Domestic travel is a major part of the U.S. travel economy. The U.S. Travel Association reported $972 billion in domestic traveler spending in 2019, equal to 86% of total travel expenditures that year. Its forecast puts domestic travel spending at $1.20 trillion in 2026, while the 2022 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Summary of Travel Trends describes how people moved, why they traveled, and when trips began.
Contents
- Domestic travel spending
- Leisure and group travel forecasts
- Trip purposes and daily travel
- Travel distance by purpose
- Transportation modes
- Vehicles, commuting, and worker travel
- When domestic trips begin
Domestic travel spending
The U.S. Travel Association’s domestic travel fact sheet measured a substantial domestic contribution before the later forecasts. In 2019:
- Domestic travelers spent $972 billion in the United States.
- Domestic travel represented 86% of total travel expenditures.
- Domestic travel spending directly supported 7.9 million American jobs.
These figures describe 2019 and should be read as historical measurements. They are not presented here as independently rechecked figures. The share of spending is especially useful for understanding the scale of domestic travel: the domestic market accounted for most U.S. travel expenditures in that measurement year.
The U.S. Travel Association’s U.S. Travel Forecast gives later forward-looking figures. Total U.S. travel spending is forecast to reach $1.37 trillion in 2026 and $1.42 trillion in 2027. The same forecast projects domestic travel to account for 87% of all travel spending in 2026, a share close to the 86% measured for domestic travel in 2019.
The forecast is not a historical count. It is an estimate of future spending, so the year and status of each number matter when comparing it with the 2019 fact sheet.
Leisure and group travel forecasts
The 2026 U.S. Travel Forecast separates important domestic segments. Domestic leisure travel spending is projected to reach $909 billion in 2026. The forecast also says domestic leisure travel spending grew 2.1% in 2025 before rising again in 2026.
Domestic group travel is forecast to grow 1.4% in 2026, reaching $118 billion. Together, these figures show two different forecast measures: a projected spending level for domestic leisure travel and a projected growth rate plus spending level for domestic group travel.
| Measure | Year | Figure | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic traveler spending | 2019 | $972 billion | Historical measurement | U.S. Travel Association domestic travel fact sheet |
| Domestic share of total travel spending | 2019 | 86% | Historical measurement | U.S. Travel Association domestic travel fact sheet |
| Domestic travel spending | 2026 | $1.20 trillion | Forecast | U.S. Travel Association U.S. Travel Forecast |
| Domestic leisure travel spending | 2026 | $909 billion | Forecast | U.S. Travel Association U.S. Travel Forecast |
| Domestic group travel spending | 2026 | $118 billion | Forecast | U.S. Travel Association U.S. Travel Forecast |
The forecast also places total U.S. travel spending at $1.37 trillion in 2026 and $1.42 trillion in 2027. Those totals provide context for the projected domestic amount, but the supplied figures do not establish a complete category breakdown beyond the measures listed above.
Trip purposes and daily travel
The 2022 NHTS Summary of Travel Trends reports an average of 2.28 daily person trips per person. By age, people ages 36–65 averaged the highest listed rate, at 2.5 daily person trips per person. People ages 21–35 averaged 2.4, while men and women each averaged 2.3. People under 16, people ages 16–20, and people over 65 each averaged 2.0 daily person trips per person.
The NHTS also reports daily trip rates by purpose:
- Shopping and errands: 0.80 trips per person per day.
- Social and recreational travel: 0.67.
- Travel to or from work: 0.42.
- School or church: 0.26.
- Total: 2.28.
The supplied NHTS figures list all-mode person trips for several purposes in 2022. They report 46.637 billion work trips, 8.971 billion work-related trips, 89.384 billion business trips, 28.707 billion shopping and personal-errand trips, 75.019 billion school or church trips, and 5.038 billion social and recreational trips.
These categories are reported as separate NHTS measures. They should not be added together here, because the supplied figures do not provide a definition for reconciling category boundaries or explain whether all listed measures use the same counting convention.
Travel distance by purpose
The 2022 NHTS Summary of Travel Trends also reports person miles traveled (PMT) per person for selected purposes. Total PMT per person was 28.55 miles. Social and recreational trips had the highest listed purpose-specific PMT at 11.43 miles per person. Shopping and errands measured 5.79 miles, work trips measured 5.61 miles, and school or church trips measured 1.61 miles per person.
| Purpose | Daily trip rate per person | PMT per person |
|---|---|---|
| Work or commuting | 0.42 | 5.61 miles |
| Shopping and errands | 0.80 | 5.79 miles |
| School or church | 0.26 | 1.61 miles |
| Social and recreational | 0.67 | 11.43 miles |
| Total | 2.28 | 28.55 miles |
The two columns measure different aspects of travel. A trip rate describes frequency, while PMT describes person miles. For example, social and recreational travel had a lower listed daily rate than shopping and errands but a higher listed PMT per person.
Transportation modes
Private vehicles were the dominant listed mode in the 2022 NHTS figures. Private-vehicle person trips included 43.337 billion work trips, 8.308 billion work-related trips, 82.350 billion business trips, 18.905 billion shopping and personal-errand trips, 64.188 billion school or church trips, and 3.567 billion social and recreational trips.
Public-transit person trips were lower in each corresponding category supplied by the NHTS: 1.167 billion for work, 65 million for work-related travel, 1.236 billion for business, 304 million for shopping and personal errands, 619 million for school or church, and 310 million for social and recreational travel.
The NHTS figures therefore provide a purpose-by-mode view rather than a single statistic for all domestic travel. They also show that mode use differs by trip purpose. Private-vehicle travel is listed at much larger counts for every supplied purpose, while public transit appears as a smaller but measurable part of each category.
For commuting specifically, auto, truck, van, or SUV was the usual commute mode for 90.5% of workers in 2022. Public transit was the usual mode for 4.1%, walking for 2.9%, and other modes for 2.5%.
Vehicles, commuting, and worker travel
Household vehicle access shaped the travel context measured by the NHTS in 2022. Households with two vehicles accounted for 37.9%, and households with one vehicle accounted for 33.1%. Households with three or more vehicles accounted for 20.6%, while households with zero vehicles accounted for 8.4%. The NHTS also reported about 10.7 million U.S. households without a vehicle. In the largest metropolitan statistical areas, households without a vehicle made up 11.9%.
The commuting measures were reported separately. Estimated workers totaled 158.010 million. Commute vehicle trips fell to 41.289 million, and commute vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fell to 555.715 million. Commute VMT still represented 30.07% of total VMT. Annual commute vehicle trips per worker fell to 261.
The word “fell” in these NHTS measures describes the direction stated in the source summary. The supplied figures do not include the comparison-year values, so the size of the change cannot be calculated from this dataset.
When domestic trips begin
The 2022 NHTS Summary of Travel Trends reports the distribution of person-trip start times. The largest listed time blocks were 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., when 23.8% of person trips started, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., when 23.4% started. The 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. period accounted for 22.0%, and 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. accounted for 17.8%.
Later evening trips were less common in the listed distribution: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. accounted for 8.9%, 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. accounted for 2.2%, and 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. accounted for 2.0%.
| Trip start period | Share of person trips |
|---|---|
| 1 a.m.–6 a.m. | 2.2% |
| 6 a.m.–9 a.m. | 17.8% |
| 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | 23.4% |
| 1 p.m.–4 p.m. | 23.8% |
| 4 p.m.–7 p.m. | 22.0% |
| 7 p.m.–10 p.m. | 8.9% |
| 10 p.m.–1 a.m. | 2.0% |
The timing figures are national 2022 NHTS measures, not a forecast for 2026 or 2027. Read alongside the spending forecasts, they provide two different views of domestic travel: the U.S. Travel Association describes the projected economic value of travel, while the NHTS describes person trips, travel purposes, distance, modes, vehicle access, commuting, and trip timing.