Rural versus Urban Vehicle Miles of Travel by State

In the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation classifies 3.9 million miles of roadway as rural and 1.2 million miles of roadway as urban. Each state has a different travel pattern affecting the proportion of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on rural versus urban roads. Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, California, Hawaii, Florida, and Maryland are states with more than 80% urban VMT shown in darker shades of blue. North Dakota has the highest percentage of rural VMT of all states (shown in green). Other states, such as Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Alaska are close to an equal number of rural versus urban VMT.