Brian McKenzie, Sociologist, U.S. Census Bureau

Brian McKenzie is a sociologist with the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C. His work with the Census Bureau’s Journey to Work and Migration Statistics Branch focuses on the intersection of demography and transportation. He primarily works with data from the American Community Survey. He has written several special reports on national commuting trends. His most recent report, “Who Drives to Work: Commuting by Automobile in the United States,” explores national trends in commuting by automobile across demographic groups. He is also involved with the Census Bureau’s effort to develop a supplemental poverty measure, which considers commuting cost, among other household expenses.

Brian received his undergraduate degree in sociology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He developed an early interest in studying the “geography of opportunity,” or geographic differences in access to opportunities across populations and communities. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the State University of New York at Albany. His dissertation research explores the link between group-level residential patterns and access to public transportation, combining Albany’s rich tradition of work on residential segregation patterns with his interest in physical mobility and access to opportunity. Outside of the Census Bureau, he has taught college courses in sociology within the Washington area.