When are Americans driving?
On an average weekday, the share of Americans driving peaks at 5:00 PM, when 11.6% of people age 15 and older (about 29.2 million) are driving. On weekends it peaks at 12:00 PM (7.7%). Averaged over all days, Americans spend 50 min a day driving.
See driving minute by minute ↗
Driving by hour
Share and number of Americans driving at the top of each hour.
| Time | Weekdays | People | Weekends | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 AM | 0.8% | 2.0 million | 1.0% | 2.5 million |
| 1 AM | 0.4% | 905,000 | 0.5% | 1.3 million |
| 2 AM | 0.3% | 760,000 | 0.4% | 907,000 |
| 3 AM | 0.3% | 639,000 | 0.3% | 681,000 |
| 4 AM | 0.5% | 1.2 million | 0.3% | 776,000 |
| 5 AM | 1.7% | 4.2 million | 0.6% | 1.5 million |
| 6 AM | 3.7% | 9.4 million | 1.3% | 3.2 million |
| 7 AM | 7.3% | 18.4 million | 2.4% | 6.1 million |
| 8 AM | 7.2% | 18.1 million | 3.8% | 9.6 million |
| 9 AM | 4.9% | 12.2 million | 5.5% | 13.9 million |
| 10 AM | 4.5% | 11.3 million | 6.2% | 15.5 million |
| 11 AM | 4.8% | 12.0 million | 6.5% | 16.4 million |
| 12 PM | 6.9% | 17.3 million | 7.7% | 19.5 million |
| 1 PM | 5.7% | 14.4 million | 6.9% | 17.3 million |
| 2 PM | 5.8% | 14.5 million | 6.6% | 16.6 million |
| 3 PM | 7.4% | 18.6 million | 6.6% | 16.6 million |
| 4 PM | 9.3% | 23.3 million | 6.9% | 17.3 million |
| 5 PM | 11.6% | 29.2 million | 6.7% | 16.9 million |
| 6 PM | 8.5% | 21.4 million | 6.1% | 15.3 million |
| 7 PM | 5.6% | 14.1 million | 4.7% | 11.8 million |
| 8 PM | 3.9% | 9.9 million | 3.7% | 9.2 million |
| 9 PM | 3.1% | 7.8 million | 2.9% | 7.4 million |
| 10 PM | 2.3% | 5.8 million | 2.3% | 5.8 million |
| 11 PM | 1.3% | 3.2 million | 1.6% | 4.0 million |
What it includes
Average time per weekday, for the activities in this group that take the most time.
- Driving · Travel related to working: 16 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to shopping (except grocery shopping): 7 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to caring for and helping household children: 4 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to eating and drinking: 3 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to socializing and communicating: 3 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to grocery shopping: 2 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to caring for and helping nonhousehold adults: 2 min a day
- Driving · Travel related to household activities: 2 min a day
More
- When do Americans sleep?
- When do Americans work?
- When do Americans relax and socialize?
- When do Americans do housework and chores?
- When do Americans eat?
- When do Americans care for children and others?
- When do Americans shower, groom, and get ready?
- When do Americans study and go to class?
- When do Americans go shopping?
- When do Americans exercise?
- When are Americans on the move (not driving)?
- When do Americans attend religious services?
- When do Americans volunteer?
- When do Americans do civic duties?
- When do Americans make calls and send messages?
About these numbers
Estimates come from all 258,954 diaries in the American Time Use Survey (Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau), 2003–2025, weighted to the U.S. civilian population age 15 and older and pooled across years. Times are local clock time. Counts are people on an average day of that type, not a live count. Weekdays are Monday–Friday. How the estimates work.