Nearly 1 in 4 Americans Struggle to Pay for Daily Transportation. Young People & Latinos Feel the Most Strain.

More than one in five Americans struggled to pay for daily transportation in the past year, according to newly released polling, highlighting an affordability problem outside of housing, groceries, and medical bills.

The Pew Research Center poll found that 22% of U.S. adults experienced problems covering transportation expenses. The burden was substantially greater among younger adults, Black and Hispanic Americans, and households with lower incomes.

Among adults younger than 30, 36% reported experiencing such difficulties. That compared with 26% of those ages 30 to 49, 17% of adults ages 50 to 64, and 9% of those 65 and older. The youngest group was four times as likely as the oldest to report problems.

For Hispanic adults, the share reporting transportation hardship reached 31%, compared with 34% of Black adults and 17% of White adults. Among Asian adults, the figure was 13%, although Pew noted that its Asian estimates represent English speakers only.

Income produced an even wider divide. Some 42% of lower-income adults struggled with transportation expenses, compared with 16% of middle-income adults and 4% of upper-income adults.

Educational differences were pronounced as well. Nearly a third of adults with a high school education or less reported difficulty paying transportation costs, compared with 24% of those with some college experience and 10% of those holding at least a bachelor's degree.

Transportation was one of four basic needs examined in Pew's broader analysis. Overall, 44% of adults reported problems paying for transportation, medical care or housing, or obtaining food from a food bank or pantry in the past year.

That share reached 71% among lower-income adults, compared with 39% of middle-income adults and 13% of upper-income adults. Transportation hardship therefore sits within a wider pattern of difficulty covering necessities.

The analysis also found a connection between experiencing those hardships and borrowing money. Half of adults who reported at least one of the four experiences had borrowed from friends or relatives, compared with 8% of those who reported none.

Similarly, 31% of adults experiencing at least one hardship had taken out a payday or other short-term loan, compared with 4% of those without those experiences. These borrowing figures apply to the combined hardship group, rather than specifically to people struggling with transportation.

Pew's underlying survey responses provide additional context about Americans' financial room to maneuver. Some 27% said they typically could not pay certain bills in full or could make only partial payments. A majority, 53%, said they lacked emergency savings sufficient to cover three months of expenses in the event of sickness, job loss, or another emergency.

Meanwhile, 70% reported cutting spending on extras such as dining out, streaming services, or other entertainment during the preceding year. Only 45% said they had been able to save money for the future.