Plus data on extreme heat, households and more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Flying or driving: Which is safer?

The Transportation Security Administration said 3,013,413 people passed through security checkpoints nationwide on July 7, a new record. Millions of Americans are also taking to the highways this summer. While both modes of travel have their perks, which is safer? Here’s the data on flying versus driving.

Passenger injury rates per miles traveled

Approximately 2.3 million people were injured in passenger cars and trucks on highways annually from 2002 to 2020. There were 32 serious air travel injuries a year during that time. This amounts to an average annual injury rate of 48 injuries per 100 million passenger miles in cars and trucks and 0.01 injuries per 100 million passenger miles.
Of the 2.3 million injuries on highways in 2020, 54% occurred in passenger cars, 34% in light trucks, 4% on motorcycles, and 2% in large trucks.
The average annual air travel death rate was 0.01 per 100 million miles traveled from 2002 to 2020. Meanwhile, the death rate for passenger cars and trucks decreased from 0.7 per 100 million passenger miles in 2002 to 0.5 in 2020.
In 2020, 30,250 people died while on highways in passenger vehicles. Forty-five percent were in cars, 34% in light trucks, and 18% on motorcycles.

Find more comparisons in this article.

How many people die from extreme heat?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines heat waves as two or more days when the weather is uncomfortably hot and beyond a location’s historical averages. Extreme heat has lasted for days or even weeks in some parts of the country this year, leading to the deaths of at least 27 people last week. Heat has long been responsible for more deaths than other type of natural disaster, and the number of people killed annually is growing.

In 2004, 297 Americans died from excessive natural heat. In 2018, 1,008 did. By 2022, heat-related deaths had increased 70% from four years earlier to 1,714.

Chart showing deaths from extreme weather

Heat is the nation’s top cause of weather-related deaths. In fact, from 1993 to 2022, it caused more deaths annually — 168 — than tornadoes (71) and hurricanes (48) combined.
Older adults and very young people are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and deaths. But anyone can be afflicted: from 2018 to 2020, more than one in five heat-related deaths was among people ages 15 to 44.  
Men are also more vulnerable to heat-related deaths, with fatalities rising from 641 in 1999 to 1,232 in 2022. There was no statistically significant increase for women during the same period.

Watch a video on extreme temperatures in this article. Then, see which cities are having more prolonged and more intense heat waves.

Data behind the news

The FBI is investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally last Saturday as potential domestic terrorism. Here are the facts behind domestic terrorism.

Last week, NATO members gathered in Washington, DC, for the alliance’s annual meeting. NATO just celebrated its 75th anniversary. Here’s what it costs to be a member.

The IRS recently announced that it has collected $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth taxpayers. This USAFacts article explains that the Inflation Reduction Act allocated more than $45 billion to the IRS to, among other things, collect taxes owed on underreported returns.

US inflation cooled in June for a third straight month. Here’s a primer on how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures inflation. You can also explore price changes with this inflation calculator.

School may be out, but that won’t stop the weekly fact quiz. Take it here!

One last fact

Chart showing percent of US adults living alone

The percentage of married-parent households fell from 31% of US households in 1980 to 18% in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of households comprised of adults living alone grew. Learn more in America in Facts 2024.

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