No surprise as to which metro area tops the list.
Car enthusiasts like us all wish at some point we had a garage chock full of cars. While that may not be the case in reality, there are some cities where households own three or more cars. WikiLawn, a lawn care company, drew from U.S. Census Bureau data to find which cities had the highest number of occupied houses with at least three vehicles. The results likely aren’t surprising for many — especially those who live in California.
Cities in the South also featured heavily on the list, as car ownership on the whole is more widespread in the region than, say, New York City. Matt DeLorenzo, Kelley Blue Book’s senior managing editor, acknowledges the prominence of cars in the state, despite all the mass transit solutions. “California has big urban areas that are somewhat served by mass transit, but the main people movers are cars and SUVs.”
Methodology
It stands to reason that the most populated areas would have the most households with three or more cars, but that is not always true. However, some areas that house larger families — including large metros — may naturally own more cars.
While WikiLawn mainly focuses on lawn care, this list came about by looking into U.S. Census Bureau data. The 2013 – 2017 American Community Survey breaks provides a huge amount of population data. For this study, the company found 28.4 percent of occupied housing units in the top metro area had three or more cars. The study limited its analysis to the top fifty metro areas in the United States.
10) Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Newport News, VA
- Metro population: 1.73 million
- Occupied housing units: 638,027
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 145,090
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 22.74%
9) Denver, CO
- Metro population: 2.9 million
- Occupied housing units: 1,075,807
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 244,836
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 22.76%
8) Sacramento, CA
- Metro population: 2.1 million
- Occupied housing units: 811,543
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 187,149
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 23.06%
7) San Diego, CA
- Metro population: 3.3 million
- Occupied housing units: 1,111,739
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 260,552
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 23.44%
6) Birmingham, AL
- Metro population: 1.2 million
- Occupied housing units: 440,261
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 104,514
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 23.74%
5) Nashville, TN
- Metro population: 1.9 million
- Occupied housing units: 691,266
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 164,594
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 23.81%
4) Salt Lake City, UT
- Metro population: 1.3 million
- Occupied housing units: 382,620
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 98,057
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 25.63%
3) Richmond, VA
- Metro population: 1.2 million
- Occupied housing units: 479,256
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 123,195
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 25.71%
2) San Jose, CA
- Metro population: 2.0 million
- Occupied housing units: 647,891
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 174,268
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 26.90%
1) Riverside-San Bernardino (Inland Empire), CA
- Metro population: 4.2 million
- Occupied housing units: 1,335,366
- Occupied housing units w/ 3+ vehicles: 378,794
- % with 3 or more vehicles: 28.37%
