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Ashlee ValentineDeputy Editor, Insurance
Ashlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. When Ashlee isn't spreading insurance knowledge or solving television murder mysteries, she enjoys spending time with her family (including the furry and feathery ones) on their farm in Kentucky.
Ashlee Valentine
Ashlee ValentineDeputy Editor, Insurance
Ashlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. When Ashlee isn't spreading insurance knowledge or solving television murder mysteries, she enjoys spending time with her family (including the furry and feathery ones) on their farm in Kentucky.
Deputy Editor, Insurance
Kelly Anne SmithLead Editor, Growth Projects
Kelly Anne has over six years of experience with reporting and editing in the personal finance space. Her work has been featured in national publications including Reader's Digest, CNBC and Forbes. She has a background in business education and a master's degree in international communication studies.
Fact Checked
Kelly Anne Smith
Kelly Anne SmithLead Editor, Growth Projects
Kelly Anne has over six years of experience with reporting and editing in the personal finance space. Her work has been featured in national publications including Reader's Digest, CNBC and Forbes. She has a background in business education and a master's degree in international communication studies.
Lead Editor, Growth Projects
Fact Checked
Updated: Mar 28, 2024, 8:00am
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Americans place a high value on car ownership, a fact made evident by the latest car ownership statistics in the U.S. Between 2018 and 2022, personal and commercial vehicle registrations increased by 3.5%, indicating an upward trend in car ownership.[1]Most U.S. households (91.7%) had at least one vehicle in 2022 (the latest data available), and 22.1% of households had three or more vehicles.[2]
Forbes Advisor conducted a deep dive into the latest available data to uncover car ownership rates by state, car ownership costs by state (including car insurance costs), electric vehicle ownership rates and the most popular car models.
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Table of Contents
- National Car Ownership Statistics at a Glance
- How Many Cars Are There in the U.S.?
- How Many Americans Own a Car?
- Car Ownership Statistics by State
- Car Ownership Statistics by Metro Area
- Most Popular Cars in the U.S.
- How Much Does It Cost To Own a Car?
- Methodology
- Sources
National Car Ownership Statistics at a Glance
- A total of 278,870,463 personal and commercial vehicles were registered to drivers in the U.S. in 2022.[1]
- Trucks are the most popular vehicle type, with 170,239,357 private and commercial truck registrations in 2022, compared to 98,573,935 vehicle registrations for cars.[1]
- 91.7% of households had at least one vehicle in 2022. Only 8.3% of households did not have a vehicle.[2]
- Idaho and Wyoming tied for the highest rate of car ownership nationwide, with 96.2% of households in both states reporting access to at least one vehicle in 2022.[2]
- Only 64.3% of households in the District of Columbia had at least one vehicle in 2022, the lowest percentage nationwide.[2]
- Wyoming residents were most likely to own three or more vehicles (33.6%), followed by residents of Idaho and Utah (32.7%).[2]
- The Ford F-150 is the best-selling used car nationwide, based on sales in 2023.[4]
How Many Cars Are There in the U.S.?
Total number of vehicles
There were a total of 278,870,463 personal and commercial vehicles registered to drivers in the U.S. in 2022.[1]
The number of registered vehicles in the United States increased by 3.5% between 2018 and 2022, from 269,417,884 registered vehicles to 278,870,463 registered vehicles, indicating an upward trend in car ownership.[1]
States with the most vehicles
Montana tops the list of states with the highest number of motor vehicle registrations per 1,000 licensed drivers[1]in 2022 (2,618.25), followed by:
- Wyoming (2,057.22)
- South Dakota (1,959.62)
- North Dakota (1,949.16)
- Iowa (1,594.12)
States with the fewest vehicles
Delaware had the lowest number of motor vehicle registrations per 1,000 licensed drivers[1]in 2022 (541.45), followed by:
- District of Columbia (677.69)
- New York (762.36)
- New Jersey (917.55)
- Arizona (1,030.99)
Increases and decreases in car ownership
Arkansas had the largest increase in motor vehicle registrations (26.3%) between 2018 and 2022, followed by:
- Montana (22%)
- North Dakota (21.7%)
- Utah (20.6%)
- Tennessee (19.4%)[1]
Delaware had the largest decrease in motor vehicle registrations between 2018 and 2022, with vehicle registrations dropping by 54.2%, followed by:
- New York (-20.6%)
- Alaska (-15.1%)
- Oklahoma (-9.6%)
- Rhode Island (-7.3%)[1]
Trucks lead vehicle ownership
Trucks are the most popular vehicle type, with 170,239,357 private and commercial vehicle registrations in 2022, compared to 98,573,935 vehicle registrations for cars.[1]
How Many Americans Own a Car?
Car ownership in America is on the rise. Only 8.3% of households did not have a vehicle in 2022, a 4.6% decrease from 2018, when 8.7% of households did not have a vehicle.[2]
- Most households (91.7%) had at least one vehicle in 2022, up from 91.3% in 2018.[2]
- 37% of households had two vehicles in 2022, a 0.8% decrease from 2018 (37.3%).[2]
- 22.1% of households had three or more vehicles in 2022, a 5.2% increase from 2018 (21%).[2]
Car Ownership Statistics by State
States with the highest rate of car ownership
Idaho and Wyoming tied for the highest rate of car ownership nationwide[2], with 96.2% of households in each state reporting access to at least one vehicle in 2022, followed by:
- Utah (96.1%)
- Montana (95.4%)
States with the lowest rate of car ownership
Rounding out the states with the lowest percentage of households that have at least one vehicle[2] are:
- District of Columbia (64.3%)
- New York (71%)
- Massachusetts (88.1%)
- New Jersey (88.7%)
- Illinois (89.2%)
States with the most vehicles per household
Wyoming residents were most likely to own three or more vehicles[2] (33.6%), followed by:
- Idaho and Utah (32.7%)
- Montana (31.1%)
- South Dakota (30.2%)
Electric vehicle ownership by state
Sales of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles accounted for 16.7% of all new vehicles sold in 2023, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
- California has the highest rate of EV ownership, with EVs representing 2.5% of total registered vehicles in the state as of 2022.[3]
- Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming have the lowest rates of electric vehicle ownership, with EVs representing 0.1% of total vehicles registered in all five states as of 2022.[3]
Car Ownership Statistics by Metro Area
Top five metro areas for highest vehicle ownership
The Panama City, Florida, metropolitan area boasts the highest rate of vehicle ownership nationwide, with 98.1% of households owning at least one vehicle in 2022[2] followed by:
- St. George, Utah (97.8% of households)
- Logan, Utah (97.7% of households)
- Provo-Orem, Utah (97.6% of households)
- Gadsden, Alabama (97.5% of households)
Top five metro areas for lowest vehicle ownership
The New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area of New York and New Jersey reported the lowest rate of car ownership[2]in 2022, with only 69.5% of households having at least one vehicle, followed by:
- Ithaca, New York (81.8% of households)
- Trenton-Princeton, New Jersey (87% of households)
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin (87.4% of households)
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton region of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (87.5% of households)
Top five metro areas for most vehicles per household
The Idaho Falls, Idaho, metropolitan area was home to the highest percentage of households that have three or more vehicles[2]in 2022, with 38.8% of households, followed by:
- Logan, Utah (38.2% of households)
- Provo-Orem, Utah (36.7% of households)
- Bismarck, North Dakota (36.4% of households)
- Greeley, Colorado (36.3% of households)
Most Popular Cars in the U.S.
Most popular used cars
The Ford F-150 is the most popular used car nationwide, based on 2023 sales. More than three percent of all one-to-five-year-old used car sales were Ford F-150 pickups in 2023.[4] Other car models that rank among the most popular in 2023[4] included:
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (2.6% of sales)
- Chevrolet Equinox (2.1% of sales)
- Ram 1500 (2.1% of sales)
- Toyota Camry (1.8% of sales)
Most popular car colors
More than a quarter (26.2%) of cars on U.S. roads are white[4], making it the nation’s most popular color, followed by:
- Black (21.8%)
- Gray (19.2%)
- Silver (11.7%)
- Blue (9.7%)
Grayscale-colored cars (white, black, gray and silver) account for 78.9% of all vehicles on the road.[4]
How Much Does It Cost To Own a Car?
In 2023, it cost $12,182 a year, or $1,015 a month, to own and operate a new car, according to AAA.[5] That’s up 13.6% from 2022, when the average yearly cost was $10,728 a year, or $894 a month.[5] The AAA attributes this to the increased cost of new cars and consequently financing, among other factors.
Here are some additional car ownership statistics about new cars:
- In 2023, the average sales price for a new car was $47,331, and the average sales price for a used car was $29,586.[6]
- Over the past five years, new cars have cost $41,531 on average, and used cars have cost $26,042 on average.[6]
- Between 2019 and 2023, new vehicles increased in price by 30%, and used vehicles increased in price by 40.3%.[6]
Cost of car ownership by state
To determine which states are the most (and least) expensive for car ownership, Forbes Advisor analyzed gas prices, car repair costs, average car insurance costs and monthly auto loan payments in all 50 states.
Most expensive states to own a car
California and Nevada tied as the most expensive states to own a car nationwide, followed by:
- Colorado
- Florida
- Alaska
Seven of the 10 most expensive states for car ownership are located in the Pacific and West, including California, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, New Mexico, Washington and Wyoming.
Most expensive states for car repairs
Connecticut is the most expensive state for car repairs ($418.37) on average for check engine light-related car repairs followed by:
- Colorado ($417.14)
- California ($415.66)
- Georgia ($407.71)
- North Carolina ($402.61)
Most expensive states for full coverage car insurance
New York is the most expensive state for full coverage car insurance ($4,769 per year), followed by:
- Florida ($4,326 per year)
- Louisiana ($3,629 per year)
- Pennsylvania ($3,600 per year)
- Maryland ($3,349 per year)
Living in these states makes it extra important for car owners to compare car insurance quotes to find affordable rates.
Least expensive states to own a car
Ohio is the least expensive state to own a car, followed by:
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Maine
- New Hampshire
Six of the 10 least expensive states for car ownership are located in the Midwest, including Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio.
Iowa and Ohio car ownership costs are reduced by cheap car insurance rates, thanks to healthy competition among a multitude of car insurance companies in both states.
Methodology
To determine which states are the most expensive for car ownership, Forbes Advisor examined data for all 50 states across the following metrics:
- Cost of regular gasoline (25% of score): Data for this metric comes from AAA and was collected on Feb. 24, 2023.
- Average car repair cost (25% of score): This metric includes the cost of parts and labor for a check engine light-related car repair. Data comes from CarMD and is from 2021.
- Average annual cost of full coverage car insurance (25% of score): This metric is based on liability coverage of 100/300/100 ($100,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $300,000 per accident, and $100,000 in property damage liability), uninsured motorist coverage, and collision and comprehensive insurance with a $500 deductible. We used 2022 rates from Quadrant Information Services.
- Average monthly auto loan payment (25% of score): Data for this metric comes from Experian and is from 2022.
Sources
1. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration
2. U.S. Census Bureau 5-Year American Community Survey (2018-2022)
3. U.S. Department of Energy
4. iSeeCars
5. AAA
6. National Automobile Dealers Association
Visit our hub to view more statistics pages.
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