July 3, 2003

 

Two Thirds of North Dakota Households Have at Least Two Vehicles

Almost two-thirds of North Dakota households had multiple vehicles in 2000, a proportion that has risen dramatically over the past 40 years. According to the recent Population Bulletin released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, less than one in four households in the state had more than one vehicle available for use in 1960.

Most of the change took place during the 70s. Over the last 10 years (between 1990 and 2000), the average number of vehicles available for use remained relatively unchanged at nearly two per household.

The upper Great Plains states are above national averages for multiple-vehicle households. "This reflects the longer distances people must travel and therefore the greater reliance people in the region have on vehicles. It is also due to the higher concentration on multiple members in the household who work," said Richard Rathge, director of the State Data Center.

The data on available vehicles show the number of households with a specified number of passenger cars, vans, and pickup or panel trucks of one-ton capacity or less kept at home and available for use of household members. Vehicles rented or leased for one month or more, company vehicles, and police and government vehicles are included if kept at home and used for nonbusiness purposes. Dismantled or immobile vehicles are excluded. Vehicles kept at home but used only for business purposes also are excluded. The statistics do not measure the number of vehicles privately owned or the number of households owning vehicles.

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Sources: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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