Vehicle Registration in the US

Created:

Feb 20, 2020

Updated:

April 8, 2020

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In the United States, every vehicle "must have a certificate of ownership showing the name of the registered owner. The title contains the owner’s name and address, the registration plate number and other details about the vehicle."

There were 284.5 million vehicles registered in the United States in 2018.

In a general sense only, to register a car you usually require the following items:
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A certificate of title (unless you’re applying for a title and registration), proof of ownership, (for example, a bill or certificate of sale with purchase price and date),
proof of identity and date of birth,
proof of insurance or financial responsibility,
sales tax clearance (in other words, a receipt for sales or use tax and if sales or use tax hasn’t been paid before registration, it is collected when you register or title a vehicle),
current registration card, if applicable,
a safety and emissions inspection certificates, if applicable,
registration authorization, if the person registering is not the owner of the vehicle,
a completed vehicle registration application form,
and of course, a registration fee.

The fact remains, though, that vehicle registration & renewal is done on a state by state basis, depending, obviously, on where someone is domiciled. The above information is high level and generic. You can find more about the vehicle registrations fees by state here.

The most current share of top 5 states of all vehicles registered in the US are California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Ohio.
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