Transportation Economic Trends
Employment in Transportation:
Annual Employment in Transportation and Related Industries
Employment in transportation and related industries and employment in transportation occupations are two ways to measure the Nation’s transportation workforce. This page highlights the annual employment in transportation and related industries. For monthly employment see the Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector page.
2023 Year-in-Review
- An estimated 16.0 million persons (10.3% of the U.S. labor force) worked in the transportation and warehousing sector and related industries (e.g., automotive manufacturing) in 2023—up 1.7% from 2022. In 2023, total employment in transportation reached its highest level since 1990. Data for 2023 are an estimate, because it includes the estimated number of U.S. Department of Transportation workers (estimated by taking an average of the last two years of available data).
- Employment in transportation-related industries increased to 9.5 million workers in 2023, up by 3.3% from 2022.
- Employment in the transportation and warehousing sector decreased to 6.6 million workers in 2023, down by 0.6% from the highest level on record in 2022.
- From 2022 to 2023, eight out of eleven industries in the transportation sector expanded their labor force. Employment in air transportation grew the most (9.1%), followed by water transportation (8.0%). Of the industries that reduced their workforce, the warehousing and storage industry reduced their workforce the most (5.2%) from 2022 to 2023 and by the largest amount on record (with records beginning in 1990). Despite the decline, the warehousing and storage industry still employed the largest number of workers out of the eleven transportation industries.
- Almost one-quarter (24.3%) of all transportation workers in 2023 were over the age of 55— slightly more than the percent employed in all industries (23.2%). Transit employed the largest share of workers over the age of 55 at slightly more than a third (37.9%) of all transit workers.
Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries | Employment in Transportation by Industry | Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries by Type of Occupation | Aging of the Transportation Workforce
Total Annual Employment in Transportation and Related Industries
Transportation industries refers to industries in the for-hire transportation and warehousing sector, such as air, rail, water, and truck transportation.
Transportation-related industries refers to related industries outside the sector, such as motor vehicle parts manufacturing and Federal and State Departments of Transportation.
Transportation employment tends to rise in periods of economic expansion and decline during economic slowdowns when the demand for goods and services and hence transportation services falls.
Data do not include the self-employed nor independent contractors.
Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries | Employment in Transportation by Industry | Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries by Type of Occupation | Aging of Transportation Workforce
Annual Employment in Transportation and Warehousing by Industry
Industries within the transportation and warehousing sector show different patterns of employment because they face different economic environments and require different mixes of job skills and occupations. Warehousing and storage, the largest subsector, employs the most workers. Some of these workers directly operate motor vehicles while others work in supportive roles.
Data do not include the self-employed nor independent contractors.
Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries | Employment in Transportation by Industry | Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries by Type of Occupation | Aging of the Transportation Workforce
Total Annual Employment in Transportation and Related Industries by Type of Occupation
In addition to the transportation and warehousing
sector, many industries produce transportation goods (e.g., automobiles) and/or
services (e.g., travel arrangements). These industries are transportation-related industries. The transportation and warehousing sector and transportation-related industries employ persons in transportation (e.g., truck drivers) and non-transportation occupations (e.g., office clerks).
The industries employing the largest number of workers are not necessarily the industries employing the most transportation workers. For example, the trucking industry employs the largest number of transportation workers but the proportion of transportation workers to non-transportation workers is largest for the urban transit system industry. Data do not include the self-employed nor independent contractors.
For transportation employment in non-transportation industries, see employment in transportation related occupations by industry.
Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries | Employment in Transportation by Industry | Total Employment in Transportation and Related Industries by Type of Occupation | Aging of the Transportation Workforce
Aging of Workers in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector
Many of those working in the transportation and warehousing sector are near retirement, potentially
leaving the sector with a large number of vacancies.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
