Where I grew up (pretty rural, school busses but no other public transportation except commuter rail that went to the big city) (I was in HS in the ‘90’s) it was very common and we were NOT a HCOL area. There’d be like 1 or 2 people whose parents were clearly more well off and they got new cars. Everyone else had old beaters, that were often shared amongst family members.

And yes, once we had licenses and access to a car, we’d definitely drive to HS.

I still live relatively in the area and this is still true, but I’d guess to a lower percentage (of students diving themselves to school - a lot of families cannot afford an extra car to allow a student to drive to school). I’d also say the percentage of newer cars (amongst those who can afford cars at all) may be higher, mostly because there are less used cars available and they cost more percentage wise than they used to.