The most popular cars by state
Americans have a diverse set of preferences when it comes to favorite car models, but some are perennial crowd-pleasers.
With more used than new car sales taking place per year, America’s best-selling cars may not be the hottest new vehicles on the market – in fact, the average age of a car in the United States is 11.8 years, according to IHS Markit. But they certainly are the most beloved, appealing to a wide array of drivers across multiple states.
Many of the most popular cars have a reputation for reliability going back decades.
Take the Chevrolet Malibu, for instance, which has been in production for over half a century.
These tried and true models have stood the test of time and are still some of the most popular cars in the country.
To determine the most popular car models in America this year, the data science team at Insurify turned to their database of over 2 million car insurance applications.
Insights
For the third year in a row, Honda reigns supreme: Dependable, sturdy, and long-lived, the Honda Civic and Honda Accord remain the preferred car in 17 out of 50 states.
That said, the Nissan Altima has gained some traction in state-by-state rankings since last year and is the most popular car in 14 states.
Chevrolet, a subsidiary of General Motors, is also popular across the United States: the Chevrolet Malibu and the Chevrolet Impala are the most popular car in eight and four states, respectively.
Regional differences
There are quite a few regional differences when it comes to the most popular car by state.
While the Nissan Altima is the most popular car in many states in the South and Southwest, Honda takes the lead in most of the coastal states.
The Honda Accord dominates the rankings on the East Coast and the Honda Civic does the same in the West.
Drivers in the Midwest tend to prefer Chevrolets— either Impalas or Malibus.
Body styles
When it comes to preferences in body style stateby-state, Americans tend to prefer sedans over SUVs.
In fact, only two out of 20 states favor SUVs over sedans; Alaska and Wyoming prefer the Toyota RAV4 and the Ford Explorer, respectively.
Unique preferences
Some states stand apart from the others when it comes to car model preferences. Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont and Wyoming are all states whose favorite cars are preferred by no other states.
These four stand-alone states prefer the Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, the Subaru Impreza and the Ford Explorer, respectively.
Methodology
The data science team at Insurify, an insurance quotes comparison website, referred to its database of 2 million insurance applications.
When applying for car insurance, car owners must disclose their driving history, including the make and model of the car they drive.
Data was grouped by drivers’ state of residence, in order to determine the most popular car in each state.
These cars were then ranked based on the number of states in which they occupied the number one slot, in terms of popularity.
MSRP and MPG data were gathered from the manufacturers’ websites for the least expensive 2020 package, with the exception of the Ford Focus, which was discontinued in 2019. 2019 Ford Focus MSRP and MPG data were gathered from
Kelley Blue Book, as this information was no longer available on the manufacturer’s website.
Vehicle safety ratings were gathered from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 5-Star Safety Ratings for the latest model year of each vehicle.