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.