2023 Car ownership statistics

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Published on February 10, 2023 | 6 min read

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Parent and child looking at a white car on the showroom floor of a dealership.

The most recent U.S. Census survey found that 92 percent of American households owned at least one vehicle. What this means for most Americans is that the cost of car insurance is still a necessary expense since it is required in nearly every state. Bankrate conducted a deep dive into the latest available data to give more background on the state of car ownership in 2023.

Car ownership data and statistics

The number of households with no access to a vehicle decreased by 0.5 percent from 2020 to 2021. (U.S. Census)
There are 275,913,237 personal and commercial vehicles registered to drivers in the United States, according to the most recent data available. (Federal Highway Administration – FHWA)
California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania have the most vehicle registrations, due to their size and population. (FHWA)
Rhode Island, Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont and Washington D.C. have the least amount of vehicle registrations. (FHWA)
In the most recent census survey, only 8 percent of American households did not own a car. (U.S. Census)
The majority of Americans own at least one car, with 37.1 percent owning two vehicles and 21.9 percent owning three or more vehicles. (U.S. Census)
The average American drove 13,476 miles per year in 2022. (FHWA)
Male drivers tended to drive more than female drivers, with an average of 16,550 miles per year driven by male drivers and 10,142 miles per year driven by female drivers. (FHWA)
Young drivers aged 16 to 19 and senior drivers over 65 drove a similar annual mileage of around 7,600 miles. (FHWA)
Compared to June 2021, travel by car on roads and streets decreased by 1.7 percent, down 4.8 billion vehicle miles in June 2022. (FHWA)
The greatest decrease in miles traveled was in the western states, which was down 3.0 percent or 62.5 billion miles in June 2022 compared to June 2021. (FHWA)

How many cars are in the US?

Based on the most recent data, there are a total of 275,913,237 vehicles registered in the U.S., including 105,135,300 automobiles. More trucks are owned in the U.S. than any other vehicle type, with cars coming second before motorcycles and buses.

U.S. Private and Commercial Ownership By Vehicle Type (FHWA)

Automobile	Buses	Trucks	Motorcycles	ALL
103,796,315	568,959	159,147,338	8,298,394	271,811,005

While there are less than 4.1 million publicly owned vehicles, there are more than 272.4 million privately owned vehicles. Together, public and private vehicles comprise the nearly 276 million vehicles owned in the U.S.

U.S. Vehicle Ownership by Type (FHWA)

Private and commercial	Publicly owned vehicles	Total motor vehicles
271,811,005	4,102,232	275,913,237

Car ownership statistics by city

Vehicle ownership varies significantly based on where you live in the U.S. The information below is gathered from the U.S. Census Data American Community Survey from 2021. Car ownership is higher in areas outside of U.S. metropolitan areas, likely due to urban sprawl and the necessity of a car for daily life.

10 U.S. Metro Areas with the Highest Percentage of Vehicle Ownership

Rank	City	Percentage of households that own vehicles
1	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL	97.6%
2	Provo-Orem, UT	97.5%
3	Greeley, CO	96.7%
4	Twin Falls, ID	96.7%
5	St. George, UT	96.5%
6	Boise City, ID	96.4%
7	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	96.4%
8	Ogden-Clearfield, UT	96.4%
9	Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH	96.4%
10	Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, SC	96.3%

Some of America’s biggest metropolitan areas have the lowest vehicle ownership in the U.S., which is most likely primarily due to ready access to public transportation and the high cost of parking your car in these cities. New York, Newark and Jersey City metro areas have the lowest percentage of households with a vehicle, with Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston metro areas coming in second, third and fourth places.

10 U.S. Metro Areas with the Lowest Percentage of Vehicle Ownership

Rank	City	Percentage of households that own vehicles
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	56.5%
2	Philadelphia, PA	76%
3	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metro Division; San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area	80.1%
4	Boston, MA Metro Division; Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area	82.5%
5	Chicago-Naperville-Evanston, IL Metro Division; Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area	86.1%
6	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ Metro Area	87%
7	Ithaca, NY Metro Area	87.4%
8	Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metro Division; Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area	87.8%
9	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area	88.1%
10	Binghamton, NY Metro Area	88.4%

Car ownership statistics by state

The rate of car ownership varies significantly between states. The Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Highway Policy Information offers the latest highway statistics based on the most recent data from 2020.

Several of the biggest and most populated states in the U.S. also have the most vehicle registrations, such as California, Texas and Florida. Accordingly, some of the smallest states in the country also have the lowest rate of vehicle ownership, like Alaska, Wyoming and Vermont.

State	Private and Commercial	Public	All Private and Commercial Motor Vehicles*	Total for All Private and Publicly Owned Vehicles*
Alabama	1,993,089	42,287	2,035,376	5,320,340
Alaska	167,313	3,831	171,144	792,826
Arizona	2,391,632	18,386	2,410,018	6,053,781
Arkansas	860,646	11,791	872,437	2,913,369
California	13,957,692	243,708	14,201,400	30,398,249
Colorado	1,623,494	15,534	1,639,028	5,350,708
Connecticut	1,210,262	909	1,211,171	2,867,554
Delaware	414,460	1,455	415,915	1,006,135
Dist. of Col.	191,873	18,424	210,297	356,537
Florida	7,736,727	104,826	7,841,553	18,464,506
Georgia	3,444,115	51,306	3,495,421	8,829,596
Hawaii	468,176	6,803	474,979	1,244,935
Idaho	586,008	2,354	588,362	1,917,677
Illinois	4,126,473	35,182	4,161,655	10,587,725
Indiana	2,121,269	2,479	2,123,748	6,199,901
Iowa	1,153,267	10,484	1,163,751	3,787,224
Kansas	885,177	3,906	889,083	2,603,543
Kentucky	1,613,475	31,022	1,644,497	4,459,685
Louisiana	1,288,404	27,287	1,315,691	3,861,204
Maine	352,449	3,630	356,079	1,121,106
Maryland	1,795,964	27,589	1,823,553	4,211,377
Massachusetts (2)	1,999,889	3,484	2,003,373	5,036,686
Michigan	2,671,737	19,967	2,691,70 4	8,453,239
Minnesota	1,827,137	14,553	1,841,690	5,690,749
Mississippi	786,202	2,223	788,425	2,058,975
Missouri	1,975,005	16,371	1,991,376	5,587,022
Montana	458,637	444	459,081	1,952,553
Nebraska	610,897	14,010	624,907	1,935,357
Nevada	1,020,129	7,374	1,027,503	2,549,357
New Hampshire	458,256	2,569	460,825	1,357,535
New Jersey	2,518,878	22,247	2,541,125	6,006,247
New Mexico	617,536	6,419	623,955	1,783,151
New York	4,214,023	18,725	4,232,748	11,324,755
North Carolina	3,352,960	45,510	3,398,470	8,739,280
North Dakota	211,955	3,699	215,654	899,083
Ohio	4,208,938	38,905	4,247,843	10,592,317
Oklahoma	1,218,261	5,587	1,223,848	3,730,247
Oregon	1,416,471	24,377	1,440,848	4,095,442
Pennsylvania	3,999,144	44,571	4,043,715	10,690,187
Rhode Island	374,939	6,828	381,767	866,625
South Carolina	1,692,051	75,297	1,767,348	4,561,299
South Dakota	319,820	5,181	325,001	1,294,282
Tennessee	2,069,406	46,226	2,115,632	5,855,373
Texas	8,000,313	87,745	8,088,058	22,419,490
Utah	891,867	10,856	902,723	2,479,604
Vermont	189,922	3,485	193,407	607,890
Virginia	3,014,609	42,645	3,057,254	7,606,452
Washington	2,735,895	64,475	2,800,370	7,257,401
West Virginia	497,785	10,878	508,663	1,657,362
Wisconsin	1,873,334	28,163	1,901,497	5,616,271
Wyoming	188,354	2,978	191,332	861,028
Total	103,796,315	1,338,985	105,135,300	275,913,237

*Data includes automobiles, buses, trucks, and motorcycles. As of 06/2022.

Cost of car ownership

Regardless of car value, the cost of car ownership includes a myriad of expenses, and with rising inflation, owning a vehicle has become a lot more expensive compared to previous years.

Amid high inflation and supply chain bottlenecks, costs of parts and labor are continuing to rise. Insurance companies factor in these costs, so policyholders may see rising car insurance premiums. The average cost of full coverage car insurance per year is $2,014 — up from $1,771 in 2022, and the average person spends 2.93 percent of their income on this necessary expense.

Expense	Car insurance	Car maintenance	Commuting	Annual total
Average cost per year	$2,014 for full coverage	$9,666	$8,466	$20,146

Learn more: Comparing car insurance rates

What percentage of Americans own a car?

Overall, vehicle ownership is on the rise in an analysis of the five-year period between 2017 and 2021. The number of households with two vehicles has decreased over time. Meanwhile, there has been a steady increase in vehicles of three or more per household. There is a strong indication that because American households are growing in size, the number of vehicles is also increasing to accommodate them. The data also indicates a rise in steady income, allowing Americans to afford both the car payment on three or more vehicles in addition to the costs of maintenance and car insurance.

However, for those Americans without a car, it can present several challenges. Those who do not live close to city transit lines can face serious challenges in getting to school, work and appointments. Those families with children can be challenged with even greater demands, given children’s busy schedules.

U.S. Residential Vehicle Accessibility

	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
No vehicles available	8.0%	8.5%	8.6%	8.7%	8.8%
1 vehicle available	32.9%	32.5%	32.7%	33.0%	33.2%
2 vehicles available	37.1%	37.1%	37.2%	37.3%	37.4%
3+ vehicles available	21.9%	22.0%	21.4%	21.0%	20.6%

Car ownership statistics by year

On an annual basis, the number of total registered vehicles in the U.S. is steadily increasing year-over-year. There was consistent growth over six years ranging from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, the number of total registered vehicles declined to 2019, but was still higher than 2018.

Car Ownership Year-over-Year, 2014-2019 (FHWA)

Year	Total U.S. registered vehicles
2020	275,913,237
2019	276,491,174
2018	273,595,656
2017	272,429,803
2016	268,799,083
2015	263,610,219
2014	260,350,938

Car ownership outside of the US

Looking to the rest of the world, global car sales reached 66.1 million in 2022, which was a bit lower than the 66.7 million vehicles sold in 2021.

There is only one country that surpasses the U.S. in car sales: China. In 2021, the total car sales for passenger vehicles exceeded 26 million units, which represented 31.4 percent of global sales. Additionally, while international automobile companies used to enjoy strong dominance in the Chinese market, Chinese vehicle manufacturers grew their market share to 44.4 percent domestically in 2021.

The country with the lowest percentage of car owners is the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has only one car per 250 people.

Looking forward, the market for electric vehicles is expected to grow in the coming years. By 2025, EVs may account for 7.4 percent for car sales internationally. By 2025, internal combustion vehicles may decline to about 20 percent of sales, with EVs accounting for 80 percent of vehicle sales.