transportation
Drove alone to work
Why this matters
Most local trips to work are still one person, one car. This measure shows the share of workers who commute by driving alone, rather than carpooling, taking transit, walking, biking, or working from home.
When nearly everyone drives solo, roads fill up faster, congestion grows, and parking demand rises. Driving alone is also the most carbon-heavy way to commute: transportation is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and everyday car travel is a big part of that. For households, fuel, insurance, and upkeep add up.
A high share is not a judgment of drivers; it often reflects limited alternatives.
About the Charlotte region
This explorer covers the 14-county, two-state Charlotte region (11 North Carolina and 3 South Carolina counties). Many of these indicators connect to a defining regional story: a landmark Harvard study ranked Charlotte last, 50th of the 50 largest U.S. metros for economic mobility (a child raised in the poorest fifth had about a 4.4% chance of reaching the top fifth), a finding that launched the region's Leading on Opportunity agenda. Updated 2024 data show Charlotte has since climbed to 38th.
Opportunity here is also unevenly mapped. An affluent “wedge” fanning southeast from uptown holds a large majority of the city's wealth on under a quarter of its land, while a ”crescent” to the north, west, and east carries higher poverty, a legacy of redlining, exclusionary zoning, and highway routing that recurs across the race, income, health, tree-canopy, and school maps in this tool. No single indicator is good or bad on its own; together they describe how the region sorted opportunity.
Companion resources: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer · UNC Charlotte Urban Institute · Opportunity Atlas · Methods & sources
Learn more
- U.S. EPA — Fast Facts on Transportation Emissions epa.gov
Transportation is the largest U.S. emissions source, led by everyday cars.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Commuting (Journey to Work) census.gov
Official source for how workers get to work, including driving alone.
About the data
Calculated from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2014–2024), at the Census-tract level, with margins of error. ACS 5-year vintages overlap year to year, so the series is a rolling estimate; compare only non-overlapping periods.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.