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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

United States Fast Facts

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

United States Fast Facts

Data are for 2008 unless otherwise noted.

Transportation System Extent

All public roads: 4.04 million miles
Interstate: 46,751 miles
Road bridges: 603,3071
Class I railroad trackage: 118,859 miles
Inland waterways: 29,620 miles
Public use airports: 5,1781

Vehicles and Conveyances

Automobiles registered: 137.1 million
Light trucks registered: 101.2 million
Heavy trucks registered: 9.0 million
Buses registered: 0.8 million
Motorcycles registered: 7.8 million
Rail transit systems: 22 commuter rail, 15 heavy rail (subway), 28 light rail
Recreational boats registered: 12.7 million

Geographic

Land area: 3.5 million sq. miles
Percent of land area owned by federal government: 28.82
Persons per square mile: 86.0
Highest point: Mt. McKinley, AK (20,320 ft.)
Lowest point: Death Valley, CA (-282 ft.)

Government Subdivisions

County governments: 3,0333
Municipal governments: 19,4923
Town governments: 16,5193
Congressional districts: 435

Demographic

Population: 304.5 million
Percent urban population: 79.04

Socioeconomic

Gross domestic product: $13.0 trillion in chained (2005) dollars ($14.3 trillion in current dollars)1
Civilian labor force: 154.1 million1
Median household income: $52,029

Commuting (percent of workers)

Car, truck, or vandrove alone: 75.5
Car, truck, or vancarpooled: 10.7
Public transportation: 5.0
Taxicab, motorcycle, bicycled or other means: 1.8
Worked at home: 4.1
Walked: 2.8

12009
22004
32007
42000

Sources

Transportation System Extent
All public roads, Interstate: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2008 (Washington, DC: 2009), table HM-20; available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of May 2010.
Road bridges: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Bridge Technology, National Bridge Inventory: Highway Bridge by Owner (Washington, DC: 2009), available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/britab.cfm as of May 2010.
Class I railroad trackage: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues).
Inland waterways: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Navigation Data Center, National Waterway Network, personal communication, April 2010.
Public use airports: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Administrators Fact Book (Washington, DC:  2010), p.16, available at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aba/admin_factbook/ as of May 2010.

Vehicles and Conveyances
Automobiles, light trucks, heavy trucks, buses, motorcycles: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2008 (Washington, DC: 2009), tables MV-1 and VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of May 2010.
Rail transit systems: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Agency, National Transit Database (Washington, DC), table 21, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of May 2010.
Recreational boats: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics 2008 (Washington, DC: 2008), table 36, available at http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_statistics.aspx as of May 2010.

Geographic
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, DC: 2010), available at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ as of May 2010.

Government Subdivisions
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 416, available at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ as of May 2010.

Demographic
Population, Percent urban population: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, DC: Annual issues), available at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ as of May 2010.

Socioeconomic
Gross domestic product: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Account Tables, available at http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=N as of May 2010.
Civilian labor force: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, available at ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea1.txt as of May 2010.
Median household income: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey, available at http://factfinder.census.gov as of May 2010.

Commuting
U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey, available at http://factfinder.census.gov as of May 2010.