Who’s on the road the most — and the least? Fresh federal data show California far out in front for 2023 automobile registrations — the most recent available data — followed by Texas, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, while Alaska, Delaware, Vermont, the District of Columbia and Wyoming sit at the bottom of the list.
For collision repair operators, the distribution of the car parc helps explain where demand for estimates, ADAS calibrations and parts moves next. The figures come from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s latest Highway Statistics, which breaks out “automobiles” as private and commercial passenger cars (including taxicabs), with publicly owned vehicles reported separately.
In 2023, California reported 13,189,308 privately registered automobiles (13.43 million including publicly owned), the nation’s clear No. 1. Texas reported 7,403,264 privately registered automobiles (7.50 million including publicly owned), and Florida recorded 7,351,621 (7.45 million including publicly owned).
Rounding out the top five were Ohio at 3,877,173 privately registered automobiles (3.92 million including publicly owned) and Pennsylvania at 3,562,073 (3.60 million including publicly owned).
At the other end of the spectrum, Alaska reported 127,003 privately registered automobiles, Delaware 152,899, Vermont 162,619, the District of Columbia 164,446, and Wyoming 175,585.
Registrations are a proxy for where passenger vehicles are operated — and where collision work concentrates over time. California’s lead partly reflects population: the state had 39,431,263 residents as of July 1, 2024, keeping it the nation’s most populous state and supporting a correspondingly large car parc. Texas (31,290,831) and Florida (23,372,215) held the No. 2 and No. 3 population ranks, aligning with their high automobile registration counts.
New York provides a useful contrast. Despite being the fourth-most-populous state (19,867,248), it did not make the top five for automobile registrations, coming in with 2,814,662 privately registered automobiles (2.83 million including publicly owned). That gap reflects different travel behaviors concentrated in New York City, where dense transit options and walkability reduce private car ownership compared with sunbelt metros. New York City’s Department of City Planning estimates the city’s population at about 8.48 million as of July 2024, many of whom ride subways, commuter rail or simply walk.
Transit availability helps explain some of the differences. In Dallas–Fort Worth, for instance, the DART network spans buses and a 93-mile light-rail system across 13 member cities — useful service, but in a geographically sprawling region where many still drive daily. By contrast, the District of Columbia ranks among the most walkable U.S. cities by Walk Score metrics, helping keep automobile registrations comparatively low in that jurisdiction.
Rurality, weather and cost profiles matter, too. Alaska, the state with the fewest automobile registrations, combines low population density with severe winter conditions that increase ownership costs (winter tires, chains, maintenance) and can limit driving for parts of the year.
For collision repair planning, it’s important to note that MV-1 disaggregates the fleet by automobiles, trucks, buses and motorcycles, and also distinguishes publicly owned vehicles. The “automobiles” figures cited above refer to private and commercial passenger cars, with public totals listed separately; light-duty pickups and SUVs are captured under trucks in MV-1.
