U.S. passenger car license plate

Rick Kretschmer's License Plate Archives 

U.S. passenger car license plate

Gallery of Current U.S. License Plates

Standard issue and no-cost optional passenger car plates in current use

 

Now up to 51 of 56 states and other jurisdictions shown on this page. 

Latest noteworthy updates to this page
  • January 3, 2010  –  Added an image of a flat Minnesota plate and a Connecticut fade plate bearing an expiration sticker. 
  • November 27, 2009  –  Added a photo of the new Texas plate. 
  • November 9, 2009  –  Moved red-numbered North Carolina plate image to the recent column, and posted a pic of a Z-series blue-numbered plate in the current column, as they've now reverted back to isssuing blue-numbered plates. 
  • October 11, 2009  –  Added images of current Montana and Idaho plates. 
  • October 4, 2009  –  Added images of a current serial format Massachusetts plate, and a rather beat-up, old-school Massachusetts "greenie".  Replaced image of the previous design Texas "Space Cowboy" plate with serial format xxx-000.  Split Florida Sunshine State and county name plates to two separate rows. 
  • September 8, 2009  –  Moved current Texas plate image to the recent column, as Texas has introduced a new standard base plate. 
  • August 28, 2009  –  Added image of a previous-base Missouri plate with screened sticker boxes in the lower corners but with stickers placed in the center space separator as instructed by the state.  Replaced photos of a current-version Illinois plate and a previous-base Missouri plate without screened sticker boxes.  Removed images of South Carolina Smiling Faces base plates, as these are now no longer valid for use. 

Introduction

The images shown on this page are U.S. passenger car plate designs that are in current use.  Both standard plates and optional designs available for no additional cost are shown.  Optional designs that cost extra are far too numerous for the scope of this project, and therefore are not shown. 

The left column shows the plate design and serial format currently being issued; included in the right column are older designs no longer being issued but still on the road, and additional serial formats that either are concurrently being issued or were previously issued.  Only older designs and formats issued within about the last 15 or 20 years, and still in use, are shown.  Even so, not all such older designs and formats are shown, either due to space considerations, or because I do not have any photo available. 

Passenger car plates are used not just for sedans, but also station wagons, mini-vans, and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), in all states except Delaware and Maryland.  For those two states, I've included images of both sedan and non-sedan private passenger vehicle plates.  In some states, passenger car plates are also used for other types of vehicles, such as pickup trucks, motor homes, and buses; however, I'm not otherwise addressing these vehicle types on this page. 

If you have, or can take, a digital photo of a plate not shown below, send it to me in an e-mail attachment.  I'll add it to this page, and will credit you for submitting it. 

Gallery of current U.S. passenger car plates

Plates shown on this page are from a variety of sources, including my collection, my trade box, plates in actual use, and submissions by others.  All photographs were taken by me, unless otherwise credited. 

New England
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Maine Maine
New Hampshire New Hampshire
Vermont Vermont
Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts
Rhode Island Rhode Island Rhode Island
Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut
(Clinchy photo, above)
Northeast
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
New York New York
New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Delaware
(sedans)
Delaware Delaware
Delaware
(station wagons,
mini-vans, SUVs)
Delaware Delaware
Maryland
(sedans,
station wagons)
Maryland Maryland Maryland
Maryland
(mini-vans, SUVs)
Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland
District of Columbia
(standard)
District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia
District of Columbia
(no-cost option)
District of Columbia
Mid-South
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Virginia Virginia Virginia Virginia Virginia
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia
Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
Tennessee Tennessee
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina
Southeast
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
South Carolina
(standard)
South Carolina
South Carolina
(no-cost option)
South Carolina South Carolina
Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia
Florida
(standard #1)
Florida Florida Florida
Florida
(standard #2)
Florida Florida
Florida
(no-cost option)
Florida
Alabama
(standard)
Alabama
(Mandola photo, above)
Alabama Alabama
Alabama
(no-cost option)
Alabama Alabama Alabama
Mississippi Mississippi
Great Lakes
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Ohio Ohio Ohio Ohio
Michigan Michigan
Indiana
(standard)
Indiana Indiana
Indiana
(no-cost option #1)
Indiana
Indiana
(no-cost option #2)
Indiana
Illinois Illinois Illinois
Wisconsin Wisconsin
North Central
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Iowa Iowa
(Jackson photo, above)
Minnesota Minnesota
(Clinchy photo, above)
Minnesota
North Dakota North Dakota
(Jackson photo, above)
South Dakota South Dakota
Nebraska Nebraska
South Central
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Missouri Missouri Missouri Missouri Missouri
Kansas Kansas Kansas
Oklahoma Oklahoma
(Martin photo, above)
Oklahoma Oklahoma
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas
Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana
Texas Texas
(Clinchy photo, above)
Texas Texas Texas
Southwest
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
New Mexico
(standard #1)
New Mexico
(Jackson photo, above)
New Mexico
(standard #2)
New Mexico
Colorado Colorado
Utah
(standard #1)
Utah
(Jackson photo, above)
Utah
Utah
(standard #2)
Utah
(Jackson photo, above)
Utah Utah
Arizona Arizona
(Jackson photo, above)
Arizona Arizona
Nevada Nevada Nevada
California California California California California
Northwest
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Wyoming Wyoming
Montana Montana
(Clinchy photo, above)
Idaho Idaho
(Clinchy photo, above)
Idaho
Oregon Oregon Oregon
Washington Washington
Alaska Alaska Alaska Alaska Alaska
Islands
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
Hawaii Hawaii
American Samoa American Samoa
Guam Guam
Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands

Related links

Page credits

Thanks to those who have directly contributed to the information on this page:  Chirstopher Jackson, Ed Martin, David Mandola, Ross Clinchy. 

Jackson, Martin, Mandola, and Clinchy photographs are presumed to be copyrighted, and were submitted by and used with permission of Chirstopher Jackson, Ed Martin, David Mandola, and Ross Clinchy, respectively. 


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