Where are there the most vehicles per driver?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states have the most registered vehicles per licensed driver? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Texas or California — car country!
Answer
The real order is…
Wide-open Montana wins with about 2.68 vehicles per driver — more than two and a half vehicles each, once you count the family car and the work trucks! Big-city states sit near the bottom.
📚 Background The car-crazy champion isn't a big-city state — it's wide-open Montana, with about 2.7 registered vehicles for every licensed driver! In empty country with no subway and long distances, families keep a car AND a work pickup AND maybe an old farm truck. Big-city states sit near the bottom — many city people don't own a car at all. (FHWA Highway Statistics 2023) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🚙『Why wide-open states are full of vehicles』→ I bet… Texas or California — car country!
Compare
Private vehicles per licensed driver (by state, 2023)
Highest: Montana (2.68 vehicles per driver); lowest shown here: Delaware (0.49 vehicles per driver).
Note: private cars and trucks registered per licensed driver (FHWA publishes the drivers-per-vehicle ratio; this shows 1 ÷ that number). Government vehicles aren't counted.
Geography is destiny!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Montana is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 50)
| Rank | State | Value |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Montana | 2.68 vehicles per driver |
| #2 | Wyoming | 2.01 vehicles per driver |
| #3 | South Dakota | 1.94 vehicles per driver |
| #4 | North Dakota | 1.79 vehicles per driver |
| #5 | Iowa | 1.59 vehicles per driver |
| #6 | Kentucky | 1.48 vehicles per driver |
| #7 | Idaho | 1.47 vehicles per driver |
| #8 | Arkansas | 1.42 vehicles per driver |
| #9 | Minnesota | 1.39 vehicles per driver |
| #10 | Tennessee | 1.33 vehicles per driver |
| #10 | Alabama | 1.33 vehicles per driver |
| #10 | Nebraska | 1.33 vehicles per driver |
| #13 | Oregon | 1.32 vehicles per driver |
| #13 | Ohio | 1.32 vehicles per driver |
| #15 | Utah | 1.31 vehicles per driver |
| #15 | Virginia | 1.31 vehicles per driver |
| #15 | West Virginia | 1.31 vehicles per driver |
| #15 | Hawaii | 1.31 vehicles per driver |
| #15 | Oklahoma | 1.31 vehicles per driver |
| #20 | Louisiana | 1.29 vehicles per driver |
| #20 | Wisconsin | 1.29 vehicles per driver |
| #20 | Vermont | 1.29 vehicles per driver |
| #23 | Missouri | 1.28 vehicles per driver |
| #24 | New Hampshire | 1.27 vehicles per driver |
| #24 | Alaska | 1.27 vehicles per driver |
| #24 | Michigan | 1.27 vehicles per driver |
| #27 | Maine | 1.26 vehicles per driver |
| #28 | Kansas | 1.21 vehicles per driver |
| #28 | Texas | 1.21 vehicles per driver |
| #28 | Washington | 1.21 vehicles per driver |
| #31 | New Mexico | 1.19 vehicles per driver |
| #31 | South Carolina | 1.19 vehicles per driver |
| #31 | Indiana | 1.19 vehicles per driver |
| #34 | Pennsylvania | 1.18 vehicles per driver |
| #35 | Georgia | 1.17 vehicles per driver |
| #35 | Illinois | 1.17 vehicles per driver |
| #35 | Nevada | 1.17 vehicles per driver |
| #38 | Colorado | 1.15 vehicles per driver |
| #39 | Florida | 1.13 vehicles per driver |
| #40 | Maryland | 1.12 vehicles per driver |
| #41 | California | 1.1 vehicles per driver |
| #42 | Arizona | 1.08 vehicles per driver |
| #42 | Connecticut | 1.08 vehicles per driver |
| #44 | Mississippi | 1.07 vehicles per driver |
| #45 | North Carolina | 1.06 vehicles per driver |
| #45 | Massachusetts | 1.06 vehicles per driver |
| #45 | Rhode Island | 1.06 vehicles per driver |
| #48 | New Jersey | 0.86 vehicles per driver |
| #49 | New York | 0.76 vehicles per driver |
| #50 | Delaware | 0.49 vehicles per driver |
Source: U.S. Federal Highway Administration (2023)
Sources
Data as of: 2023
FHWA Highway Statistics 2023: Table DL-1C, ratio of licensed drivers to private motor vehicles (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-24) — FHWA publishes the drivers-per-vehicle ratio; this page shows its inverse (vehicles per driver). The committed raw file holds FHWA's ratio for every state exactly as published. Private vehicles only — government-owned vehicles are not counted.
↳ On fhwa.dot.gov Highway Statistics 2023, open Table DL-1C and read the column 'RATIO — LICENSED DRIVERS / PRIVATE MOTOR VEHICLES REGISTERED'; this page shows 1 ÷ that number.