What people drive in every state, and why

Pickups, SUVs and vans

Share of registered vehicles that are light trucks (pickups, SUVs and vans) rather than cars. Highest in Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota; lowest in District of Columbia, California and Maryland.

FHWA counts SUVs, pickups and vans as trucks, along with heavy trucks. New York's 2024 counts look roughly doubled in the source table, so treat its share with care.

Electric cars

Battery-electric cars as a share of all light vehicles on the road. Highest in California, District of Columbia and Washington.

Hybrids

Hybrids (not plug-in) as a share of all light vehicles. Highest in District of Columbia, California and Massachusetts.

Electric cars per public charger

How many EVs share each public charging port. Fewer is easier if you can't charge at home. Most crowded in Hawaii, Nevada and New Jersey.

Cost of electricity

Average home electricity price, which sets what an EV costs to charge at home. Dearest in Hawaii, California and Massachusetts.

Snow

Average yearly snowfall. Snowiest in Vermont, Maine and Alaska.

Station averages lean toward mountain sites in western states, so they describe the state's weather, not exactly where people live.

Road-salt states: check for rust

States that salt their roads in winter, where underbody rust is a real risk on older cars. Cars from these states often get sold elsewhere, so check the history report for where a car has lived.

The patterns

Comparing the 50 states and DC with each other. These are links between states, not proof of cause, and individual buyers vary.

• Rural states drive trucks. The more of a state's people live in rural areas, the higher its share of pickups, SUVs and vans: a strong link (correlation +0.63).
• Hybrids are city cars. The more rural the state, the fewer hybrids: a strong link (-0.63). Stop-and-go driving is where hybrids save the most fuel.
• Snowy states lean to trucks and SUVs, with a clear link (+0.52), though snowy states also tend to be rural, so the two overlap.
• Pricey electricity doesn't put people off EVs. EVs are actually more common where power costs more (+0.44), but that's California, Hawaii and DC: without them the link almost vanishes (+0.22). Coastal, higher-income states lead on both.
• Cold weather barely matters for EVs once those three are set aside (-0.09 with days below freezing).
• Pickups top used-car sales in most states: a pickup was the best-selling used model in 33 of 50 states in 2025, per iSeeCars.

What this means when you buy

• Buying an older car that lived in a salt-belt state? Look underneath for rust on the frame, brake lines and rocker panels, or pay for an inspection.
• Buying in the South after a hurricane season? CARFAX estimated 347,000 cars were flood-damaged in the 2024 hurricanes, 138,000 of them by Helene. A vehicle history report shows flood titles.
• Thinking about an EV? Check how crowded public chargers are near you and what your electricity costs; both vary several-fold between states.
• Looking for a pickup or SUV? They're plentiful in rural and mountain states, which can mean more choice nearby.

Sources

• FHWA Highway Statistics 2024, Table MV-1 State Motor-Vehicle Registrations (Automobiles, Total = private+commercial+publicly owned)
• DOE AFDC Vehicle Registration Counts by State (light-duty), 2025
• DOE AFDC Alternative Fueling Station Counts by State, Electric public charging ports (L1+L2+DCFC)
• U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census State Urban and Rural Population (State_Urban_Rural_Pop_2020_2010.xlsx)
• NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual/seasonal by-station archive (ANN-SNOW-NORMAL)
• EIA Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10 Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State (Residential)
• Kia Voluntary Service Campaign SC122 Q&A (underbody anti-corrosion), filed with NHTSA, July 2015
• Correlations are our own calculation across the 50 states and DC.

Questions people ask