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The need for speed, the open road, the wind in your face—there are plenty of reasons to own a motorcycle.
Motorcyclists are sometimes adrenaline-seekers, and maybe it's because they receive positive feedback in the saddle. A University of California, Los Angeles study published in 2019 and sponsored by Harley-Davidson Inc. showed that riding reduced stress in participants while increasing their heart rates, adrenaline levels, and brain activity.
Motorcycles are also cheaper than cars, and in places where personal transportation is needed to get around—which includes most of the United States—that can make a huge difference. Despite falling 2.4% year over year, the average price of a new car reached $48,759 in December 2023. The average new bike costs less than a quarter of that amount.
Advances in electric batteries and e-motorcycles are making it more sustainable to ride too. Motorcycles produce significantly more pollution per kilometer than cars, so widespread adoption of these more sustainable machines could put a serious dent in planet-warming emissions.
Cheap Insurance compiled a ranking of the states with the most motorcycle owners using data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Motorcycle registration figures were from Jan. 1, 2023, and were normalized per 10,000 residents using estimated state populations from the Census Bureau as of July.
From Alaska to Florida, the United States is home to nearly 8.8 million registered motorcycles. California leads the nation in total ownership, while Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas round out the top five states. While the Lone Star State ranks high for having the most owners, it falls to 50th on this list with only 129 motorcycles per 10,000 residents, ahead of only Washington D.C., with 68 motorcycles per 10,000 residents.
When looking at the number of motorcycles per 10,000 residents, three of the top eight states have a population of 1 million or fewer, and only two of the top 10 have more than 2 million citizens.
While American motorcycle ownership has not risen much since 2009—just 639,650 additional registrations were recorded in the 14 subsequent years—that annum marked the last of at least seven consecutive years in which registrations increased by at least 449,424 year over year.
When it comes to trends over the past two decades, the IIHS noted that there has been a growing adoption of anti-lock brakes from 2002 to 2023. Anti-lock brakes were available in only 0.2% of registered on-road motorcycles in 2002, but that figure shot up to 19.9% in 2023. That nearly mirrored the rise of anti-lock braking systems as an optional feature in registered motorcycles over the same span (from 1.3% to 17.3%). Another change in that time period was the average age of registered bikes, which was 9.0 years in 2002 but 14.3 years in 2023.
Cruisers (38.2% in 2023) and touring bikes (23.5%) own by far the largest shares of registered motorcycles, per IIHS, while chopper (0.4%) and scooter (7.9%) registrations have leveled off in the last decade-plus but are likely being undercounted due to the chopper being a newer class designation and the scooter having smaller engines that may not always require registration.
- Registered motorcycles: 4,610
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 68
- Registered motorcycles: 394,351
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 129
- Registered motorcycles: 161,348
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 174
- Registered motorcycles: 80,208
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 175
- Registered motorcycles: 53,311
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 181
- Registered motorcycles: 370,101
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 189
- Registered motorcycles: 119,139
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 193
- Registered motorcycles: 126,441
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 204
- Registered motorcycles: 236,276
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 214
- Registered motorcycles: 155,408
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 222
- Registered motorcycles: 194,400
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 223
- Registered motorcycles: 280,058
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 223
- Registered motorcycles: 253,643
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 234
- Registered motorcycles: 86,787
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 240
- Registered motorcycles: 936,809
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 240
- Registered motorcycles: 34,805
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 243
- Registered motorcycles: 75,902
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 247
- Registered motorcycles: 249,872
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 249
- Registered motorcycles: 28,376
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 259
- Registered motorcycles: 184,982
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 260
- Registered motorcycles: 27,118
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 263
- Registered motorcycles: 86,060
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 269
- Registered motorcycles: 124,923
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 276
- Registered motorcycles: 153,359
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 285
- Registered motorcycles: 668,046
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 295
- Registered motorcycles: 120,364
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 297
- Registered motorcycles: 58,922
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 298
- Registered motorcycles: 236,862
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 303
- Registered motorcycles: 22,394
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 305
- Registered motorcycles: 54,165
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 306
- Registered motorcycles: 105,029
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 307
- Registered motorcycles: 228,749
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 308
- Registered motorcycles: 403,039
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 311
- Registered motorcycles: 66,525
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 315
- Registered motorcycles: 136,648
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 323
- Registered motorcycles: 173,795
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 340
- Registered motorcycles: 101,530
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 345
- Registered motorcycles: 203,396
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 346
- Registered motorcycles: 407,952
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 346
- Registered motorcycles: 238,729
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 348
- Registered motorcycles: 208,616
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 364
- Registered motorcycles: 23,775
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 367
- Registered motorcycles: 75,017
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 382
- Registered motorcycles: 25,772
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 441
- Registered motorcycles: 35,589
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 454
- Registered motorcycles: 63,835
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 457
- Registered motorcycles: 171,380
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 534
- Registered motorcycles: 320,021
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 541
- Registered motorcycles: 54,596
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 594
- Registered motorcycles: 90,235
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 644
- Registered motorcycles: 77,212
- Motorcycles per 10K residents: 682
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.
This story originally appeared on Cheap Insurance and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
