LICENSED 16-YEAR-OLDS DOWN 27% SINCE 2000, USA TODAY FOUND
The teen driver’s license was losing its grip on Gen Z, with the number of licensed 16-year-olds down nearly 27% since 2000, USA TODAY found.
The analysis, published May 17, 2024, relied on Department of Transportation Highway Statistics data on licensed drivers from 2000 to 2022. That 27% figure tracks one specific group: the number of 16-year-olds holding licenses, not every teen in the country.
Looking further back, the share of 16-year-olds with licenses fell from about half to about a quarter by 2022. That left most 16-year-olds without one.
The Federal Highway Administration backs up the quarter mark. Its table for 2022 lists roughly a quarter of 16-year-olds as licensed, and the agency noted that its age-group percentages rely on Census Bureau population estimates.
How the generations stack up
USA TODAY sorted licensed drivers by generation, from Gen Z to Millennials to Generation X. Generation X made up a slightly bigger share of licensed drivers than Millennials did.
Teens and young adults, meanwhile, were a small slice of the total.
The Department of Transportation also keeps a public dashboard with licensed-driver counts by state, sex and age group. The Federal Highway Administration publishes similar tables that compare driver counts with population and registered vehicles.
Why teens held off
The analysis pointed to online connectivity, rideshare services, public transportation and biking as reasons some teens felt less pull toward getting a license. Driving anxiety made the list too.
Winners and losers by state
The national slide did not play out the same way everywhere. In the decade before 2022, many states saw fewer teens applying for and earning licenses, and several saw licensed-driver counts fall by a fifth or more.
New York had the steepest drop in young drivers. Indiana went the other way, posting the biggest increase in young people getting licenses, and its count of licensed teens grew many times over.
What a 2026 survey found
The Livingston Parish News reported on a CarMax-commissioned survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, that looked ahead to the next group of drivers.
Nearly half of the teens said they were very excited about driving, and about a fifth more said they were somewhat excited. About a quarter said they felt nervous.
The survey was conducted online through email invitations, and the data were weighted. It was built around younger teens’ attitudes and plans, including whether they already had a license.
On September 21, 2026, the report said 80% of surveyed teens already had a license or planned to get one as soon as eligible. Just 2% said they would not get one.
