Here's how many miles the average Houston household travels
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The average Houston metro area household traveled about 35,071 miles in 2022, according to a Brookings Institution study.
- The national average was about 30,000 miles last year.
Why it matters: Living close to centers of economic activity helps reduce how far people travel for essentials, saving up to $900 in annual transportation expenses per household in Houston.
- Shorter trips also make non-car travel more attractive, improve quality of life and lower environmental emissions, per the study.
State of play: This isn't the norm. Only 37% of residents in the 110 largest U.S. metro areas studied live within three miles of five activity centers, Axios' Ben German writes.
Zoom in: The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro ranks 11th in household miles traveled among the metros Brookings analyzed, just after Dallas-Fort Worth.
- Distance traveled has increased since before the pandemic. In 2019, the average distance traveled was 34,138 miles.
The intrigue: It's not just about the distance to urban cores, either. The same patterns hold within suburbs.
- For example, households in some neighborhood blocks around Sugar Land traveled fewer than 25,000 miles per year. Same for areas around The Woodlands and Friendswood.
Threat level: Households living within three miles of an activity center release up to 2,300 fewer pounds of CO2 emissions.
The bottom line: The analysts argue for "building for proximity" to lower overall trip distances and make walking and biking more feasible.
Go deeper: The benefits of building for proximity.