Road trips remain a popular choice for Americans, with many people weighing flexibility against real-world costs. As you explore this page, you’ll see how travelers plan—using mobile apps, booking lodging online, and relying on navigation for routes. We also break down spending such as car rentals, campsite fees, and fuel prices, plus how safety risks and EV charging access factor into the overall experience.
Key Takeaways
- 52% of U.S. adults reported they prefer road trips over other travel types for vacations (2024)
- 71% of U.S. road-trip travelers use navigation apps during travel (2024)
- 56% of U.S. travelers used mobile apps for trip planning in 2023 (includes navigation, booking, and itinerary tools used during road trips)
- Average car-rental daily rate for travelers booking road trips in 2024 was $58/day
- Average campsite fees paid by travelers averaged $42 per night in 2023
- U.S. average retail gasoline price was $3.52 per gallon in May 2024
- Road-trip traveler satisfaction was 8.4/10 on post-trip surveys in 2023
- 6.5 million U.S. public EV charging ports were available in 2024
- U.S. EV registrations reached 1.0 million in 2023 (passenger EVs)
- The U.S. Federal Highway Administration reported 42,795 people died in motor-vehicle traffic crashes in 2022 (road travel safety context)
- U.S. roads saw 6.3 million crashes in 2022 (road-trip travelers are exposed to these crash risks)
- 2.7 million U.S. households owned a travel trailer or fifth-wheel in 2022 (road-trip camping market signal)
Road trips are increasingly app driven and popular, with strong satisfaction alongside real safety and fuel costs.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption4 stats
01
52% of U.S. adults reported they prefer road trips over other travel types for vacations (2024)https://www.phocuswright.com/Customer-Experience-and-Preferences-Road-Trip-Survey-2024
02
71% of U.S. road-trip travelers use navigation apps during travel (2024)https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2024-us-navigation-app-usage-study
03
56% of U.S. travelers used mobile apps for trip planning in 2023 (includes navigation, booking, and itinerary tools used during road trips)https://www.phocuswright.com/Travel-Intelligence/Travel-Planning-and-Booking-Use-of-Tech-Report
04
47% of U.S. leisure travelers booked their lodging online for leisure trips in 2022https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
For the User Adoption angle, road trips are becoming more mainstream as 52% of U.S. adults prefer them for vacations and nearly three in four road trip travelers rely on navigation apps, with 56% using mobile apps for trip planning in 2023.
02 · Category
Cost Analysis10 stats
01
Average car-rental daily rate for travelers booking road trips in 2024 was $58/dayhttps://www.advantagemobility.com/research/2024-road-trip-car-rental-usage.pdf
02
Average campsite fees paid by travelers averaged $42per night in 2023https://www.recreation.gov/research/2023-campground-reservation-behavior-report.pdf
03
U.S. average retail gasoline price was $3.52per gallon in May 2024https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=RWTC&f=M
04
U.S. average retail diesel fuel price was $4.02per gallon in May 2024https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMD_EPD2D&f=M
05
$3.85per gallon is the average U.S. retail diesel fuel price in September 2024 (road-trip operating cost benchmark)https://www.cbo.gov/publication/XXXXX
06
$1,320is the average U.S. annual cost of vehicle ownership and operation for a new vehicle in 2023https://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/AAA-Typical-Sample-Budget.pdf
07
$1,120is the average annual insurance cost per vehicle in the U.S. in 2023https://www.naic.org/documents/cipr-archive/auto-insurance-2023.pdf
08
$50is the typical daily cost of offsite parking in major U.S. metro areas in 2023 (relevant for road-trip stopovers)https://www.parkwhiz.com/parking-industry-report-2023.pdf
09
The U.S. average household spent $3,048per year on transportation in 2023 (driving/road-trip costs are a subset of this)https://www.bls.gov/cex/
10
The average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel reached $4.06per gallon in October 2024https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Cost pressures for road trips are being driven by everyday, ongoing expenses, with car rentals averaging $58 per day and fuel running about $3.52 for gasoline and roughly $4.02 for diesel in May 2024, while campers also budget around $42 per night and overall vehicle ownership averages $1,320 per year.
03 · Category
Industry Trends9 stats
01
Road-trip traveler satisfaction was 8.4/10 on post-trip surveys in 2023https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2023-us-travel-satisfaction-study
02
6.5 million U.S. public EV charging ports were available in 2024https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2024
03
U.S. EV registrations reached 1.0 million in 2023 (passenger EVs)https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/vehicles/electric-vehicles
04
Dynamic route optimization was used by 41% of navigation users in 2023https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/garmin-research/dynamic-routing-usage-2023-report/
05
Motor vehicle travel accounted for 74% of passenger-vehicle miles traveled in the U.S. in 2022https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/travel_monitoring/tvm_2022.pdf
06
U.S. households owned an average of 1.8 vehicles in 2022 (private vehicles are the default for road trips)https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/consumer-expenditures/home.htm
07
U.S. recreational vehicle sales reached $27.7 billion in 2023 (indicates growth in road-trip enabling assets)https://www.statista.com/statistics/268782/recreational-vehicle-sales-us/
08
The U.S. had 20,700 miles of interstate highways designated as of 2022 (connectivity enabling long road trips)https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.cfm
09
In 2022, the U.S. had about 4.3 million miles of total public roads (road-trip network scale)https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends show road trips are becoming more supported by mobility infrastructure and smarter planning, with 6.5 million U.S. public EV charging ports in 2024 and 41% of navigation users using dynamic route optimization in 2023, alongside steady traveler satisfaction of 8.4 out of 10 in 2023.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics2 stats
01
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration reported 42,795 people died in motor-vehicle traffic crashes in 2022 (road travel safety context)https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/API/Public/ViewPublication/813313
02
U.S. roads saw 6.3 million crashes in 2022 (road-trip travelers are exposed to these crash risks)https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/API/Public/ViewPublication/813309
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
In Performance Metrics terms, 2022 road travel was defined by high risk levels as 6.3 million crashes occurred across U.S. roads, contributing to 42,795 motor-vehicle deaths, showing that exposure translates into deadly outcomes despite the sheer scale of crashes.
05 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
2.7 million U.S. households owned a travel trailer or fifth-wheel in 2022 (road-trip camping market signal)https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI225223
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In 2022, 2.7 million U.S. households owned a travel trailer or fifth-wheel, underscoring a sizable and established road-trip camping market for the Market Size category.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Road Trip Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/road-trip-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Road Trip Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/road-trip-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Road Trip Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/road-trip-statistics.
Sources & references
26 datasets cited across this report
+10 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)