In a few cases, numbers have been assigned in descending order. Thus, an observer familiar with the sequence can determine roughly when the plate was issued. License plate numbers are usually assigned in ascending order, beginning with a starting point such as AAA-001. Except for the fourth character in each serial, which is always a number, the characters in a serial can be either letters or numbers. Several less-populous states- Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, and South Carolina-use a three-letter, three-number format, namely ABC-123 or 123-ABC.Īrizona uses a distinctive format with six characters. Other seven-character formats include Connecticut and Illinois, which use AB-12345, and Maryland, which uses 1AB2345.Īrkansas, Colorado, Florida, and New Jersey use four letters and two numbers: Arkansas uses an ABC-12D format, Colorado an ABC-D12 format, Florida a 12A-BCD format, and New Jersey an A12-BCD format. Several states, particularly those with higher populations, use seven-character formats of three letters and four digits, including 1ABC234 in California and ABC-1234 (with or without a space or dash) in Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. For example, Delaware is able to use six-digit all-numeric serials because of its low population.

Indiana plates are randomly issued with combinations of 3 numbers and either 1, 2, or 3 letters, while all 'In God We Trust' plates have 3 letters and 3 numbers.įormats for license plate numbers are consistent within the state.

Tennessee issues three number and four letter plates for the 'In God We Trust' plate.

Nevada issues three letter and three number plates vehicles sold through dealers that require a new plate.

Nebraska uses sequential-issuance three-letter, three-number plates for its most populous counties and county-coded plates for the rest of the counties consisting of 1 or 2 letters and up to 5 numbers.

Maine uses a varying number of digits, but most Maine plates consist of four digits and two letters.The most common issue consists of four letters and two digits, but alternate standard issues contain four digits and two letters.

Florida uses six-character serial numbers, but the combinations vary.Previous serial formats and optional issues are not depicted. Only the current passenger standard-issue serial format is depicted.

Lomg county sticker on license plate