License plate lookup by state
Every state issues its own plates. Pick a state, or enter the plate and state below.
Choose a state
The lookup works for every state now. State guides are being added; the linked ones are ready.
- ALAlabama
- AKAlaska
- AZArizona
- ARArkansas
- CACalifornia
- COColorado
- CTConnecticut
- DEDelaware
- DCDistrict of Columbia
- FLFlorida
- GAGeorgia
- HIHawaii
- IDIdaho
- ILIllinois
- INIndiana
- IAIowa
- KSKansas
- KYKentucky
- LALouisiana
- MEMaine
- MDMaryland
- MAMassachusetts
- MIMichigan
- MNMinnesota
- MSMississippi
- MOMissouri
- MTMontana
- NENebraska
- NVNevada
- NHNew Hampshire
- NJNew Jersey
- NMNew Mexico
- NYNew York
- NCNorth Carolina
- NDNorth Dakota
- OHOhio
- OKOklahoma
- OROregon
- PAPennsylvania
- RIRhode Island
- SCSouth Carolina
- SDSouth Dakota
- TNTennessee
- TXTexas
- UTUtah
- VTVermont
- VAVirginia
- WAWashington
- WVWest Virginia
- WIWisconsin
- WYWyoming
Why the state matters
There is no national plate register in the United States. Each state, and the District of Columbia, issues its own plates and keeps its own registration records, so the plate ABC1234 can be on one car in Texas and a different one in Ohio. The state tells the lookup which record to read.
It is not always called the DMV
Plates come from a Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Ohio, the Secretary of State in Illinois and Michigan, the Department of Revenue in Georgia, and county tag offices or tax collectors in much of the South. Each state page names the right agency and links to its official site.
What we don’t show, and why
No owner names, addresses, phone numbers or photos. Owner details in DMV records are protected by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, and looking someone up out of curiosity is not a purpose it allows. Any site that promises the owner of a plate for a few dollars is either breaking that law or not going to deliver.
Who can get owner records, and what to do instead