trips. City data was thus discarded due to this limitation and the analysis only examine county and regional data, where through-trips are generally less common.

The metropolitan area comparison was performed by summing all of the urbanized areas within each metropolitan area (9-nine region for the San Francisco Bay Area and the primary MSA for all others). For the metro analysis, no VMT data is available outside of other urbanized areas; it is only available for intraregional analysis purposes.

VMT per capita is calculated by dividing VMT by an estimate of the traveling population. The traveling population does not include people living in institutionalized facilities, which are defined by the Census. Because institutionalized population is not estimated each year, the proportion of people living in institutionalized facilities from the 2010 Census was applied to the total population estimates for all years."