Vehicle ownership can mean household access, registered vehicles, vehicles in service, new-vehicle production, or electric-car adoption. The measures below keep those definitions separate while covering the United States and worldwide passenger-car trends through 2023.
Key Vehicle Ownership Statistics
The most broadly useful vehicle ownership figures are:
- In 2022, 89% of U.S. households had at least one vehicle available, according to the National Household Travel Survey estimate.
- In 2022, 38% of U.S. households had two vehicles available, the largest single household-size category in the survey.
- In 2022, the median U.S. household had two vehicles available.
- In 2022, about 10.7 million U.S. households had no vehicle, out of about 128 million households.
- Between 2017 and 2022, U.S. households with two vehicles increased from 39.1 million to 48.3 million.
- In 2022, the median age of a household vehicle in the United States was 8 years.
- In 2022, 282,174,766 motor vehicles were registered in the United States.
- In 2022, registered automobiles averaged 10,881 miles of travel in the United States.
- In 2022, registered motorcycles averaged 2,587 miles of travel in the United States.
- For U.S. model year 2022, new vehicles averaged 26.0 real-world miles per gallon.
- From model year 2004 to 2022, new-vehicle fuel economy increased 35%, or 6.7 mpg, in the United States.
- From model year 2004 to 2022, new-vehicle CO2 emissions declined 27%, or 123 grams per mile, in the United States.
- In model year 2009, U.S. vehicle production was 9.3 million vehicles, the lowest point in the EPA series.
- In 2023, global electric-car sales approached 14 million cars.
- At the end of 2023, the global electric-car stock reached 40 million passenger cars.
- In 2023, electric cars represented about 18% of global car sales.
- In 2023, more than 360 million SUVs were on roads worldwide.
- In 2023, SUVs represented 48% of global car sales.
Contents
- U.S. vehicle ownership statistics by household access and fleet size
- Vehicle ownership trends and household availability over time
- Vehicle age statistics in the U.S. household fleet
- Vehicle registrations, travel and use statistics
- New vehicle ownership trends: fuel economy, emissions and production
- Global vehicle ownership and electric-car adoption statistics
U.S. Vehicle Ownership Statistics by Household Access and Fleet Size
The 2022 National Household Travel Survey measures vehicles available to households, not legal title ownership or registration. Estimates are rounded, so household availability should not be treated as an exact count of individually owned vehicles.
| Vehicles available per household | U.S. households, 2022 |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0% |
| 1 | 33% |
| 2 | 38% |
| 3 | 13% |
| 4 or more | 7% |
The Federal Highway Administration reports a median of two vehicles available per U.S. household in 2022. Vehicles were used for 87% of trips in the United States, a measure of use rather than ownership or household access. Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
The distribution shows why a single ownership rate is incomplete: the largest group had two available vehicles, while one-vehicle households made up 33%. The source table’s rounded categories should not be added or interpreted as a registration total.
Vehicle Ownership Trends and Household Availability Over Time
The 2022 NHTS counted about 128 million U.S. households, including about 10.7 million with no vehicle. The same survey described nearly 9 in 10 households as having at least one vehicle available and about two-thirds as having two or more available.
| Household fleet measure | 2017 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Households with two vehicles | 39.1 million | 48.3 million |
| Households with three or more vehicles | About 29 million | About 26 million |
These are NHTS household estimates reported in rounded millions. The comparison indicates growth in the two-vehicle group alongside a decline in the three-or-more group, but it does not establish why individual households changed their vehicle availability. Summary of Travel Trends: 2022 National Household Travel Survey
The household perspective also differs from a fleet perspective. A household can have access to a vehicle without being the titled owner, while a registered-vehicle total can include vehicles outside the household survey frame.
Vehicle Age Statistics in the U.S. Household Fleet
Vehicle age matters when interpreting ownership costs, replacement cycles and maintenance needs, but the 2022 figures describe household vehicles available in the NHTS rather than every registered vehicle in the country.
| Household vehicle age | Share of vehicles, 2022 |
|---|---|
| 0–4 years | 26% |
| 5–9 years | 30% |
| 10–14 years | 18% |
| 15–19 years | 14% |
| 20–24 years | 7% |
| 25 years or older | 5% |
The median household vehicle age was 8 years in 2022. Separately, the FHWA summary reported that vehicles one year old or less represented 10% of vehicles; that category is narrower than the broader 0–4-year bin in the table, so the figures should not be combined as if they were identical classifications. Vehicles | Our Nation’s Highways 2026
The age distribution places 56% of household vehicles in the 0–9-year groups when the published rounded categories are read together. Because those percentages are rounded survey estimates, this combined figure is best understood as a description of the reported distribution rather than a more precise fleet calculation.
Vehicle Registrations, Travel and Use Statistics
Registration data provide a different scale of measurement from household availability. FHWA’s 2022 compilation counted 282,174,766 registered motor vehicles in the United States, compared with 281,185,492 in 2021.
| Registered vehicle category | United States, 2022 | Average miles per vehicle, 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| All motor vehicles | 282,174,766 | 11,327 |
| Automobiles | 196,467,427 | 10,881 |
| Trucks | 61,273,790 | 11,177 |
| Motorcycles | 14,289,238 | 2,587 |
| Buses | Not listed in the registration totals above | 19,300 |
The automobile category includes private, commercial and publicly owned automobiles. FHWA’s average miles are derived travel measures, not ownership rates, and the all-vehicle average rose from 11,140 miles per registered vehicle in 2021 to 11,327 in 2022. Table VM-1 – Highway Statistics 2022
The registration compilation is state-supplied, while NHTS household figures are survey estimates. That distinction is important when comparing a national registration count with the number of households that report vehicle availability.
New Vehicle Ownership Trends: Fuel Economy, Emissions and Production
EPA’s automotive trends report describes new U.S. vehicles by model year, not the entire in-use fleet. For model year 2022, average real-world fuel economy reached 26.0 mpg and average real-world CO2 emissions fell to 337 grams per mile.
| New-vehicle measure | 2021–2022 result | 2004–2022 result |
|---|---|---|
| Real-world fuel economy | Increased 0.6 mpg in 2022 | Increased 35%, or 6.7 mpg |
| Real-world CO2 emissions | Fell 10 g/mi in 2022 | Declined 27%, or 123 g/mi |
| CO2 improvement years | — | Improved in 15 of 18 years |
The EPA series also recorded 9.3 million U.S. vehicles produced in model year 2009, its lowest point, while model-year 2017 production exceeded 17 million, the cited series high. Model-year 2020 production fell 15% from the prior year. The 2023 EPA Automotive Trends Report
Vehicle characteristics changed alongside efficiency: the average new vehicle in model year 2022 produced 88% more horsepower than in 1975, while from 2004 to 2022 average horsepower rose 23% and average weight rose 5%. These are new-vehicle comparisons, not measurements of the average household vehicle.
Global Vehicle Ownership and Electric-Car Adoption Statistics
Worldwide electric-car figures cover passenger cars, and the IEA presents several as estimates. Global electric-car sales approached 14 million in 2023, up by 3.5 million, or 35%, from 2022, while the global electric-car stock reached 40 million cars at the end of 2023.
| Global electric-car measure | 2018 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of global car sales | 2% | 14% | About 18% |
| Global electric-car stock | — | — | 40 million |
| Battery-electric share of electric-car stock | — | — | 70% |
The IEA also reported 1.4 million new electric-car registrations in the United States in 2023, more than 40% above 2022. China exported more than 4 million cars in 2023, including 1.2 million EVs; total car exports were almost 65% higher than in 2022, while electric-car exports were 80% higher. Trends in electric cars – Global EV Outlook 2024
SUVs are a major part of the global vehicle picture but are not a complete ownership measure. More than 360 million SUVs were on roads worldwide in 2023, the global SUV fleet produced about 1 billion tonnes of combustion CO2, and about 30 million internal-combustion SUVs were added during that year.
SUVs represented 48% of global car sales in 2023. About 500 electric-car models were available worldwide, about 60% of those models were SUVs, and SUVs represented approximately 45% of the global electric-car fleet; in advanced economies, the SUV share of the electric-car fleet was 55%. SUVs are setting new sales records each year – and so are their emissions
These global figures combine sales, stock, model availability and fleet estimates, so they should not be read as interchangeable counts of all vehicles owned worldwide. They show the scale of electric-car adoption and SUV prevalence while preserving the distinct populations and periods reported by the IEA.