11% Say Crime Makes it Unsafe to Walk

How many Americans feel unsafe walking because of crime? That question was included in the 2020 National Health Interview Survey along with several others meant to probe perceptions of the walking environment. 

Overall, 11 percent of people aged 18 or older say crime makes it unsafe for them to walk. Women are more likely to feel that way (13 percent) than men (9 percent). Here are the percentages for women and men by age...

Percent of women (and men) who say crime makes it unsafe for them to walk

Aged 18 to 24: 17.1% (9.3%)

Aged 25 to 44: 14.1% (10.1%)

Aged 45 to 64: 12.7% (8.9%)

Aged 65-plus: 9.9% (6.5%)

The perception that crime makes it unsafe to walk falls with age—particularly among women. 

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Who Felt that Crime Makes it Unsafe to Walk, by Sex and Age Group—National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2020

17% Walk, Bike on an Average Day

On a typical day, 17 percent of Americans aged 5 or older travel by walking or biking, according to the Federal Highway Administration's National Household Travel Survey. Each of these "non-motorized trips," as the NHTS calls them, averages 1 mile in length and lasts 16 minutes. The trips are for a variety of purposes such as exercise, recreation, going to work, or visiting a store.

Some people are more likely to walk/bike places than others. Among people who report excellent health, 19 percent walk or bike on an average day compared with just 9 percent of those in poor health. People who usually exercise vigorously in a typical week are more likely to report walking or biking on an average day (22 percent) than those who report rarely or never exercising (8 percent). Not surprisingly, people who live in large cities are most likely to report walking or biking on an average day (34 percent) while those in live in rural areas are least likely (10 percent).

Percent of people aged 5 or older who walk/bike on an average day, by place of residence
Major city: 34%
Suburb: 21%
Small town: 14%
Rural area: 10%

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Household Travel Survey, Non-Motorized Travel (PDF)

Most Kids Get to School by Private Vehicle

Despite the ubiquitous yellow school buses driving the roads most months of the year, the 54 percent majority of the nation's children are driven to school in a private vehicle, according to the Federal Highway Administration's National Household Transportation Survey. A smaller 33 percent ride a school bus. Just 10 percent walk or bike to school.

The way children aged 5 to 17 get to school has not changed much in the past two decades, reports the Federal Highway Administration. Only 10 percent of children walk or bike to school because the schools most children attend are too far from their home. Among children who live within a half mile of school, most walk or bike to get there.

Percent of 5-to-17-year-olds who walk/bike to school by distance from home to school
81% of those who live less than 0.25 miles from school
56.1% of those who live from 0.25 and 0.50 miles from school
24.8% of those who live from 0.50 to 1 mile from school
  7.0% of those who live from 1 to 2 miles from school
  0.9% of those who live 2 or more miles from school

Source: Federal Highway Administration, 2017 National Household Travel Survey, Children's Travel to School

Driving Alone to Work: Top and Bottom Metros

Most Americans drive alone to work, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Nationwide, the percentage of workers aged 16 or older who commute alone in an automobile stood at 76 percent in 2017. The figure varies by metropolitan area.

The five metros with the most lone drivers
The five metropolitan areas with the largest share of lone drivers are all in the South: Dothan, AL (89 percent); Wheeling, WV (89 percent); Owensboro, KY (88 percent); Huntsville, AL (88 percent); and Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL (88 percent). One reason for these above-average figures is a lack of public transportation. The percentage of workers in these metros who use public transportation to get to work ranges from 0.0 to 0.5 percent.

The five metros with the fewest lone drivers
All five metropolitan areas with the smallest share of lone drivers are in the Northeast or West: New York (50 percent); San Francisco (57 percent); Ithaca, NY (58 percent); Boulder, CO (64 percent); and Corvallis, OR (66 percent). In New York and San Francisco, the availability and popularity of public transportation is the biggest factor reducing the percentage of workers who drive alone. In the New York metro, 31 percent of workers commute on public transportation. In San Francisco, the figure is 17 percent. Among metropolitan areas, New York and San Francisco are the ones with the highest use of public transportation.

Driving to work alone is relatively low in the other three metropolitan areas for different reasons.

• Ithaca, NY, distinguishes itself as the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who walk to work—12.5 percent did so in 2017. Additionally, a relatively large 10 percent of Ithaca workers work at home. 
• Boulder, CO, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who work at home—13.6 percent. Also, Boulder ranks second among metropolitan areas in the percentage of workers who commute to work by bicycle (4.6 percent). 
• Corvallis, OR, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who bicycle to work—6.8 percent in 2017. Additionally, it has a relatively large share of workers who walk to work (7.6 percent) or who work at home (8.7 percent). 

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2017 American Community Survey

Walking for Transportation or Leisure

A growing percentage of Americans are walking for transportation or leisure, according to results of the National Health Interview Survey. When Americans were asked whether they had spent 10 or more minutes walking for transportation or leisure in the past seven days, a larger percentage had done so in 2015 than in 2005: 65 percent of women (up from 57 percent) and 63 percent of men (up from 54 percent).

Source: CDC, Walking for Transportation or Leisure among U.S. Women and Men—National Health Interview Survey, 2005–2015

How Many Bicycle on an Average Day?

One in five Americans aged 15 or older participates in sports, exercise, or recreation on an average day, according to the American Time Use Survey. Only a handful of sports attract more than 1 million participants on a daily basis...

Number (and percent) of people aged 15-plus participating on an average day, 2015
Walking: 16.3 million (6.4%)
Weightlifting: 6.2 million (2.4%)
Running: 4.8 million (1.9%)
Using cardiovascular equipment: 4.8 million (1.9%)
Water sports: 3.3 million (1.3%)
Yoga: 1.6 million (0.6%)
Biking: 1.5 million (0.6%)
Golfing: 1.3 million (0.5%)
Basketball: 1.1 million (0.4%)

Those most likely to walk on an average day are people aged 75 or older (10 percent). No surprise there. More surprising are the demographics of those who bicycle on an average day. Bicycling peaks in two age groups—teens aged 15 to 19 and retirees aged 75-plus.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015 American Time Use Survey

Walking/Bicycling as Transportation

On an average day, only 10 percent of Americans walk or bicycle as transportation (rather than exercise)—meaning they walk or bicycle to get from point A to point B. Although urban populations have been growing in recent years, the percentage who walk or bicycle as transportation has fallen slightly over the past decade—from 11.8 percent in 2003 to 10.3 percent in 2012, according to the American Time Use Survey. Younger adults are most likely to walk or bicycle as transportation on an average day. Here are the 2012 stats by age...

Percent who walked or bicycled as transportation in past 24 hours
Aged 16 to 39: 14.0%
Aged 40 to 59: 8.4%
Aged 60-plus: 6.9%

Source: CDC, Active Transportation Surveillance—United States, 1999-2012