Traffic moves along I-85 Northbound outside of Atlanta, Georgia, inNovember. About 48.5 million travelers will drive 50 ormore miles away from home this Thanksgiving, nearly 5% more than ayear ago. (Photo: Chris Rank/Bloomberg News)

Higher wages and more disposable income trump more expensive gasprices to motivate the most Americans to travel for Thanksgivingsince 2005.

Related: 8 tips for safer travel during theholidays

About 54.3 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles awayfrom home this Thanksgiving, an increase of 4.8% compared with lastyear, according to data from AAA, the largest U.S. motoringgroup.

About 48.5 million travelers will drive, nearly 5% more than ayear ago.

Air travel will also see a 5.4% increase.

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“Motorists have become accustomed to this year's more expensivegas prices and won't let higher fuel costs deter them from takingThanksgiving road trips,” said AAA gas price expert JeanetteCasselano.

Regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.735 a gallon Wednesday,6.9% higher than this time last year, according to AAA.

“Consumers have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season:higher wages, more disposable income and rising levels of householdwealth,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA Travel senior vice president.“This is translating into more travelers kicking off the holidayseason with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year forthe travel industry.”

All those drivers on the roads will likely lead to more traffic.Global mobility analytics company INRIX predicts travel times inthe most congested U.S. cities may be as much as four times longerthan normal.

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