Ranking of the most common license plates in your area

[PHLBOS]

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

[algorerhythms]

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

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. 

I'm not sure I understand what this "Missouri" is. Is that a misspelling of Misery?

[hbelkins]

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.

[SP Cook]

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.

[corco]

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.

[Takumi]

1. VA
2. NC
3. FL (military)
4. MD
5. TX (military)
6. NY
7. NJ
8. GA
9. SC
10. DC

[doorknob60]

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

[DaBigE]

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

[on_wisconsin]

Western Wisconsin:
1. WI
2. MN
3. tie IL & IA

4. SD/ ND


5. Everything else incl. Canada

[ce929wax]

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.

[SteveG1988]

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.

[kendancy66]

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

[Doctor Whom]

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.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

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".

[hbelkins]

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.

[Duke87]

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.

[mrsman]

Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita and Sylmar):
Troutman already mentioned it but I'll modify it:
1) California
2) everyone else - including me

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.

[SSOWorld]

Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita and Sylmar):
Troutman already mentioned it but I'll modify it:
1) California
2) everyone else - including me

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.

[mrsman]

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.

[allniter89]

Here in the NW Florida panhandle
1-Florida
2-Abalama
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

[DeaconG]

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

[thenetwork]

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.

[Darkchylde]

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

[The Nature Boy]

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.

[Pete from Boston]

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