Infographic: How Often Do Americans Travel? (2024)

FAQs

How often do Americans travel? ›

Americans take 2.5 vacations per year. The average vacation in America costs $1,742.90. 30% of Americans plan to travel internationally in 2024.

People made 757 trips on average in 2021, or 15 trips a week. This was similar to 2020, but a 21% decrease on the level in 2019 prior to the coronavirus pandemic, when people made an average of 953 trips per year. People travelled an average of 4,329 miles in 2021, a 33% decrease from 6,500 miles in 2019.

However, most studies agree that at least two vacations a year can do wonders for your mental and physical health. Two vacations a year might seem like a lot to some and not enough to others, but that's truly the minimum number of vacations we're talking about here.

Direct spending on leisure travel by domestic and international travelers totaled $792.4 billion in 2019. Spending on leisure travel generated $124.6 billion in tax revenue. 4 out of 5 domestic trips taken are for leisure purposes (80%). U.S. residents logged 1.9 billion person‑trips* for leisure purposes in 2019.

The average miles driven per year is 14,489 in 2022, an increase of about 1,000 miles from the previous year's figure, but it's still less than pre-pandemic car mileage per year. The average driver in the U.S. drives 39.7 miles per day, according to the most recent Department of Transportation statistics.

According to the section that begins, “How many air trips, if any…” — in any given year, it looks like 50–60% of Americans don't fly at all. However, those who do fly travel often enough that the average (or “mean”) is between 1.5 to 2 flights a year, give or take.

Frequent travellers says, you should take at least two longer trips per year, as well as a few shorter trips. The total number of vacation days you should take per year is 30-45.

The average American takes 17 PTO days a year³ while workers with unlimited PTO take 10 days off. We can see that just because an employee has an option to take as much time off as they want doesn't mean they actually will.

Research into the US tourism industry shows that Millennials travel more than other generations. Expedia says that US Millennials travel 35 days per year, compared to 26 days for Generation X; 27 days for Baby Boomers; and 29 days for Generation Z.

Travel takes us out of our comfort zones and inspires us to see, taste and try new things. It constantly challenges us, not only to adapt to and explore new surroundings, but also to engage with different people, to embrace adventures as they come and to share new and meaningful experiences with friends and loved ones.

How often do people travel alone? ›

Solo travelers travel frequently, around 3 or more times a year and make up 11% of the overall travel market.

The parents who travel with their children have taken on average 2.4 domestic vacations in past 12 months, and 0.3 international vacations .

The 50-30-20 budget rule states that you should spend up to 50% of your after-tax income on needs and obligations that you must have or must do. The remaining half should dedicate 20% to savings, leaving 30% to be spent on things you want but don't necessarily need.

Around a third of Americans enjoy two to three vacations per year. Meanwhile, just over a quarter have not traveled for non-business related trips at all in the past 12 months, and around a fifth of respondents have traveled once. Six or more vacations, on the other hand, were rarer.

In 2022, the highest number of inbound international visitors to the United States, 14.38 million, came from Canada. Meanwhile, approximately 12.5 million visitors came from Mexico.

But this stereotype isn't true! The Pew Research survey found that 76% of Americans have international travel experience. Only 23% of Americans have not traveled to other countries -- and most of these non-travelers said they would like to visit other countries if they had the opportunity.

More than half of Americans (55%) are still not using all their paid time off and those that are using their days, are spending just a portion of them to travel and see the USA. In 2018, American workers failed to use 768 million days of PTO—a 9% increase from 2017.

The average vacation time in the US for separate leave plans

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics report on vacation days in America states that private industry employees typically get: 11 days per year after 1 year of service, 15 days per year after 5 years of service, 18 days per year after 18 years of employment, and.

How many weeks of vacation is normal? Two full weeks of vacation is usually considered normal when you look at the labor statistics. The 10 days of average vacation time will cover two full working weeks for the average employee. Strangely enough, a good amount of Americans don't even make use of this.