How America Commutes: Infographic

According to U.S. Census data, roughly 76% of U.S. workers drive to work alone. Twelve percent carpool, 4.7% use public transportation, 3.3% work from home, 2.9% walk to work and 1.2% used other means (including a motorcycle or bicycle).

Analysis prepared earlier this year by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based think tank that looks at issues of urban sustainability, illustrates how transportation costs drag down traditional "affordability" assessments. It shows that only two in five American communities are affordable for typical households when transportation costs are considered along with housing costs.

The organization's "Housing + Transportation Affordability Index" examined 337 metro areas across the country, encompassing 161,000 neighborhoods and 80% of the U.S. population.

Under the traditional definition of housing affordability (30% or less of household income spent on housing), seven out of 10 U.S. communities are considered "affordable" to the average household. But in almost all metro regions of the country, when the definition of affordability includes housing and transportation costs — at 45% of income — the number of communities affordable to low- and moderate-income households declines to four out of 10

 

 (source via link( )