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Table 4-2: Licensed Drivers: 2008

Table 4-2: Licensed Drivers: 2008

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State Number of licensed drivers Licensed drivers per registered vehicle Resident population Driving age population (16 and over) Drivers per 1,000 total resident population Drivers per 1,000 driving age population1
Alabama 3,753,550 0.80 4,661,900 3,671,200 805 1,022
Alaska 503,162 0.74 686,293 528,405 733 952
Arizona 4,315,579 1.00 6,500,180 4,975,709 664 867
Arkansas 2,055,189 1.02 2,855,390 2,233,398 720 920
California 23,697,667 0.72 36,756,666 28,492,781 645 832
Colorado 3,605,682 2.29 4,939,456 3,865,113 730 933
Connecticut 2,883,324 0.94 3,501,252 2,788,471 824 1,034
Delaware 651,877 0.76 873,092 690,990 747 943
District of Columbia 373,735 1.76 591,833 492,806 631 758
Florida 14,033,844 0.87 18,328,340 14,796,088 766 948
Georgia 6,257,484 0.74 9,685,744 7,417,769 646 844
Hawaii 884,767 0.95 1,288,198 1,035,429 687 854
Idaho 1,038,314 0.80 1,523,816 1,156,761 681 898
Illinois 8,260,940 0.85 12,901,563 10,088,978 640 819
Indiana 5,550,469 0.97 6,376,792 4,974,895 870 1,116
Iowa 1,989,663 0.59 3,002,555 2,374,594 663 838
Kansas 2,021,905 0.84 2,802,134 2,180,905 722 927
Kentucky 2,932,659 0.82 4,269,245 3,378,568 687 868
Louisiana 2,998,162 0.77 4,410,796 3,432,616 680 873
Maine 1,006,057 0.96 1,316,456 1,077,777 764 933
Maryland 3,786,650 0.85 5,633,597 4,455,297 672 850
Massachusetts 4,674,058 0.89 6,497,967 5,245,355 719 891
Michigan 7,118,378 0.91 10,003,422 7,913,100 712 900
Minnesota 3,190,183 0.67 5,220,393 4,113,132 611 776
Mississippi 1,935,764 0.97 2,938,618 2,259,986 659 857
Missouri 4,196,682 0.87 5,911,605 4,659,430 710 901
Montana 738,982 0.82 967,440 774,664 764 954
Nebraska 1,346,406 0.79 1,783,432 1,387,409 755 970
Nevada 1,678,550 1.21 2,600,167 2,004,027 646 838
New Hampshire 1,031,158 0.86 1,315,809 1,060,287 784 973
New Jersey 5,782,155 0.95 8,682,661 6,877,132 666 841
New Mexico 1,365,249 0.89 1,984,356 1,539,499 688 887
New York 11,284,545 1.04 19,490,297 15,624,059 579 722
North Carolina 6,457,000 1.05 9,222,414 7,228,860 700 893
North Dakota 473,019 0.67 641,481 515,794 737 917
Ohio 7,962,266 0.74 11,485,910 9,085,157 693 876
Oklahoma 2,301,848 0.72 3,642,361 2,839,156 632 811
Oregon 2,856,085 0.94 3,790,060 3,025,474 754 944
Pennsylvania 8,646,273 0.84 12,448,279 10,033,800 695 862
Rhode Island 748,351 0.95 1,050,788 850,951 712 879
South Carolina 3,185,408 0.90 4,479,800 3,539,603 711 900
South Dakota 597,326 0.67 804,194 629,010 743 950
Tennessee 4,450,644 0.89 6,214,888 4,907,628 716 907
Texas 15,374,063 0.87 24,326,974 18,315,472 632 839
Utah 1,687,306 0.70 2,736,424 1,972,123 617 856
Vermont 541,990 0.95 621,270 509,882 872 1,063
Virginia 5,301,182 0.82 7,769,089 6,155,777 682 861
Washington 4,953,872 0.84 6,549,224 5,191,341 756 954
West Virginia 1,360,926 1.00 1,814,468 1,475,218 750 923
Wisconsin 4,075,764 0.83 5,627,967 4,472,917 724 911
Wyoming 404,489 0.63 532,668 419,262 759 965
United States, total 208,320,601 0.85 304,059,724 238,734,055 685 873

1 Some states report more licensed drivers than residents of driving age. This may occur for several reasons: 1) the records of expired licenses, drivers who have moved out of state, and people who have died are only periodically purged from a state's drivers license database; 2) some drivers fraudulently obtain a license in more than one state; and 3) some drivers obtain a license in a state other than that in which they are a legal resident.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2008 (Washington, DC: 2010), table DL-1C, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/ as of Apr. 13, 2010.