The Vacationer posted the Labor Day 2022 Travel Survey to find out how many Americans will travel for Labor Day or Labor Day weekend this year, their primary mode of transportation, if still high gas prices are affecting their plans (driving and flying), and how many will still take a road trip despite having to pay a lot at the pump.
The anonymous survey included 1,098 American adults over the age of 18 and was conducted online using SurveyMonkey's interface/audience on our behalf on August 6, 2022. Eric Jones, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Rowan College South Jersey analyzed the survey.
Key Stats:
- More than 53% (which is 137 million American adults) intend to travel for Labor Day or Labor Day weekend this year.
- Nearly 36% say their primary mode of transportation will be by car, while over 14% intend to fly. The remaining 3.28% will travel primarily by public transportation.
- More than half of American adults say that high gas prices will affect their Labor Day travel plans. 33.33% because they want to drive and 16.85% because they want to fly.
- Despite still high gas prices affecting travel plans, nearly 53% will take some kind of road trip for Labor Day or Labor Day weekend.
Here are the full results:
1. Do you intend to travel for Labor Day this year? If so, how?
- Yes, primarily by plane. - 14.21%
- Yes, primarily by car. - 35.52%
- Yes, primarily by public transportation such as bus or train. - 3.28%
- No. - 46.99%
Key Takeaway — More than 53% of American adults intend to travel for Labor Day this year. According to the most recent census, this equates to 137 million people. The primary mode of transportation for Labor Day will be by car. More than a third of people said they’d travel via car. This represents 92 million American adults. The 14.21% that intend to travel by plane represent nearly 37 million people. This means more Americans will travel by plane for Labor Day than on the Fourth of July or Memorial Day. (per our previous surveys)
2. Will high gas prices affect your Labor Day travel plans?
- Yes, because I want to drive. - 33.33%
- Yes, because high gas prices are affecting airfare prices. - 16.85%
- No. - 49.82%
Key Takeaway - More than half of American adults say that high gas prices will affect their Labor Day travel plans. The 50.18% of people that said this represents 129 million Americans. This figure is nearly identical to the number of people that said high gas prices will affect their Fourth of July travel plans. Therefore, even though gas prices have come down some in recent weeks, travelers are still feeling the crunch of the gas surge of the past year.
3. Will you take a road trip for Labor Day or Labor Day weekend this year?
- No. - 47.27%
- Yes, within 100 miles of my home. - 26.05%
- Yes, within 250 miles of my home. - 13.48%
- Yes, within 500 miles of my home. - 7.83%
- Yes, within 1,000 miles of my home. - 2.64%
- Yes, more than 1,000 miles from my home. - 2.73%
Key Takeaway - Nearly 53% of American adults will take a road trip for Labor Day or Labor Day weekend this year. This represents nearly 136 million people which is similar to the number of people who intended to road trip for the Fourth of July. 26.68% or 69 million people will road trip more than 100 miles from home for Labor Day. 13.2% or 34 million American adults will road trip more than 250 miles from home. 5.37% or 14 million people will road trip more than 500 miles from home. Lastly, 2.73% of American adults or 7 million people will road trip more than 1,000 miles for Labor Day this year.