It will be different for everyone. All types of plates from the same state count as the same.
For me:
1. Massachusetts
2. New Hampshire
3. New York
4. Maine
5. Connecticut
6. New Jersey
7. Rhode Island
8. Florida
9. Pennsylvania
10. Texas
11. Quebec
12. Vermont
13. California
14. Ontario
15. Ohio
Your list does not have to be exactly 15.
In this part of the world:
1. (by far) Spain. We dropped provincial codes back in 2000.
2. Everything else.
1. New Jersey
2. Pennsylvania
3. New York
4. Connecticut
5. Massachusetts
6. Maryland
7. Delaware
8. Virginia
9. Florida
10. Texas (I've seen more Texans than mostly every other non-listed state up here)
One thing that has surprised me about living in California is how very very few out-of-state plates I see. And the infrequent times I do see other states' plates, I don't see any noticeable bias in the results, other than that I see more populous states' plates (Texas, New York, Florida) slightly more often. There might be a slightly higher chance of seeing Oregon or Nevada plates, particularly on the Interstates which connect to those states, but I'm nearly as likely to see a Pennsylvania plate.
Perhaps this phenomenon is more pronounced in the Bay Area because you don't have as many families with luggage strapped to the roof of their Caravan headed to a taping of The Price Is Right.
So the list is:
1. California
2. 49-way tie
There are 3 Marine Corps bases (MCAS Cherry Point, MCB Camp Lejune, MCAS New River) and 2 Coast Guard stations (Hobucken and Fort Macon) within 30-35 miles of my house so I see pretty much every state plate there is to see (yes even Hawaii and Alaska) on a very regular basis. I guess if I had to really think about the second most common after NC I would have to say Virginia plates, after that it's pretty much even.
I'd hazard-
1. Montana
2. Washington (especially on I-90)
3. Alberta
4. Wyoming
5. Idaho
6. California
7. Colorado
8. Utah
9. North Dakota
10. Oregon
11. South Dakota
12. Tennessee (in the summers, stupid Blount County rental cars)
13. Saskatchewan
14. Minnesota
15. Arizona
Kentucky, then Ohio, then Indiana.
I'm pretty sure I saw a Guatemala plate in my area once. I know that one time I saw a Mexico D.F. plate at the McDonald's right in my neighborhood, which is interesting since it wasn't right on an Interstate. I was in line right behind the driver as he ordered a meal inside the restaurant, so I got to meet a real live foreign tourist right in my hometown. This seemed unusual, because why would the neighborhood get any tourists from another state, let alone another country?
Around here, it's pretty much the states within driving distance of where I live in north Louisiana:
1. Louisiana
2. Texas
3. Arkansas
4. Mississippi
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. Tennessee
8. Florida
9. Georgia
10. Missouri
Kentucky, obviously. Then Ohio, followed by West Virginia and Indiana in roughly equal numbers, then Virginia, then Florida.
Keep in mind that I don't travel much beyond driving between work and home these days.
I have seen plates from New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania recently in places where I wouldn't have expected them.
When I lived in south Florida, naturally most plates were from the state itself, along with New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Now living in middle Georgia, its all Georgia, all peaches, all the time. I do see a car around town (Milledgeville) with Alaska plates, often. A very long way from home.
1. VA
2. DC
3. MD
4. United States Government
5. NY
6. NJ
7. NC
8. TX
9. Diplomatic
10. DE
1. Washington
2. Oregon
3. British Columbia
4. Idaho
5. California
6. Alaska
7. Colorado
8. Arizona
9. Nevada
10. Montana
1. Md.
2. Va.
3. D.C.
4. Penna.
5. W.Va.
6. N.C.
7. Del.
8. N.J.
10. N.Y.
11. Texas (favored by many military people)
12. Florida (military)
13. N.H. (military)
14. U.S. Government
15. Diplomatic
You see all kinds of plates in Hampton Roads, given the huge military presence.
1. VA
2. FL
3. MD
4. NC
5. PA
6. NJ
7. SC
8. AK
9. TX
10. GA
Nexus 6
1. Manitoba
2. Ontario
3. Saskatchewan
The next three are pretty close.
4. Alberta
4. North Dakota
4. Minnesota
5. British Columbia
That's about it. No one really drives here, not much to see really :sombrero:
by location past to present:
Northern WI:
1) Wisconsin
2 (distant): Michigan
SW WI:
1: Wisconsin
2(Tie): Iowa and Illinois
3: Minnesota
4: the rest
Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita and Sylmar):
Troutman already mentioned it but I'll modify it:
1) California
2) everyone else - including me :P
I've seen a Mexico state plate in SW Wisconsin once - but obviously have sighted more of them in CA.
I've seen quite a few Canadian province plates around WI - mostly Ontario.
When I was living in Lumberton:
1. The Carolinas
2. Virginia
3. Georgia
4. Tennessee
5. Alabama
6. Louisiana
7. Mississippi
8. West Virginia
9. Pennsylvania
10. Ohio
In Chambersburg:
1. Pennsylvania
2. Maryland
3. Ohio
4. West Virginia
5. New Jersey
6. New York
7. Rest of the Northeast
8. The Carolinas
In the Omaha area:
1. Nebraska
2. Iowa
3. Missouri
4. Kansas
5. South Dakota
After that, the presence of Offutt AFB tends to bring everything up. I even see Hawaii and Guam once in a while. Just within the apartment lot where I live, there's 3 Texas and 3 Florida.
Home is on the South Shore, work is in the south suburbs of Boston.
1. Massachusetts
2. Rhode Island
3. New Hampshire
4. Connecticut
5. New York
6. New Jersey
7. Pennsylvania
8. Florida
9. Tennessee (rental cars?)
10. Maine
A rough, unscientific, out-of-my-ass list...
- Québec
- Ontario
- New York
- Vermont
- New Brunswick
- Massachusetts
- Nova Scotia
- Alberta
- Florida
- New Jersey
- Maryland
Other occasional sightings include, especially during the summer (in no particular order): Prince Edward's Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Ohio, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Wisconsin, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania.
1. Connecticut
2. New York
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey
5. Pennsylvania
6. Rhode Island
My daughter and I had a bet about which was the 2nd most common plate last year, and counted them for a weekend. In the Seattle area cities, California was the 2nd most common, but in Mt. Rainier National Park, Oregon was the 2nd most common. Overall it came out closer than either of us expected, but California just barely won out.
On the road i've been seening more flat NJ tags than the old pre 2014 embossed ones for some reason.
back home it is normally: 1993-2014 embossed, then Flat, then 1978-1992 Blue, and rarely the 1959-1977 era yellow.
1) Washington
2) Texas (I live near a military base)
3) Oregon
4) California
5) British Columbia
6) Idaho
7) Virginia (military)
1. Fucking Illinois Bastard
2. Hoosier
3. Cheesehead
4. Michigan (Troll or Yooper)
5. Idiot Out Wandering Around
6. Missouri
7. Fuckeye
8. Minnesota
And that about sums it up for the most common Chicagoland plates.
If you have any trouble deciphering the names, please comment below. :-P
Off the top of my head, by state:
1. PA
2. NJ
3. DE
4. MD
5. VA
6. NY
7. CT
8. MA
9. DC
10. OH
When I lived in western Maryland:
1) MD
2) WV
3) PA
4) VA
5) DC
In Oklahoma:
1) OK
2) TX
3) KS
4) MO
5) IL
Quote from: Brandon on June 29, 2015, 12:52:21 PM
1. Fucking Illinois Bastard
2. Hoosier
3. Cheesehead
4. Michigan (Troll or Yooper)
5. Idiot Out Wandering Around
6. Missouri
7. Fuckeye
8. Minnesota
And that about sums it up for the most common Chicagoland plates.
If you have any trouble deciphering the names, please comment below. :-P
I'm not sure I understand what this "Missouri" is. Is that a misspelling of Misery?
I probably should add, I used to see quite a few Michigan and Ontario plates when I traveled a lot on I-75. And I still see quite a few Michigan plates around my neck of the woods, since so many from this area moved north to find jobs years ago and they still come home occasionally.
In my area, it depends on which direction you are going. E-W you get the states that 64 or its feeders serve. WV, KY, VA, OH, IL, IN MO, KS in about that order. N-S you get 77 and 79's WV, NY, ON, NC, PA, OH, SC. On local roads, WV, OH, FL (snowbirds), NC (Appalachian diaspora). Lots of oil and gas trucks with OR, which I assume is some kind of tax dodge.
One thing I always found interesting is that as soon as one splits from I-15 onto US 93 north of Las Vegas is that outside of towns, 75% of cars have Idaho plates, this being some 350 miles or so from Idaho. There's very little population on 93 in Nevada, and it's the fastest route for most of Idahos population to get to Vegas and Phoenix.
1. VA
2. NC
3. FL (military)
4. MD
5. TX (military)
6. NY
7. NJ
8. GA
9. SC
10. DC
I'll try my best for the Boise, ID area.
1. Idaho
2. Oregon
3. Utah
(The next 4 I'm not as sure about the order)
4. Montana
5. California
6. Washington
7. Nevada
8. Everything else
In Seaside, OR:
1. Washington (bear with me)
2. Oregon (yes in reality this is #1 overall, but on weekends sometimes I swear I see more WA plates parked downtown than OR ones; I've counted before)
3. California
4. British Columbia
5. Idaho
6. Everything else
Quote from: SSOWorld on June 28, 2015, 11:51:28 PM
SW WI:
1: Wisconsin
2(Tie): Iowa and Illinois
3: Minnesota
4: the rest
Probably due to being more in the central part of WI/closer to the Interstates, but I would tweak that list slightly:
1. Wisconsin
2. Illinois
3. Minnesota
4. Iowa
5. the rest
Western Wisconsin:
1. WI
2. MN
3. tie IL & IA
4. SD/ ND
5. Everything else incl. Canada
I'm surprised HB that you wouldn't see a lot of Tennessee plates where you live. When I lived in Knoxville, I would say that it was 65% TN plates and 35% KY plates. Of course on I-75, I saw plates from every state that I-75 went through, with Knoxville being roughly the midway point of I-75. In Knoxville, I would say the list went like this:
1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. South Carolina
6. Virginia
Being back in SW lower Michigan (Kalamazoo), I would say that it goes like this
1. Michigan
2. Illinois
3. Indiana
4. Ohio
5. Wisconsin
After that, honorable mention goes to the two or three plates in my apartment complex that are from California and Texas.
With semis it is fairly common to see Indiana tags with the company logo at the bottom, i think indiana is the cheapest state or something.
1 CA
2 AZ
3 NV
4 OR
5 WA
6 UT
7 Various plates from Mexico mainly Baja Calif
8 TX
9 NJ. I seem to see a lot of those for some reason for being so far away. Also NY. That and FL
I live fairly close to Camp Pendleton/Oceanside/San Diego so see out of state because of that
Quote from: SteveG1988 on June 30, 2015, 04:25:34 PM
With semis it is fairly common to see Indiana tags with the company logo at the bottom, i think indiana is the cheapest state or something.
I see a lot of ME and TN tags.
Quote from: Molandfreak on June 29, 2015, 09:31:26 PM
8. Florida for whatever reason.
then the rest.
It's probably all the snowbirds coming home for the summer; they probably make Florida their state of residence for tax purposes, but otherwise consider Minnesota their "home".
Quote from: ce929wax on June 30, 2015, 01:45:37 PM
I'm surprised HB that you wouldn't see a lot of Tennessee plates where you live.
Nope. Since I'm well off I-75 and don't travel it very much, we don't get a lot of Tennessee traffic here.
In New York City, naturally most plates are New York. New Jersey and Connecticut are numbers 2 and 3, respectively.
After that it gets interesting. You see a lot of Pennsylvania plates parked in random places around the city but most of them are people cheating on their registration to take advantage of much lower PA insurance rates. Indeed, someone who lives on my block has PA plates. Same car, always there..
Meanwhile you then see a lot of Florida plates, but only in the summer. Naturally, people who have a summer home and a winter home register their cars down there for cheaper insurance, and probably claim Florida as their primary residence because lower taxes.
Quote from: SSOWorld on June 28, 2015, 11:51:28 PM
Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita and Sylmar):
Troutman already mentioned it but I'll modify it:
1) California
2) everyone else - including me :P
The main cities in CA are far from state borders, so you will rarely see out of state plates in the city. No out of state commuters.
Quote from: mrsman on July 06, 2015, 09:43:52 AM
Quote from: SSOWorld on June 28, 2015, 11:51:28 PM
Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita and Sylmar):
Troutman already mentioned it but I'll modify it:
1) California
2) everyone else - including me :P
The main cities in CA are far from state borders, so you will rarely see out of state plates in the city. No out of state commuters.
Precisely - most of those out-of-state plates fall into any one of the following categories:
* Rental cars - most common
* Short term business travel (Oregon, Nevada or Arizona most likely)
* lesiure travel (pretty much any state in CA, MX, US)
* long term business travel or colocation (pretty much any state - includes military) - this fits the case for me
* new permanent residence who's plate hasn't come up for renewal (CA law requires acquisition of plates from them) - least common
You're more likely to see Baja California plates (particularly in San Diego area) than you are any US plate outside California.
On some stretches of highway, the local state is not even #1 on the list.
This is particularly true when driving on the I-95/I-295 corridor in DE, especially on a holiday weekend. Between the DE line and the 95/295 split on the way to the bridge, I tend to see more MD plates than DE. NJ would be 3rd. PA would be 4th. And then a handful of NY, VA, and even DC plates.
I work near 12th Street in DC. During morning rush hour, the street is bumper to bumper with VA plates, with occasional MD plates. DC plates are a distant third. The busiest bridge from Virginia is along I-395 and 12th Street is a popular exit to reach Downtown, because there is a tunnel from I-395 to Constitution Ave, so it skips a handful of lights.
Here in the NW Florida panhandle
1-Florida
2-Abalama :-D
3-Mississippi
4-Louisana
5-Texas & Georgia are tied
Even tho there is a huge AFB here I dont see many out of state plates, Alaska seems to be predominant.
Living near Dover AFB, Delaware I saw plates from every state as well as European plates.
Snowbird season (Nov-Feb)
The 1st two in my list remain the same
3-Ontario
4-Michigan
5-Wisconsin
6-Ohio
7- Minnesota & Quebec tied
In Central Florida:
1-Florida
2-Georgia
3-New Jersey
4-New York
5-Ontario
6-Quebec
7-Tennessee
8-Maryland
9-Massachusetts
10-North Carolina
Just did a trip over the weekend to & from Denver on I-70 in Western Colorado: The top 3
- Colorado
- Utah
- California
I think in the 4 hours we were taking counts on the different states, those seemed to be the dominant ones. Saw a smattering of Ohio, New York, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas & Texas with onesy-twoseys of about 23 other states. Never saw any Canadian nor Mexican plates. Definitely a lot of cross-country tourists out there in the Rockies this time of year.
From what I've seen around KC:
1: Missouri
2: Kansas
3: Nebraska
4: Illinois
5: Minnesota
6: Arkansas
7: Pennsylvania (I'm not kidding)
8: Colorado
9: Oklahoma
10: Texas
Here's my ranking for Maine. I just moved here so I may be off.
1. Massachusetts
2. New Hampshire
3. New York
4. Florida
5. New Brunswick
Florida probably drops off when the snowbirds go to Florida for the winter. Quebec jumps up when Florida drops off.
This is all full of attribution bias; i.e., this is what I remember noticing the most. There is no certainty to any but #2. New Jersey, for example, stands out to me in part because I'm from there. I'd include Missouri at 10 because somehow I remember them when I see them, but it could just as easily be Alabama.
1. Massachusetts
2. New Hampshire, no contest
3. New Jersey (largest exporter of college students, in the most college-dominated town)
4. Connecticut
5. Rhode Island
6. New York
7. Vermont
8. Maine
9. Québec
Living in Austin (far from state borders and full of California transplants) I see:
1.) California
2.) Oklahoma
3.) Louisiana
4.) Arizona
5.) Kansas
6.) Tamaulipas
7.) Illinois
7.) Nueva Leon
6.) New York
7.) New Jersey
8.) Zacatecas
8.) Massachusetts
9.) Washington
5.) The Occasional Minnesota and Colorado
Strange is I rarely see Arkansas and New Mexico seeing how they border Texas, although New Mexico borders Texas about 600 miles and a time zone away from Austin. I guess most people in New Mexico and Arkansas don't travel much.
In Florida its New York, New Jersey, and Michigan all stand out in front of the rest of them.
Its mostly because most people moving down here are from those two states especially New York with Sean Hannity and his pal Dick Scott (our beloved Governor who I cannot figure out how he got in here being he had no previous political offices) are promoting people to move down here because the jobs are plentiful. However the job market is debatable, but I am sure people had enough with paying high taxes and hearing what they wish to hear along with the thought of palm trees and year round warmth is causing those to leave Long Island and come buy all the houses down here.
Anyway, for Canada its Ontario. Also some Minnesota and Illinois car plates you will see as well.
I've been attempting to come up with my list for the Capital Region of NY. I suppose this'll do:
1) VT
2) NJ
3) Quebec
4) MA
5) CT
6) Ontario
7) FL
8) PA
9) GA
10) VA/OH (surprisingly sporadic)
I've seen more than one AK plate down here over the years I've lived here and even a single HI plate.
I'm sure others would rank these differently, but I can't imagine the ingredients being different.
Spent a day in Kauai, Hawaii's northwestern-most island. From most prevalent to least prevalent:
1) Hawaii Private Vehicle Plate
2) Hawaii STATE Plate (police, etc)
Those are the only plates I saw.
For me in western Monroe County, Michigan:
1. Michigan
2. Ohio
3. Ontario (distant 3rd)
California is the most (my state), then my list of 12 most common out-of-town license plates (not accurately ranked in order) from states and provinces (Canada). I had seen an occasional Baja Cal. (Mexico), Alaska and Hawaii.
2. Arizona
3. Washington
4. Oregon
5. Utah
6. New York
7. Illinois
8. British Columbia
9. Colorado
10. Alberta
11. Nevada
12. Texas
13. Manitoba