RURAL: People in rural areas may have a lengthy trip to work each day, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to the number of miles driven.

According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, from 1998 to 2017, the average number of daily vehicle miles traveled in McKean County per vehicle was 17.5. In Potter County, it was 17.4, in Cameron County, 19.2 and in Elk County, 17.6. Surprisingly, the statewide average was 19 miles per day.

In Clearfield County, for instance, that average was 27.4 miles. In Clarion County, it was 33 miles. Montour County was 39.4 miles.

The center says the daily vehicle miles traveled was measured with the total travel by all vehicles divided by the total number of registered vehicles in each county.

It seems to us that the numbers might be a bit off, with many people living locally and working in New York state. But then again, many local households have more than one registered vehicle, not all of which are driven daily.

We can remember putting away the “nice” car and using the “winter beater” for the snowy months.

The same study gives year by year average for rural versus urban areas in Pennsylvania. It seems the highest number of average miles traveled came for both rural and urban residents in 1999. That year, rural residents traveled 26 miles, while urban residents traveled 20.8 miles.

We can imagine that rural commutes are a bit more picturesque than urban ones, at least in our eyes.

The Center says that in 2015, nearly 3.4 million people lived in the 48 rural counties of Pennsylvania. From 2010 to 2015, rural Pennsylvania’s population declined about one percent, while urban Pennsylvania’s population increased by 1.5 percent.

On average, rural Pennsylvanians are older than urban residents. In 2015, 18 percent of the rural population was 65 years old or older, compared to 16 percent of the urban population.