Most popular car colors in New York
Gray leads: 31.5% of New York’s 9.27 million passenger cars.
That’s 2,920,475 of 9,272,477 registered cars. Black (20.6%) and white (20%) come next. The DMV has no silver code, so silver cars are probably counted as gray. Check your car
Use the left and right arrow keys to change the model year.
2025 all makes 740,869 cars
- Gray*32%237,310
- White22.6%167,131
- Black22.2%164,207
- Blue11.6%85,877
- Red5.8%42,677
*Gray probably includes silver: the DMV has no silver code.
How rare is your car’s color?
Pick your make and color. Your color lights up in your year’s stripe.
Counts from the New York State DMV’s registration file, updated October 2, 2026. These are registered cars, not sales. How we counted.
Every color, ranked
All 9,272,477 passenger cars on file in New York, by the color the DMV has for them. Swatches are approximations: the DMV records a color word, not a shade.
- Gray*31.5%2,920,475
- Black20.6%1,914,721
- White20%1,855,630
- Blue11.8%1,098,453
- Red8.2%762,532
- Green*3%274,913
- Tan1.4%128,973
- Brown1.2%111,286
- Gold0.54%50,490
- Orange0.5%46,044
- Maroon0.44%41,049
- Yellow0.24%22,552
- Purple0.15%13,895
- Pink0.01%954
- Two-tone0.31%28,893
- No color recorded0.017%1,617
- *The DMV has no silver code, so silver cars are probably counted as gray.
- *GR is not on the DMV’s published code list. We read it as green: gray has its own code (GY), and GR is the second most common code on Kawasakis, after black.
- Light and dark shades (the DMV’s LT and DK) count with their color. 28,893 cars have two colors on file, like white and blue. 1,617 have no color recorded.
Pickups, SUVs and sedans
The most popular truck color in New York is gray. Here is each body type’s share of the top colors.
| Color | All cars | Pickups | SUVs | Sedans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray* | 31.5% | 28.1% | 31.4% | 33.9% |
| Black | 20.6% | 22.9% | 20.7% | 20% |
| White | 20% | 19.2% | 21.3% | 16.9% |
| Blue | 11.8% | 11.1% | 11.6% | 12.6% |
| Red | 8.2% | 11.1% | 7.3% | 8.9% |
| Green* | 3% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 2.2% |
| Tan | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 2% |
| Brown | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1% |
| Cars | 9,272,477 | 924,210 | 5,665,847 | 2,503,242 |
Body types are the DMV’s: PICK for pickups; 4DSD, 2DSD and SEDN for sedans; SUBN (“suburban”) for SUVs and wagons. Most SUVs are filed as SUBN: 97.5% of Jeeps and 85.9% of Subarus on file are.
New cars worldwide vs cars on New York roads
Coatings company Axalta reports the colors of new cars built each year. Its 2025 report puts white first. New York’s roads look different: every car on file counts, new and old, and gray leads.
| Color | New cars, world, 2025 | New cars, North America, 2025 | On file in New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 29% | 31% | 20% |
| Black | 23% | not given | 20.6% |
| Gray* | 22% | not given | 31.5% |
| Silver | 7% | not given | in gray* |
| Blue | 6% | 10% | 11.8% |
| Red | not given | 7% | 8.2% |
– Axalta gives no figure. Axalta’s shares are from its 2025 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report press release, December 16, 2025 Axalta. Axalta says it analyzes “automotive build data”: new cars, not cars on the road. The release gives no North American share for black, gray or silver.
Car colors by model year
Red led model years 1988 to 1994. Green led model years 1995 to 1997. Gray has led every model year since 1999. Green peaked with model year 1997, at 19.1% of the cars still on file. Gray went from 6.4% of 1995 cars to 32% of 2025 cars.
| Model year | Cars on file | Most common | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 1,832 | Red 20.9% | Blue 18.1% | White 13.6% |
| 1980 | 2,570 | Black 17.3% | Blue 15.5% | Red 14.6% |
| 1985 | 4,986 | Blue 18.5% | Black 16.5% | Red 16.2% |
| 1990 | 6,453 | Red 25.2% | White 19.3% | Blue 14.4% |
| 1995 | 13,858 | Green* 18.7% | White 18.2% | Red 16% |
| 2000 | 36,943 | Gray* 24.2% | Black 14.3% | White 14.2% |
| 2005 | 110,046 | Gray* 35.6% | Black 14% | Blue 13.3% |
| 2010 | 205,818 | Gray* 34.3% | Black 19% | White 14% |
| 2015 | 415,606 | Gray* 31.5% | Black 21.4% | White 19% |
| 2020 | 516,533 | Gray* 32.2% | White 22.7% | Black 21.5% |
| 2025 | 740,869 | Gray* 32% | White 22.6% | Black 22.2% |
| 2026 | 584,340 | Gray* 32.1% | Black 22.9% | White 21.9% |
Older model years count only the cars still registered. They show what lasted, not what sold.
Most popular car color by brand
The 53 biggest car makes in New York (motorhome makers left out), and their top three colors. Pick a make in the tool above to see it by model year.
| Make | Cars | Most common | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota | 1,183,167 | Gray* 39% | White 16.8% | Black 16.8% |
| Honda | 1,114,511 | Gray* 37.6% | Black 17.7% | White 16.7% |
| Chevrolet | 902,476 | Gray* 25.4% | Black 22.4% | White 19% |
| Ford | 773,566 | Gray* 25.8% | White 22.4% | Black 19.8% |
| Nissan | 596,330 | Gray* 36.1% | Black 22.4% | White 18.7% |
| Subaru | 563,588 | Gray* 33.5% | White 17.5% | Blue 16.4% |
| Jeep | 529,279 | Gray* 28.5% | Black 25% | White 21.5% |
| Hyundai | 410,326 | Gray* 35.4% | Black 18.6% | White 16.8% |
| Kia | 279,145 | Gray* 34% | Black 19.1% | White 19.1% |
| BMW | 270,801 | Black 29% | Gray* 26.4% | White 24.8% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 244,201 | Black 30.1% | White 28.5% | Gray* 26.7% |
| Mazda | 238,020 | Gray* 29.8% | Blue 19.1% | Black 18.4% |
| Volkswagen | 210,451 | Gray* 30.6% | White 24.7% | Black 23.7% |
| Lexus | 206,786 | Gray* 33.1% | White 27.4% | Black 21.2% |
| GMC | 205,915 | Black 27.7% | Gray* 24.2% | White 24.1% |
| Dodge | 189,332 | Gray* 28.6% | Black 22.6% | White 17.1% |
| Acura | 153,767 | Gray* 35.1% | White 26.6% | Black 23.4% |
| Ram | 147,815 | Gray* 26.9% | Black 26.3% | White 23.1% |
| Audi | 135,305 | Gray* 29.9% | Black 28.3% | White 22.8% |
| Buick | 97,045 | Gray* 23.6% | White 22.2% | Black 18% |
| Tesla | 92,015 | Gray* 41.1% | White 25.2% | Black 15.8% |
| Volvo | 90,198 | Gray* 27.5% | Black 21.8% | White 21.1% |
| Cadillac | 87,718 | Black 32.6% | White 23.7% | Gray* 20.6% |
| Chrysler | 86,205 | Gray* 28.9% | Black 20.4% | White 20.3% |
| Infiniti | 68,461 | Gray* 29.6% | Black 27.5% | White 24% |
28 more makes
| Make | Cars | Most common | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | 55,227 | White 26.7% | Black 24.6% | Gray* 19.9% |
| Mitsubishi | 55,158 | Gray* 30.2% | Black 21.7% | White 18.4% |
| Land Rover | 49,778 | Black 30.7% | White 25.7% | Gray* 22.4% |
| Porsche | 43,366 | Gray* 28.4% | Black 27.3% | White 18.4% |
| Mini | 29,400 | Gray* 19.7% | White 17.3% | Blue 17.2% |
| Pontiac | 20,802 | Gray* 22.4% | Red 19.9% | Black 17.1% |
| Genesis | 18,571 | White 26.9% | Gray* 26.3% | Black 20.1% |
| Mercury | 14,434 | Gray* 25.6% | Black 13.3% | White 13.1% |
| Jaguar | 10,921 | Black 25.2% | White 19.3% | Gray* 19% |
| Alfa Romeo | 8,292 | White 28.1% | Black 23% | Red 17.4% |
| Fiat | 6,974 | White 20.5% | Red 17.6% | Black 16% |
| Saturn | 6,863 | Gray* 32.9% | Blue 14.8% | Black 13.5% |
| Suzuki | 4,923 | Gray* 28.7% | Red 15.3% | Black 14.5% |
| Oldsmobile | 4,257 | Blue 17.5% | Red 14% | White 13.6% |
| Saab | 4,226 | Gray* 33.4% | Black 24.1% | Blue 15.8% |
| Rivian | 4,174 | Gray* 38.6% | Green* 23.5% | Blue 12.1% |
| Maserati | 3,982 | Black 30.5% | White 27.9% | Gray* 18.7% |
| Plymouth | 3,210 | Blue 17.7% | Red 15% | Green* 14.7% |
| Hummer | 3,038 | Black 31.1% | Gray* 17.6% | White 15.1% |
| Smart | 2,777 | White 27.9% | Black 24.7% | Gray* 16.7% |
| Ferrari | 2,000 | Red 37.5% | Gray* 17.4% | Black 16.8% |
| Bentley | 1,917 | Black 31% | White 21.3% | Blue 21.1% |
| MG | 1,916 | Red 27.9% | Green* 18.8% | White 11.5% |
| Lucid | 1,167 | Gray* 23.7% | Black 20.7% | White 16.1% |
| Triumph | 1,160 | Red 28.2% | Green* 18.4% | Blue 15.3% |
| Aston Martin | 899 | Gray* 36.4% | Black 23.7% | Blue 15.2% |
| Lamborghini | 793 | Black 23.5% | White 19.3% | Gray* 13.2% |
| Polestar | 792 | Gray* 33.7% | Blue 23.9% | Black 17.7% |
Makes are the DMV’s make codes. The file has no model, so the tool goes by make.
Want a rarer color?
These colors are each under 1% of New York’s cars. A wrap film can give your car one of them. See them on a 3D car or a photo of yours.
- Pink: 954 cars, about 1 in 9,720Pink wrapsTry Gloss Fierce Fuchsia in 3D
- Purple: 13,895 cars, about 1 in 667Purple wrapsTry High Gloss Plum Explosion 2.0 in 3D
- Yellow: 22,552 cars, about 1 in 411Yellow wrapsTry High Gloss Bright Yellow in 3D
- Maroon: 41,049 cars, about 1 in 226Deep red wrapsTry Gloss Passion Red in 3D
- Orange: 46,044 cars, about 1 in 201Orange wrapsTry Gloss Bright Orange in 3D
- Gold: 50,490 cars, about 1 in 184Gold wrapsTry Gloss Metallic Gold in 3D
Or browse every color in the car wrap visualizer and the car wrap colors guide.
How we counted
- Source: the New York State DMV’s “Vehicle, Snowmobile, and Boat Registrations” file on Open Data NY data.ny.gov. The DMV updated it on October 2, 2026. We pulled the counts on October 31, 2026.
- We count every record of record type VEH in registration class PAS (passenger): 9,272,477 cars. Trailers, boats, snowmobiles and other classes are left out.
- These are registrations, not sales. The DMV says the file leaves out registrations that expired more than two years ago, so some cars on file may no longer be on the road.
- The DMV records 13 color words data dictionary: gray, black, white, blue, red, tan, brown, gold, orange, maroon, yellow, purple, pink. It adds light and dark marks and two-color pairs. The DMV has no silver code, so silver cars are probably counted as gray.
- GR is not on the DMV’s published code list. We read it as green: gray has its own code (GY), and GR is the second most common code on Kawasakis, after black.
- A car’s color is the one on file with the DMV DMV overview. Wraps and repaints may not show.
- Shares are of all cars in the group, two-tone and no color included. “1 in N” is the group’s cars divided by that color’s, rounded. Ranks count the 14 colors only.
- Open Data NY’s terms don’t require credit OPEN-NY terms. We credit the New York State DMV anyway. New car shares are Axalta’s Axalta.
Questions
What is the most popular car color?
In New York, gray: 2,920,475 of 9,272,477 registered passenger cars (31.5%). The DMV has no silver code, so silver cars are probably counted as gray. Black (20.6%) and white (20%) come next. For new cars built worldwide in 2025, Axalta’s report puts white first at 29%.
What is the rarest car color?
Pink. Only 954 of New York’s 9.27 million passenger cars are pink, about 1 in 9,720. Purple (13,895) and yellow (22,552) are next.
What is the most popular Tesla color?
In New York, gray: 37,814 of 92,015 registered Teslas (41.1%). Next are white (25.2%) and black (15.8%).
What is the most popular BMW color?
In New York, black: 78,431 of 270,801 registered BMWs (29%). Next are gray (26.4%) and white (24.8%).
What is the most popular truck color?
For pickups registered as passenger vehicles in New York, gray: 259,534 of 924,210 (28.1%). Then black (22.9%) and white (19.2%). For SUVs it’s gray (31.4%).
How rare is my car’s color?
Pick your make, model year and color in the tool above. It shows your color’s share of that make and year in New York, its rank, and about 1 in how many cars share it. It lights up your color in that year’s stripe.
Were car colors different in the past?
Yes. Gray has led every model year since 1999. Green peaked with model year 1997, at 19.1% of the cars still on file. Older years count only the cars still registered.
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