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The Second Most Common Way To Get To Work By State In The United States For 2026

Driving alone is #1 everywhere, but the runner-up flipped in one year: work from home is now the #2 commute in 35 states, carpool in 14. See every state.

Chris Kolmar
Written by
HomeSnacks
Last updated
July 12, 2026

After driving alone, the second most common way Americans get to work is now working from home, the runner-up commute in 35 states, with carpool second in 14 and public transit in 2. For a quarter century that spot belonged to carpooling almost everywhere, until it flipped in a single year.

  • Work from home is the #2 commute in 35 states, carpool in 14, and public transit in 2 (New York and Washington, D.C.).
  • Carpool was #2 in 49 states in 2000 and still 45 in 2019, then fell to 4 in one year while work from home took 46.
  • Work from home is already receding: it peaked as the #2 mode in 46 states, and carpool has clawed back from 4 to 14.
  • Three states never let go of carpool as their runner-up: Alaska, Hawaii, and Mississippi.
  • Two places have run on transit the whole time, in 2000 and today: New York and Washington, D.C.

Here is the #2 mode in every state right now, when it flipped, and where it is heading.

What is the second most common way to get to work?

The second most common way to get to work is now working from home, in most of the country. Work from home is the runner-up commute mode in 35 states, carpool in 14, and public transit in 2. Nationally the story is the same: after driving alone, work from home is #2 at 13.3% of workers, just ahead of carpool at 9.2%.

That was not true a few years ago. Carpool held the #2 spot for a generation. So the map below is really two questions at once: what is second in your state, and did it used to be something else. Drive-alone is still #1 in all 50 states, so this is strictly about the runner-up. The one exception is Washington, D.C., where driving alone barely leads at 29.3%, a mere 1.4 points ahead of transit at 27.9%.

The #2 way to get to work in your state today: work from home vs carpool vs public transit. Each state is shaded by its runner-up commute mode in the most recent data.
Alabama: #2 is WFHHArizona: #2 is WFHHArkansas: #2 is CarpoolCCalifornia: #2 is WFHHColorado: #2 is WFHHConnecticut: #2 is WFHDelaware: #2 is WFHDistrict Of Columbia: #2 is Public transitFlorida: #2 is WFHHGeorgia: #2 is WFHHIdaho: #2 is WFHHIllinois: #2 is WFHHIndiana: #2 is WFHHIowa: #2 is WFHHKansas: #2 is WFHHKentucky: #2 is Carpool (too close to call vs work from home)CLouisiana: #2 is CarpoolCMaine: #2 is WFHHMaryland: #2 is WFHMassachusetts: #2 is WFHMichigan: #2 is WFHHMinnesota: #2 is WFHHMississippi: #2 is CarpoolCMissouri: #2 is WFHHMontana: #2 is WFHHNebraska: #2 is Carpool (too close to call vs work from home)CNevada: #2 is Carpool (too close to call vs work from home)CNew Hampshire: #2 is WFHNew Jersey: #2 is WFHNew Mexico: #2 is CarpoolCNew York: #2 is Public transitTNorth Carolina: #2 is WFHHNorth Dakota: #2 is CarpoolCOhio: #2 is WFHHOklahoma: #2 is CarpoolCOregon: #2 is WFHHPennsylvania: #2 is WFHHRhode Island: #2 is WFHSouth Carolina: #2 is WFHHSouth Dakota: #2 is CarpoolCTennessee: #2 is WFHHTexas: #2 is WFHHUtah: #2 is WFHHVermont: #2 is WFHVirginia: #2 is WFHHWashington: #2 is WFHHWest Virginia: #2 is Carpool (too close to call vs work from home)CWisconsin: #2 is WFHHWyoming: #2 is CarpoolCAK CHI C
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call
State#1 mode (share)#2 mode (share)Note
AlabamaDrove alone 80.8%WFH 8.3%
AlaskaDrove alone 66.8%Carpool 12.4%
ArizonaDrove alone 67.5%WFH 16.3%
ArkansasDrove alone 78.4%Carpool 10.0%
CaliforniaDrove alone 67.3%WFH 14.1%
ColoradoDrove alone 65.4%WFH 19.9%
ConnecticutDrove alone 70.2%WFH 13.4%
D.C.Drove alone 29.3%Public transit 27.9%
DelawareDrove alone 72.2%WFH 12.9%
FloridaDrove alone 69.0%WFH 15.5%
GeorgiaDrove alone 71.4%WFH 14.9%
HawaiiDrove alone 65.1%Carpool 14.5%
IdahoDrove alone 72.9%WFH 12.7%
IllinoisDrove alone 66.0%WFH 13.6%
IndianaDrove alone 76.8%WFH 9.6%
IowaDrove alone 76.6%WFH 9.9%
KansasDrove alone 76.0%WFH 10.3%
KentuckyDrove alone 76.4%Carpool 9.9%tied with WFH
LouisianaDrove alone 78.3%Carpool 9.3%
MaineDrove alone 70.8%WFH 14.7%
MarylandDrove alone 66.4%WFH 15.6%
MassachusettsDrove alone 62.0%WFH 14.8%
MichiganDrove alone 75.6%WFH 11.2%
MinnesotaDrove alone 70.7%WFH 14.7%
MississippiDrove alone 81.2%Carpool 9.5%
MissouriDrove alone 74.8%WFH 11.8%
MontanaDrove alone 71.6%WFH 11.7%
NebraskaDrove alone 75.8%Carpool 9.8%tied with WFH
NevadaDrove alone 70.0%Carpool 11.8%tied with WFH
New HampshireDrove alone 72.3%WFH 16.0%
New JerseyDrove alone 63.3%WFH 13.5%
New MexicoDrove alone 73.8%Carpool 11.3%
New YorkDrove alone 48.7%Public transit 25.0%
North CarolinaDrove alone 71.6%WFH 15.4%
North DakotaDrove alone 76.7%Carpool 10.2%
OhioDrove alone 75.2%WFH 11.9%
OklahomaDrove alone 76.8%Carpool 10.6%
OregonDrove alone 65.2%WFH 17.1%
PennsylvaniaDrove alone 68.5%WFH 13.8%
Rhode IslandDrove alone 71.3%WFH 11.6%
South CarolinaDrove alone 74.9%WFH 12.3%
South DakotaDrove alone 78.1%Carpool 9.4%
TennesseeDrove alone 75.0%WFH 12.7%
TexasDrove alone 71.8%WFH 12.9%
UtahDrove alone 67.7%WFH 15.7%
VermontDrove alone 67.9%WFH 16.0%
VirginiaDrove alone 68.6%WFH 15.8%
WashingtonDrove alone 65.1%WFH 16.4%
West VirginiaDrove alone 77.6%Carpool 9.1%tied with WFH
WisconsinDrove alone 75.1%WFH 11.8%
WyomingDrove alone 72.6%Carpool 11.2%

Every state’s #1 and #2 commute mode, most recent ACS 1-year data. “Tied with WFH” marks the four states where carpool’s lead over work from home is inside the margin of error. Click any column header to sort.

How the runner-up changed, 2000 to today

Go back to 2000 and the answer was nearly unanimous. Carpool was the #2 commute in 49 states. Only New York and Washington, D.C. ran on transit instead.

That held for a long time. Carpool was still #2 in 45 states as recently as 2019, even as its share slowly slipped from 12.2% of workers to 8.9%. Then came the cliff. In 2021, work from home jumped to the #2 spot in 46 states, and carpool crashed to just 4. No slow erosion. One year.

Here is the whole arc, counted by how many states gave each mode the runner-up spot.

How many states gave each mode the runner-up spot, 2000 to today. The 2021 cliff is one year, not a slow drift.
01020304050200020102015202120244914035222020 5-year bridge (not spliced): Carpool #2 in 41 states2020 5-year bridge (not spliced): WFH #2 in 5 states2020 5-year bridge (not spliced): Public transit #2 in 4 states2020*
CarpoolWork from homePublic transit2020 (5-year bridge, not on the trend)

You can also watch it on the map. Pick a year and see the country repaint from carpool orange to work-from-home brown, with the two transit holdouts steady the whole time.

Alabama: #2 CarpoolArizona: #2 CarpoolArkansas: #2 CarpoolCalifornia: #2 CarpoolColorado: #2 CarpoolConnecticut: #2 CarpoolDelaware: #2 CarpoolDistrict Of Columbia: #2 Public transitFlorida: #2 CarpoolGeorgia: #2 CarpoolIdaho: #2 CarpoolIllinois: #2 CarpoolIndiana: #2 CarpoolIowa: #2 CarpoolKansas: #2 CarpoolKentucky: #2 CarpoolLouisiana: #2 CarpoolMaine: #2 CarpoolMaryland: #2 CarpoolMassachusetts: #2 CarpoolMichigan: #2 CarpoolMinnesota: #2 CarpoolMississippi: #2 CarpoolMissouri: #2 CarpoolMontana: #2 CarpoolNebraska: #2 CarpoolNevada: #2 CarpoolNew Hampshire: #2 CarpoolNew Jersey: #2 CarpoolNew Mexico: #2 CarpoolNew York: #2 Public transitNorth Carolina: #2 CarpoolNorth Dakota: #2 CarpoolOhio: #2 CarpoolOklahoma: #2 CarpoolOregon: #2 CarpoolPennsylvania: #2 CarpoolRhode Island: #2 CarpoolSouth Carolina: #2 CarpoolSouth Dakota: #2 CarpoolTennessee: #2 CarpoolTexas: #2 CarpoolUtah: #2 CarpoolVermont: #2 CarpoolVirginia: #2 CarpoolWashington: #2 CarpoolWest Virginia: #2 CarpoolWisconsin: #2 CarpoolWyoming: #2 Carpool
In 2000, the #2 commute mode was carpool in most states.
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call
Alabama: #2 CarpoolArizona: #2 CarpoolArkansas: #2 CarpoolCalifornia: #2 CarpoolColorado: #2 CarpoolConnecticut: #2 CarpoolDelaware: #2 CarpoolDistrict Of Columbia: #2 Drove aloneFlorida: #2 CarpoolGeorgia: #2 CarpoolIdaho: #2 CarpoolIllinois: #2 Public transitIndiana: #2 CarpoolIowa: #2 CarpoolKansas: #2 CarpoolKentucky: #2 CarpoolLouisiana: #2 CarpoolMaine: #2 CarpoolMaryland: #2 CarpoolMassachusetts: #2 Public transitMichigan: #2 CarpoolMinnesota: #2 CarpoolMississippi: #2 CarpoolMissouri: #2 CarpoolMontana: #2 CarpoolNebraska: #2 CarpoolNevada: #2 CarpoolNew Hampshire: #2 CarpoolNew Jersey: #2 Public transitNew Mexico: #2 CarpoolNew York: #2 Public transitNorth Carolina: #2 CarpoolNorth Dakota: #2 CarpoolOhio: #2 CarpoolOklahoma: #2 CarpoolOregon: #2 CarpoolPennsylvania: #2 CarpoolRhode Island: #2 CarpoolSouth Carolina: #2 CarpoolSouth Dakota: #2 CarpoolTennessee: #2 CarpoolTexas: #2 CarpoolUtah: #2 CarpoolVermont: #2 CarpoolVirginia: #2 CarpoolWashington: #2 CarpoolWest Virginia: #2 CarpoolWisconsin: #2 CarpoolWyoming: #2 Carpool
In 2010, the #2 commute mode was carpool in most states.
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call
Alabama: #2 CarpoolArizona: #2 CarpoolArkansas: #2 CarpoolCalifornia: #2 CarpoolColorado: #2 WFHConnecticut: #2 CarpoolDelaware: #2 CarpoolDistrict Of Columbia: #2 Drove aloneFlorida: #2 CarpoolGeorgia: #2 CarpoolIdaho: #2 CarpoolIllinois: #2 Public transitIndiana: #2 CarpoolIowa: #2 CarpoolKansas: #2 CarpoolKentucky: #2 CarpoolLouisiana: #2 CarpoolMaine: #2 CarpoolMaryland: #2 CarpoolMassachusetts: #2 Public transitMichigan: #2 CarpoolMinnesota: #2 CarpoolMississippi: #2 CarpoolMissouri: #2 CarpoolMontana: #2 CarpoolNebraska: #2 CarpoolNevada: #2 CarpoolNew Hampshire: #2 CarpoolNew Jersey: #2 Public transitNew Mexico: #2 CarpoolNew York: #2 Public transitNorth Carolina: #2 CarpoolNorth Dakota: #2 CarpoolOhio: #2 CarpoolOklahoma: #2 CarpoolOregon: #2 CarpoolPennsylvania: #2 CarpoolRhode Island: #2 CarpoolSouth Carolina: #2 CarpoolSouth Dakota: #2 CarpoolTennessee: #2 CarpoolTexas: #2 CarpoolUtah: #2 CarpoolVermont: #2 CarpoolVirginia: #2 CarpoolWashington: #2 CarpoolWest Virginia: #2 CarpoolWisconsin: #2 CarpoolWyoming: #2 Carpool
In 2019, the #2 commute mode was carpool in most states.
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call
Alabama: #2 WFHArizona: #2 WFHArkansas: #2 WFHCalifornia: #2 WFHColorado: #2 WFHConnecticut: #2 WFHDelaware: #2 WFHDistrict Of Columbia: #2 Drove aloneFlorida: #2 WFHGeorgia: #2 WFHIdaho: #2 WFHIllinois: #2 WFHIndiana: #2 WFHIowa: #2 WFHKansas: #2 WFHKentucky: #2 WFHLouisiana: #2 WFHMaine: #2 WFHMaryland: #2 WFHMassachusetts: #2 WFHMichigan: #2 WFHMinnesota: #2 WFHMississippi: #2 CarpoolMissouri: #2 WFHMontana: #2 WFHNebraska: #2 WFHNevada: #2 WFHNew Hampshire: #2 WFHNew Jersey: #2 WFHNew Mexico: #2 WFHNew York: #2 WFHNorth Carolina: #2 WFHNorth Dakota: #2 WFHOhio: #2 WFHOklahoma: #2 WFHOregon: #2 WFHPennsylvania: #2 WFHRhode Island: #2 WFHSouth Carolina: #2 WFHSouth Dakota: #2 WFHTennessee: #2 WFHTexas: #2 WFHUtah: #2 WFHVermont: #2 WFHVirginia: #2 WFHWashington: #2 WFHWest Virginia: #2 WFHWisconsin: #2 WFHWyoming: #2 Carpool
In 2021, the #2 commute mode was work from home in most states.
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call
Alabama: #2 WFHArizona: #2 WFHArkansas: #2 CarpoolCalifornia: #2 WFHColorado: #2 WFHConnecticut: #2 WFHDelaware: #2 WFHDistrict Of Columbia: #2 Public transitFlorida: #2 WFHGeorgia: #2 WFHIdaho: #2 WFHIllinois: #2 WFHIndiana: #2 WFHIowa: #2 WFHKansas: #2 WFHKentucky: #2 CarpoolLouisiana: #2 CarpoolMaine: #2 WFHMaryland: #2 WFHMassachusetts: #2 WFHMichigan: #2 WFHMinnesota: #2 WFHMississippi: #2 CarpoolMissouri: #2 WFHMontana: #2 WFHNebraska: #2 CarpoolNevada: #2 CarpoolNew Hampshire: #2 WFHNew Jersey: #2 WFHNew Mexico: #2 CarpoolNew York: #2 Public transitNorth Carolina: #2 WFHNorth Dakota: #2 CarpoolOhio: #2 WFHOklahoma: #2 CarpoolOregon: #2 WFHPennsylvania: #2 WFHRhode Island: #2 WFHSouth Carolina: #2 WFHSouth Dakota: #2 CarpoolTennessee: #2 WFHTexas: #2 WFHUtah: #2 WFHVermont: #2 WFHVirginia: #2 WFHWashington: #2 WFHWest Virginia: #2 CarpoolWisconsin: #2 WFHWyoming: #2 Carpool
In 2024, the #2 commute mode was work from home in most states.
Work from homeCarpoolPublic transitToo close to call

Which states flipped, and when

Almost everyone flipped at once. In 45 states, work from home overtook carpool for the #2 spot in the same pandemic year, 2021. That is the cliff you see in the numbers.

A couple of states are exceptions. Colorado saw it coming: work from home edged out carpool for #2 by 2019, two years early. Wyoming was the last to go, holding carpool at #2 until 2022. And three states never flipped at all. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Mississippi, carpool has been the runner-up the whole way from 2000 to today.

Here is the part people miss. Flipping to work from home in 2021 did not lock it in. Eleven of those states handed the #2 spot back to carpool by the latest data, which is exactly why carpool has climbed from 4 states to 14.

When each state handed the runner-up spot to work from home.
2019
Coloradosaw it coming, two years early
2021
45 statesflipped to work from home all at once
2022
Wyomingthe last state to flip
never
Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippicarpool held the whole way

Work from home is already receding

The remote-work era already has a downslope. Work from home was the #2 commute in 46 states in 2021. It has slipped every year since, to 44, then 39, and now 35. Over the same stretch, carpool climbed back into second place in 14 states.

But receding is not collapsing. Work from home is still #2 in a clear majority of states, and nationally its 13.3% share is close to one and a half times its 2019 level. Solo driving tells the same in-between story. It fell from 75.9% of workers in 2019 to 67.8% in 2021, then bounced part way back to 69.2%, still the #1 mode everywhere but well below where it started. For the wider view on how remote work reshuffled where people live and move, our moving statistics tell that half of the story.

The carpool comeback comes with a catch. Of the 14 states where carpool now runs second, 10 lead work from home clearly. In the other 4, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, and West Virginia, carpool and work from home sit close enough to be a statistical tie, too close to call.

The national #2-mode share. Carpool bled down for two decades, then work from home spiked and started to fade. Driving alone dipped and came part way back.
0%20%40%60%80%2000201020192021202412.2%8.9%17.9%13.3%75.9%67.8%69.2%
Drove alone (#1)CarpoolWork from home

The states that never changed lanes

A few places stayed exactly where they were. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Mississippi, carpool has been the #2 commute since 2000 and still is. Hawaii carpools the most of any state, at 14.5% of workers, with Alaska close behind at 12.4%.

Why these three hold on is mostly about the work and the geography. Long distances, tourism and military jobs, and fewer roles you can do from a laptop all keep more people sharing a ride. In a few corridors carpooling even has its own infrastructure. Northern Virginia’s decades-old “slugging” system lets drivers use the carpool lane if they pick up strangers waiting at set lots, and the riders go free. It is a live example of why organized carpooling survives where the payoff is built in.

The other constant is transit. New York and Washington, D.C. had public transit as their #2 mode in 2000, and they still do today, the only two places that never ran mainly on cars. In New York transit is second at 25.0%. In D.C. it is second at 27.9%, a hair behind driving alone.

The two constants: the states that kept carpool as their runner-up, and the two that kept transit.
Hawaii Carpool
14.5%
Alaska Carpool
12.4%
New York Public transit
25.0%
D.C. Public transit
27.9%

Methodology

We measured each worker’s primary means of transportation to work, then ranked every state’s modes to find its #1 and #2. Drive-alone, carpool, public transit, walking, biking, working from home, and a few smaller categories each count as a mode. A state’s “#2 mode” is simply the runner-up by share of workers.

The figures are American Community Survey 1-year estimates for the most recent available year, table B08301, with the 2000 Census long-form (table P030) as the pre-2000 anchor for the over-time view. The 2020 point uses the ACS 5-year estimate because the standard 2020 1-year release was never produced, so we show it only as a labeled bridge and never connect it to the 1-year trend line. The 2000 form counts taxicab trips inside public transit while the modern survey breaks them out, a tiny category we fold back together for a clean comparison; it never changes any state’s #2.

Two limits are worth stating plainly. Some races for second place are close. In four states carpool and work from home sit inside each other’s margin of error, so we call those ties rather than wins. And in Washington, D.C., driving alone is not reliably #1, so we report its #1 and #2 directly instead of forcing it into the “after driving alone” frame.

  • Current snapshot and trend: ACS 1-year estimates, table B08301, latest release
  • Annual trend: ACS 1-year, 2010 through the latest year (the 2020 1-year was never released)
  • 2020 bridge: ACS 5-year estimate, shown as a labeled point only, never spliced into the 1-year line
  • Pre-ACS anchor: Census 2000 long-form, table P030

Bottom line

Driving alone still wins everywhere, but the race for second place got interesting. For a generation it was carpool, in almost every state. Now it is working from home in 35 states, and the question is which way it drifts next as offices call people back and carpool creeps up again.

The short version: check your own state on the map. The runner-up is not what it was, and it may not stay what it is.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Americans carpool to work?

About 9.2% of American workers carpool to work in the most recent data, down from 12.2% in 2000 and 8.9% in 2019. Carpool is no longer the #2 commute nationally, but it is still the runner-up in 14 states, led by Hawaii at 14.5% and Alaska at 12.4%.

Which states rely on public transit as their #2 way to get to work?

Only two places have public transit as their #2 commute mode: New York, where transit carries 25.0% of workers, and Washington, D.C., where it carries 27.9%. They are also the only two that had transit as their runner-up back in 2000, so the transit map has not moved in a quarter century.

What is the most common transportation in the United States?

The most common way Americans get to work is driving alone, at 69.2% of workers, and it is the #1 mode in all 50 states. That share dipped to 67.8% during the peak remote-work year and has since edged back up to 69.2%, still well below its 75.9% level a few years earlier.

What state has the longest work commute?

Commute length is a separate measure from commute mode, and it is not part of this ranking. For context, other Census figures put New York around the longest average one-way commute at about 33 minutes and North Dakota near the shortest at about 18 minutes, but those numbers describe travel time, not how people get there.

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau. “American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B08301: Means of Transportation to Work.” data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B08301
  2. U.S. Census Bureau. “Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF3), Table P030: Means of Transportation to Work for Workers 16 Years and Over.” data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALSF32000.P030
  3. U.S. Census Bureau. “American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B08301 (2016–2020).” data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2020.B08301
Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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