Driver Licensing Rates

Differences by Gender and Age

According to the 2009 National Household Transportation Survey, 88 percent of the adult population was licensed to drive. Historically, women were less likely to drive than men, but as women became more involved in the labor force, the gap in licensure between men and women closed so that by 2009, 90 percent of all men and 85 percent of all women were licensed to drive and over 90 percent of both men and women between the ages of 35 and 60 were licensed to drive. Only in the oldest age groups do gaps in licensure rates of over 10 percent remain—primarily as a result of changes in women's roles and generational attitudes.

The next several years will see a change in the characteristics of elderly drivers as the baby boom generation (those born between 1945 and 1964) reach retirement age. In 2009, 64 percent of nondrivers were younger than age 25 or aged 65 years and older. While overall 60.9 percent of nondrivers were women, 76 percent of nondrivers aged 65 years and older were women.

Differences by Race/Ethnicity

At 91.3 percent, non-Hispanic whites have the highest driver licensure rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups, and non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics have the lowest licensure rates at 77.9 and 77.6 percent, respectively. All other groups have rates closer to non-Hispanic whites (at 86 percent). The lower licensure rates for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics are primarily a result of lower incomes as well as having a large proportion of the population living in central cities where other forms of transportation are available or a result of having a significant proportion of immigrants (for Hispanics). Although lower relative to non-Hispanic whites, the differences in licensure between men and women for non-Hispanic blacks are less than 4 percent overall.

Among the two groups with relatively large immigrant populations, non-Hispanic Asians and Pacific Islanders and Hispanics have larger gaps in licensure between men and women (7.3 and 15.1 percent, respectively). In fact, licensure rates among Hispanic males are similar to those of non-Hispanic whites (at 86 percent overall and over 90 percent for all age groups from ages 30 to 64). Since these are two of the fastest growing groups in the United States, increases in licensure for Hispanic and Asian women will have a significant impact on growth in the number of drivers in the United States in the future.

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