42% of Pittsburgh workers don’t use a motor vehicle to get to their job
It seems clear now that the Covid pandemic forever changed how Pittsburghers get around, and where they are working. As we reported last year, the big commuter story was the huge change in numbers of people working from home. While the percent of people who WFH has dropped since last year, it still remains extremely high, especially when compared to the 60 largest cities in the country.
The Covid pandemic caused shockwaves in all aspects of life, and it continues to do so.
While more people are going back to the office, it seems that the number of those that choose biking, walking and transit have nearly recovered, although transit still remains slightly below pre-pandemic levels. Transit took a huge hit, but has been steadily climbing back since the 2021 low. With that said, we are still the ninth highest percent of transit commuters in the country, out of the largest 60 cities.
While not considered “active transportation,” those who WFH are not commuting to their jobs, and have reduced the overall number of cars on the road. Of the 60 largest US cities, Pittsburgh ranks 9th out of the largest 60 cities in the number of people who work from home.
According to the US Census’ American Community Survey (ACS, 1-year estimate), in 2019 about 7% of Pittsbughers worked from home. Today (2024), that number is 18%, about twice as many people than before the pandemic.
Even though the number of workers without access to a vehicle has remained unchanged, fewer Pittsburghers are driving to their jobs. Currently, about 56% of Pittsburgh workers drive to their job, 6 points (and thousands of cars) down from the 62% that drove before the pandemic. Of those who drive, only about 50% drive alone these days, dropping 5 points from the pre-pandemic levels. This places us in the top 10 for fewest commuters who “drove alone,” as well as the top 10 for most workers without access to a vehicle, out of the largest 60 cities.
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Walking and bicycling to work has rebounded to nearly the same rate as it was pre-Covid, despite the huge numbers of workers staying home.
Still surprising to many, Pittsburgh ranks in 6th place out of the largest 60 cities for number of workers who walk to their job.
Also surprising to many, Pittsburgh has the 12th most amount of bike commuters, tied with Denver’s flat streets, and Miami’s sunshine. Maybe weather and hills aren’t as much as an impediment as many people claim.
42% of Pittsburgh workers don’t use a car to get to work
With nearly a quarter of workers getting to their job using biking, walking and transit, Pittsburgh ranks in 8th overall in the United States.
Including those who work from home, a whopping 42% of Pittsburgh workers commute without a personal motor vehicle.
With fewer people driving (and parking), maybe it’s time to truly make that shift from an auto-centric policy to one that better reflects our new multimodal reality.
What is the ACS?
The American Community Survey (ACS) is the country’s largest household survey, gathering data from workers that live in their city and how they get to their job, wherever that may be. The ACS reports its findings yearly. With a sample size of about 3 million addresses, this is only an estimate, but is by far the best tool that we have for understanding trends in the United States. The survey uses questionnaires and interviews to gather information on demographic, economic, and housing characteristics.
Reference Points
Results are based on a survey that asks a subset of the larger population questions about their previous week of travel.
The ACS asks only about commuting, it does not tell us about bicycling and transportation for non-work purposes. This leaves out a significant group of people and only paints a small part of the true transportation picture.
When asking about an individual’s journey to work, the survey asks about “the primary mode of transportation to work,” and can only pick the single longest leg of their journey. This wording undercounts the actual amount of bike commuting as it does not consider people who ride only a few times a week, or who utilize multimodal transit, such as biking to a bus stop.
It is important to remember that these are estimates. The ACS does release a margin of error metric along with each estimate, which individuals can use to find the interval in which the ACS is 90% confident that the estimate lies within. This can be done by adding and subtracting the margin of error value from the estimate using the data on the ACS site.
Surveys take place throughout the year. This helps mitigate the problem that occurs with people changing the mode of transport based on the season/weather conditions but doesn’t resolve it fully.
Yearly changes may not be statistically significant.
The numbers reported here are for the “principal city,” not the larger Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which means we’re only counting how residents of Pittsburgh get to their job, wherever that may be.
The 2024 numbers are the latest from the US Census. We’ll see the 2025 numbers in September of 2026.
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