• Highlights

• The 2022 Population Census shows that 88.4% of the working population in Brazil work in the same municipality where they live. Among this group, 71.4% work outside the home and 16.9% work from home.
• The most common mode of transportation for commuting to work is the car (32.3%), followed by the bus (21.4%), walking (17.8%), and the motorcycle (16.4%). These four modes of transportation together account for 87.9% of commuting in Brazil.
• The percentage of persons who use high-capacity transportation such as the train or subway is low (1.6%), while the percentage of those who take vans, station wagons, and similar vehicles is close to 1.4%.
• BRT or bus rapid transit accounts for only 0.3% of commutes in Brazil, a similar proportion to pickup trucks or adapted trucks (0.4%). The majority of the white population (42.9%) primarily uses cars to get to work. Buses (17.6%), walking (15.7%), and motorcycles (13.6%) are also significant.
• Regarding work commuting among the black population, bus use leads (29.5%). Car use, the second most common mode of transportation (21.0%), is similar to walking to work, totaling 1.6 million bvlack persons (19.8%).
• 59.0% of persons who take cars to get to work are white, a significantly higher proportion than the percentage of brown persons who use this mode of transportation (32.9%), the second most common group. The higher the level of schooling of employed individuals, the more frequent use of cars, trains, subways, and taxis (or similar means of transportation), while walking and cycling decrease among those with higher levels of schooling.
• 92.7% of persons living in private households who take classes in an educational institution do so within their own municipality, while 7.2% commute to another municipality, and 0.1% study abroad.
• The Asian (yellow color or race) population is the most likely to commute to educational institutions outside their municipality of residence, the only group in which less than 90% of persons study in their own municipality (88.5%).
• The North Region has a significantly lower proportion of commuting to study in another Brazilian municipality (4.0%) than the national average (7.2%).
• The highest commuting rates in Brazil for studying abroad are recorded in the border regions (South, Central-West, and North).

The 2022 Population Census shows that the majority of the working population in Brazil (88.4% or 76.6 million persons) works in their own municipality of residence, and the majority (71.4% or 61.9 million) of this group works outside their homes, while 16.9% (14.7 million) of the employed population works from home. Cars (32.3%) is the most common mode of transportation for commuting to work. Among students, higher education programs account for the majority of students who live in a municipality other than their current educational institution. The data were published today (9) by the IBGE, along with the results on work and income.

The survey's dissemination event will also take place today at 10 am at Casa Brasil IBGE, inside the Palácio da Fazenda, in downtown Rio de Janeiro (RJ). It will be broadcast live on the IBGE portal and on the Institute's social media channels.

The "2022 Census: Commuting to Work and to School – Preliminary Sample Results" presents the characteristics of the Brazilian population's commute to work and school, complementing the previous volumes on the 2022 Population Census sample questionnaire and providing an initial overview of the mobility characteristics of persons aged 10 and over who need to commute to work or to school.

"Information on the population's commutes to work and school are fundamental for urban planning at different territorial levels, providing reliable indicators related to functional integration between locations. Therefore, these statistics can contribute to improving society's quality of life," emphasizes Mauro Sergio Pinheiro, survey analyst.

The 2022 Census, for the first time, investigated the mode of transportation used by the Brazilian population to commute to work. The survey reveals a predominance of cars (32.3%), buses (21.4%), and motorcycles (16.4%), in addition to walking (17.8%), as modes of transportation, accounting for 87.9% of commutes in the country. In absolute terms, 48.9 million persons use these motorized modes of transportation: 22.6 million by car; 14.9 million by bus; and 11.4 million by motorcycle. "This scenario reflects the country's history of prioritizing highways for the integration of cities and regions, as well as the mismatch between urban growth and public transportation availability," states Mr. Pinheiro.

The high number of trips on foot, made by 12.4 million persons (17.8%), and by bicycle, made by 4.4 million persons (6.2%), is noteworthy, revealing a significant commuting pattern among the Brazilian population. Another relevant aspect was the low percentage of persons who travel in high-capacity means of transportation, such as trains or subways, with only 1.6% of the trips (1.1 million persons), a proportion close to vans, station wagons and the like, used by 945 thousand persons (1.4%).

Women commute relatively less than men to work

Among those who work from home, 7.4 million are men (15.1%) and 7.3 million are women (19.3%). Those who work outside the home, but in their municipality of residence, account for 35.2 million men (72.0%) and 26.7 million women (70.7%).

A contingent of 9.3 million persons (10.7%) work outside the municipality where they live, the majority of whom are men (11.6% of them are in this situation), totaling 5.7 million. While 9.5% of employed women (3.6 million) work in a municipality other than their hometown. According to Mauro Pinheiro, "although there is not a large difference in proportional terms, considering the commute data in the municipality of residence, we observe an inequality in the sex distribution of commuting to work, with women tending to work closer to or at home."

A significant portion of the population that commutes to work returns home from work three or more days a week, demonstrating a significant commuting flow between Brazilian municipalities. "Intermunicipal mobility varies according to the urban network and territorial organization, being more intense in areas with urban concentrations and in municipalities near large centers. Furthermore, approximately 1% of the working population reported working in more than one municipality or country, and about 0.04% in a foreign country, which indicates the interaction between Brazilian and foreign cities in the commute to work, especially in bordering areas." explains Raphael Rocha, a survey analyst.

Regarding commuting to work in another country, 32,000 persons make this movement, especially in municipalities located in bordering areas. Of those who commute to work, 783,000 have their main place of work in more than one municipality or country, with this number proportionally higher for men (1.3%) than for women (0.4%).

Commuting patterns illustrate inequalities and regional differences in the country

There are regional differences in commuting patterns. Motorized individual transportation predominates, especially in the Central-West (58.8%) and South (57.1%) Regions. The primary use of cars for work reaches almost half of workers in the South (45.9%) and just over a fifth in the North (21.8%) and Northeast (21.0%). Conversely, motorcycles are the primary mode of transportation in the North (28.5%) and Northeast (26.0%), with higher percentages than the overall figure for Brazil (16.4%).

Regarding public transportation, buses have the highest absolute and relative values ​​in the Southeast, where 8.3 million workers spend the longest time using this mode of transportation, representing more than a quarter of workers (26.6%) in this Major Region, while the lowest proportional values ​​for bus use are in the North (16.0%) and South (16.4%) of the country. Although train or subway use is more prevalent in the Southeast, accounting for 1.0 million (89.8%) of the 1.1 million workers using these modes of transportation, their primary use for work within the region is only 3.3%, reflecting the low prevalence seen nationwide. Therefore, the low prevalence of high-capacity transportation in the most concentrated region of the country, as well as in the rest of Brazil, is evident.

Rio de Janeiro is the state that uses public transportation the most as its primary means of commuting: buses (35.8%), BRTs or bus rapid transit (1.8%), and trains or subways (4.8%). The Federal District and São Paulo also stand out in terms of public transportation. Conversely, the states that proportionally use buses as their primary means of commuting are Rondônia (4.2%), Roraima (5.9%), and Acre (7.1%), while train or subway use is either little or absent in commuting in several states.

When it comes to commuting to work by non-motorized individual transportation (walking or cycling), the Northeast (30.4%) has the highest proportion, with almost a third of workers commuting for the longest time by these means, while the Central-West (18.9%) has the lowest proportional share for this category. The North (10.0%) shows the highest proportion of primary bicycle use, and almost a quarter of the Northeast (23.5%) spends most of their time walking to work.

Also, regarding primary transportation to work by waterways, whether by small, medium, or large boats, the highest relative and absolute values are in the North Region, totaling 124,000 workers, making it the only region where this percentage exceeds 2% of the commutes.

The states with the highest relative share of persons commuting on foot are Bahia (28.1%), Alagoas (25.5%) and Pernambuco (25.4%), while proportionally, commuting by bicycle is higher in Amapá (17.4%), Acre (13.3%), and Mato Grosso do Sul (12.6%).

Commuting to other municipalities increases with income, within the range of three to five minimum wages per capita household income

An analysis of the relationship between population commuting and per capita nominal monthly household income reveals that the proportion of persons who commute to another municipality for work increases as income rises, within the range of three to five minimum wages per capita. Among those who commute to another municipality, those with a per capita nominal monthly household income  of three to five minimum wages (13.2%) are almost three times as much as the number of those with income up to a quarter of the minimum wage (4.6%).

Regarding individuals who work from home, those classified as having no income stand out (48.8%). The group with the highest incomes, above five minimum wages, predominates over those in the middle of the income bracket. That is, the higher the income, generally associated with a higher level of schooling, the greater the proportion of work performed at home, such as those who telework full-time.

Two out of three commutes to work are carried out within half an hour in Brazil

The analysis of commute time between home and work shows that the majority (56.8%) of persons who commute to work take between six minutes and half an hour, totaling 40 million persons, while 1.3 million persons take more than two hours to get to work. Furthermore, in the results by race or color, the black (13.9%) and brown population (11.0%) have a higher relative share in the more than one-hour to two-hour range than the white population (8.9%). In the six-minute to half-hour range, the white population (58.5%) has a higher proportion than the black population (51.0%), with a difference of 7.5 percentage points.

Of the twenty municipalities with a population over 100,000 and the highest percentage of workers whose commute time exceeds two hours, 11 are in Rio de Janeiro, seven in São Paulo, and two in Pará. Commute times in the 15 Brazilian metropolises varied, with Florianópolis (SC), Goiânia (GO), and Porto Alegre (RS) showing the highest proportions of persons who take up to half an hour to get to work, while Rio de Janeiro (RJ), São Paulo (SP), and Manaus (AM) have the highest proportions in the ranges above half an hour. In Rio de Janeiro (RJ), 5.6% of commutes last more than two hours.

Proportionally, Asian persons commute more to other municipalities

Regarding the commute of persons who work outside their homes and return home three or more days a week, considering race or color, it appears that Asian persons commute more frequently to other municipalities (12.8%), a percentage close to that of white persons (12.5%). 89.0% of the brown population work in their municipality of residence, while 87.8% of the black population commutes to work in their own municipality.

The 2022 Census data also highlights differences in the most common means of transportation, depending on race or color. The white population primarily uses cars, totaling 13.3 million persons (42.9%), the highest absolute number among all modes of transportation, followed by buses, which account for 5.5 million persons (17.6%). Walking (4.9 million white persons or 15.7%), and riding a motorcycle (13.6% of trips, covering 4.2 million persons) are also significant.

When looking at commuting among the black population, there is a greater use of buses (29.5%), chosen by 2.4 million persons in this group. The rate of car use, the second most significant mode of transportation, by 1.7 million persons (21.0%), is similar to that of black persons who walk to work, totaling 1.6 million persons (19.8%).

Meanwhile, the Asian population, comprising 167,000 persons, uses cars the most (56.1%). This is the only group in which a single mode of transportation accounts for more than half of the population. Next comes walking, by 42,000 persons (13.9%), and buses, by 37,000 persons (12.4%); those figures that are significantly lower compared to car travels.

Among the browns, there is a close relationship between the numbers of those who use cars and buses. While the former is used by 24.4% of the population, (7.4 million persons), the second is used by 23.1% (7.0 million). The difference between commuting by motorcycle (19.6% or 5.9 million persons) and walking (19.3% or 5.8 million persons) is equally small.

59.0% of persons who drive to work are white

Looking at the profile of users of each mode of transportation, we see that 59.0% of persons who use this mode of transportation are white (13.3 million persons), a proportion that significantly exceeds the percentage of brown persons (32.6%) who use this mode of transportation, with 7.4 million persons, the second group in this kind of use. The situation is similar in taxis or the like category, as the white population represents 52.7% of those who commute to work by this mode of transportation.

São Paulo and Goiás have the highest proportion of employed persons working outside their municipality of residence

Regionally, the states of São Paulo (13.7%), Goiás (13.7%), Rio Grande do Norte (15.5%), Sergipe (16.0%), and Pernambuco (15.2%) have the highest percentages of employed persons commuting to work in another municipality. These figures are a result of the strong integration processes that exist between municipalities, especially those that comprise urban centers. In São Paulo, for example, 2.8 million employed persons commute to work in another municipality, representing 30.5% of the total number of persons commuting to work in another municipality in Brazil.

In the state of Amazonas (98.1%), there is a higher proportion of persons who work in their municipality of residence, compared to Sergipe (82.7%), the state with the lowest proportion for this category. Regarding work performed at home, Rondônia (22.7%) has the highest proportion, while the Federal District is at the other end, with 14.9%.

Regarding commuting to work in another country, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and São Paulo are the states with the highest absolute numbers: 6,200, 5,200, and 4,400 persons, respectively. Also noteworthy are the results for workplaces in more than one municipality or country, most notably in São Paulo (183,500 persons), Minas Gerais (80,700), and Paraná (76,400).

The higher the level of schooling, the greater the use of cars, trains, subways, and taxis or the like

Schooling level is another characteristic that differentiates the use of transportation to get to work. As the population's education level increases, there is a proportional increase in the use of cars, trains, subways, and taxis or the like, while walking, cycling, and pickup trucks (or trucks) decline among those with higher levels of schooling.

Most workers with a college degree use cars (57.8%) to commute, and 68.1% use motorized vehicles (cars or motorcycles) as their primary means of transportation. Among those with no education or incomplete primary school, these percentages are 18.9% for cars and 37.1% for cars and motorcycles combined.

3.8 million persons study in a municipality other than their hometown

The 2022 Census also investigated commuting to school. Of the 53.6 million persons living in private households in Brazil who attend an educational institution, 49.7 million (92.7%) travel to locations within their own municipality of residence, while 3.8 million (7.2%) do so in another municipality, and 75,000 (0.1%) go to a foreign country.

Disaggregating the data by sex, 92.0% of women (25.0 million) and 93.4% of men (24.7 million) study in their municipality of residence. When assessing the commutes outside the municipality of residence, the result is as follows: 7.8% of women (2.1 million) and 6.5% of men (1.7 million) travel to another municipality, and 0.1% of women (40,000) and 0.1% of men (35,000) go to another country to study.

More than 10% of the Asian population study in another municipality

Persons of Asian color or race are the ones who most frequently travel to educational institutions outside their hometown, and are the only group in which less than 90% study within their own municipality (88.5%). "The higher percentage of Asian students' commuting may be associated with factors such as seeking more specialized institutions and socio-spatial conditions," states Mauro Pinheiro. The Indigenous group, on the other hand, has the highest percentage of individuals studying within their municipality of residence (95.9%). This group, however, has the second-highest percentage of students who travel to other countries (0.2%), behind only the Asian population (0.9%).

There is also a tendency for white persons to travel more to other municipalities or countries (8.7%) than the black (7.2%) and rbown (6.1%) populations.

Traveling to study abroad is more frequent in the country's border cities

Regionally, the proportion of travel to study in another municipality in the North (4.0%) is well below the national average (7.2%), a result that can be explained by the relationship between municipalities with significantly large areas and deficient transportation networks on various levels. The same region, however, has practically twicw as the proportion of travels to foreign countries (0.2%) compared to the national average.

Regional travel rates abroad above the national average are also observed in the South (0.2%) and Central-West (0.2%) Regions, which can be explained by the border dynamics that are prevalent in these regions. Travels to other countries, although not significant, reveal a dimension of the international networks to which Brazil is connected for study, especially in the border cities of the South.

The Southeast, with its nearly 40% of Brazil's total student population, has percentages very close to national figures (92.3% studying in their home municipality, 7.6% in another Brazilian municipality, and 0.1% in another country). The Northeast, on the other hand, has the lowest proportion of students commuting to foreign countries (less than 0.1%), which can be explained by its position as the region furthest from international land borders. Furthermore, it shows a slightly higher rate than the national one for commuting between Brazilian municipalities (7.4%), a rate close to that recorded in the Southeast.

Analyzing the behavior of students in municipalities within urban centers, it is clear that their commuting rates to other municipalities are lower than those observed in municipalities outside these urban centers. Although these urban formations are characterized by the greatest exchange of flows and persons within the national territory, it is in large urban agglomerations that there is a greater supply of infrastructure and educational institutions, above the national average, which provides students with more educational options within their own municipality.

Higher education commute rates are the highest

Proportionally, commute rates for study in another municipality increase as the schooling level grows. Students in early education programs tend to attend schools closer to their homes, which can be explained by the greater reach of this type of education, a result of the expansion of basic education provision in the country, especially considering the educational systems maintained by municipalities and states. Only 1.7% of those who attend daycare and 1.9% of those who attend preschool do so in a municipality other than their home, while the percentages for primary school (3.3%) and secondary school (6.8%) are slightly higher.

Commute rates for study are much higher, however, among students in graduate programs (27.8%) and higher education specialization programs, master's or doctorate programs (32.9%). This indicates a greater concentration of these educational modalities in certain locations, especially large cities, consequently leading to a greater need for commutes to access higher education programs.

About the Survey

The 2022 Census: Commuting to Work and to School – Preliminary Sample Results addresses the information collected in the Education section, regarding commuting to school, of the 2022 Populaiton Census Sample Questionnaire, which investigated the municipality or country in which individuals studied (from daycare to doctoral studies). It also reveals information collected in the commuting to work section of the Sample Questionnaire workbook, which surveyed workplace, frequency of returning home from work during the week, commute time, and the primary mode of transportation used for commuting.