U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Program

Fact #182: September 11, 2001
Households by Vehicle Ownership

The number of households with no vehicles continues to decline, according to the 2000 Census data. The share of one-vehicle households remained almost constant from 1990 to 2000, but the number of households with two vehicles and three or more vehicles continued to grow.

Graph showing share of households by vehicle ownership

Supporting Information

Household Vehicle Ownership:
1960-2000 Census Data
Year No
Vehicles		 One
Vehicle		 Two
Vehicles		 Three
or More
Vehicles
1960 21.53% 56.94% 19.00% 2.53%
1970 17.47% 47.71% 29.32% 5.51%
1980 12.92% 35.53% 34.02% 17.52%
1990 11.53% 33.74% 37.35% 17.33%
2000 9.35% 33.79% 38.55% 18.31%

Sources: 2000 data: U.S. Bureau of the Census, American Fact Finder, Table QT-04, August 2001.
1960-1990 data: U.S. Department of Transportation, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Journey-to-Work Trends in the United States and its Major Metropolitan Areas, 1960-1990, Cambridge, MA, 1994, p. 2-2.

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