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

 

Plates from 53 of 56 states and other U.S. jurisdictions are shown on this page. 

Latest noteworthy updates to this page
  • March 30, 2024  –  Added a current format but previous dies Utah In God We Trust no-cost-option plate.  Moved current Illinois plate to the previous column, as they're now stamping their plates with new serial dies (the same as North Carolina, Alaska, and Utah). 
  • February 2, 2024  –  Added plain and In God We Trust versions of no-cost-option Team Kentucky plates.  Added revised design Oklahoma plate with the word Explore omitted.  Added additional numbering formats on Florida plates; removed brown-stem and older format Florida plates that should be off the road by now.  Moved current Mississippi plate to the previous column, as they're now issuing plates with a brand new design.  Moved current Maine plate to the previous column, as they're now issuing plates with a new numbering format. 
  • November 9, 2023  –  Added current design plates from New York, the District of Columbia, and Ohio.  Added a Colorado plate with the current numbering format.  Added a Montana plate with the current plate number font.  Added a current design Illinois plate with a plate number from the previous design.  Moved current U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico plates to the previous column, as they're both now issuing plates with a new design.  Moved current South Dakota to the previous column, as they're now issuing plates with a slightly revised graphic design and black plate numbers.  Moved current West Virginia, South Carolina, and Kansas plates to the previous column, as they're now each issuing plates with new numbering formats.  Removed the following plates that are no longer valid for use:  previous standard Alabama (mountain scene), previous standard Ohio (gold fade), previous standard Indiana (Bicentennial), two previous standard Iowa (000 xxx numbering format). 
  • April 13, 2023  –  Added a photo of a blue-background Tennessee In God We Trust no-extra-cost plate.  Added placeholders for two additional Kentucky no-cost optional plates, the new Team Kentucky design with and without the national motto In God We Trust.  Moved current Florida In God We Trust plate to the previous column, as they're now issuing them in yet another numbering format.  Moved current Utah and Alaska plates to the previous column, as they're now stamping their plates with new serial dies (the same dies that North Carolina uses). 

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 20 years or so, 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 Maine
New Hampshire New Hampshire
Vermont Vermont
Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts
Rhode Island Rhode Island Rhode Island Rhode Island
Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut
(Clinchy photo, stickered plate above)
Northeast
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
New York New York
(Waters photo, above)
New York New York
New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Delaware
(sedans)
Delaware Delaware Delaware
Delaware
(station wagons,
mini-vans, SUVs)
Delaware Delaware Delaware
Maryland
(sedans,
station wagons)
Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland
Maryland
(mini-vans, SUVs)
Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland Maryland
District of Columbia
(standard)
District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia
(Clark plates, both B-series plates above)
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 Virginia
West Virginia
(standard)
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia
West Virginia
(no-cost option)
West Virginia
Kentucky
(standard)
Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
Kentucky
(no-cost option 1)
Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
Kentucky
(no-cost option 2)
Kentucky
Kentucky
(no-cost option 3)
Kentucky
Tennessee
(standard)
Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee
Tennessee
(no-cost option)
Tennessee Tennessee
North Carolina
(standard)
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina
North Carolina
(no-cost option #1)
North Carolina
North Carolina
(no-cost option #2)
North Carolina
Southeast
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
South Carolina
(standard)
South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina
South Carolina
(no-cost option)
South Carolina
Georgia
(standard)
Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia
(Fazekas plate, 2013 Peach State plate above; Clark plate, six-character ...on my mind plate)
Georgia
(no-cost option)
Georgia Georgia Georgia
Florida
(standard #1)
Florida Florida Florida
Florida
(standard #2)
Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida
Florida
(no-cost option)
Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida
Alabama
(standard)
Alabama
Alabama
(no-cost option)
Alabama
Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi
Great Lakes
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Ohio Ohio Ohio Ohio Ohio Ohio
Michigan Michigan Michigan
Indiana
(standard)
Indiana
Indiana
(no-cost option)
Indiana Indiana
Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois
Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin
North Central
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Iowa Iowa Iowa
Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota
North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota
South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota
Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska
South Central
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Missouri Missouri
Kansas Kansas Kansas Kansas Kansas
(Hinks photo and plate, above left; expiration stickers removed)
Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas
Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana
(O'Connor plate, Battle of New Orleans plate above)
Texas Texas Texas Texas
Southwest
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
New Mexico
(standard #1)
New Mexico
New Mexico
(standard #2)
New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico
New Mexico
(standard #3)
New Mexico
Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado
(Benzie plate, green background plate above)
Utah
(standard #1)
Utah Utah Utah
Utah
(standard #2)
Utah Utah Utah Utah
(Jackson photo, Life Elevated plate above)
Utah
(no-cost option)
Utah Utah Utah
Arizona Arizona Arizona Arizona Arizona Arizona
Nevada Nevada
(Simmons photo, above)
Nevada Nevada Nevada Nevada
(Simmons photos, Home Means Nevada plate and The Silver State plate with state-shaped separator, above)
California California
(D. Kretschmer photo, above)
California California California
Northwest
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
Wyoming Wyoming
Montana
(standard)
Montana Montana Montana
Montana
(no-cost option)
Montana Montana
Montana
(additional
no-cost options)
Montana
Idaho Idaho Idaho Idaho Idaho
Oregon Oregon Oregon
Washington Washington Washington
Alaska
(standard)
Alaska Alaska Alaska Alaska Alaska
Alaska
(no-cost option #1)
Alaska Alaska
Alaska
(no-cost option #2)
Alaska
Islands
Current design and format Recent designs and/or other serial formats also in use
U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
(O'Connor plate)
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, Ross Clinchy, Jeff Fazekas, Debbie Kretschmer, Jeff Simmons, Michael Hinks, and Kate Waters. 

Jackson, Clinchy, D. Kretschmer, Simmons, Hinks, and Waters photographs are presumed to be copyrighted, and were submitted by and used with permission of Chirstopher Jackson, Ross Clinchy, Debbie Kretschmer, Jeff Simmons, Michael Hinks, and Kate Waters, respectively.  Fazekas, Benzie, O'Connor, Clark, and Hinks plates are/were from the collections of Jeff Fazekas, Chris Benzie, Tim O'Connor, Stanley Clark, and Michael Hinks, respectively. 


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