HOW WE GET AROUND
Carpooling: The percentage of people who drove alone to work dropped last year to 75.5 percent, the lowest in a decade, as commuters opted to carpool or take public transportation. Twenty-two states had declines in solo drivers compared with the year before, with the rest statistically unchanged.
The share of people who carpooled to work rose to 10.7 percent, up from 10.4 percent in the previous year. Commuters who took public transportation increased to 5 percent, the highest in six years.
Commuting: Average commute times edged up to 25.5 minutes, erasing years of decreases, as people had to leave home earlier in the morning to pick up friends for their ride to work or to catch a bus or subway train. Palmdale, Calif., a well-to-do exurb near Los Angeles, posted the longest commute at 41.5 minutes. It barely edged out New York City, with its congestion and sprawling subway system, at 39.4 minutes. Shortest commute time: Bloomington, Ill., at 14.1 minutes. Nationwide, more than one in eight workers, or 17.5 million, were out the door by 6 a.m.
HOW EARLY WE MARRY
Willing to wait: Nearly one in three Americans age 15 and over, or 31.2 percent, reported that they had never been married, the highest level in a decade. The share had hovered for years around 27 percent, before beginning to climb during the housing downturn in 2006. The never-married included three-quarters of men in their 20s and two-thirds of women in that age range. Sociologists say younger people are taking longer to reach economic independence and consider marriage because they are struggling to find work or focusing on an advanced education.
Geography matters: The Northeast had the most people who were delaying marriage, led by states such as New York and Massachusetts. People in the South were more likely to give marriage a try, including those in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.
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