Car registration fees by state

Five ways states set the fee

A flat fee is the simplest: one amount for any passenger car, sometimes with a separate amount for light trucks. A weight schedule charges by pounds, either in brackets or per hundred pounds, which favors small cars and makes a heavy electric SUV cost more. A value schedule applies a rate to the price or the manufacturer's suggested retail price and lowers it each year; it often replaces a local property tax on the car. An age schedule uses fixed amounts that step down with the model year. A few states use horsepower or combine methods, for example a flat fee plus a value-based tax collected by the county.

On top of the base fee, most states add small fixed charges collected with registration: a highway patrol or road fee, a plate or reflectorization fee, an insurance verification fee, county road and bridge fees. They are listed line by line in the calculator because they explain why two cars with the same base fee rarely pay the same total.

First bill or renewal?

The first registration often costs more than the following ones. Some states charge a one-time fee for new plates or a first registration in the state; value-based fees are highest when the car is new; and a new car can be registered for a longer first period. The table at the bottom of this page uses the first bill. The license plate renewal page shows the yearly cost afterwards, and the EV registration fee page isolates the surcharges on electric and hybrid cars.

What is not in a registration fee

The purchase tax (sales, excise or title tax) is paid once when the car is bought and is shown on the car sales tax calculator. The title fee is also a one-time charge, covered with plates on the tag and title page. Inspections are paid to a station in most states and appear on the inspection cost page. Yearly property taxes billed separately by a town, as in some New England and Southern states, are on the vehicle property tax page.

Reading the table

Each row is computed by that state's own engine from its data file, for the same car, with the state's default county. Click a state name for the full breakdown, the sources and the questions that are specific to it.