Alaska has the most colorful late-model vehicles of any state, but only slightly more than a quarter of its cars are not black, white, gray, or silver.
An iSeeCars analysis of more than 12 million used cars also found Cleveland-Akron (Canton), Ohio, is at the top of the 25 largest metro areas for most colorful cars, while Mississippi and Los Angeles are the least colorful metro areas.
The study examined the exterior colors of 1- to 5-year-old used cars on the road from January 2025 through May 2026. Black, white, gray and silver were classified as grayscale, and every other exterior color was classified as “colorful.” Each state and metro area was ranked by its share of colorful cars.
Alaska separates itself from the colorful-state pack
Alaska’s 28.3% share is 2.9 percentage points higher than second-place West Virginia’s 25.4% share, the largest gap between adjacent states anywhere in the ranking. That means nearly three in 10 late-model cars in Alaska break free of grayscale’s dominance, compared to about one in four for in West Virginia.| States With the Most Colorful Cars - iSeeCars Study | |||
| Rank | State | Colorful car share | Compared with overall average |
| 1 | Alaska | 28.3% | 44.2% |
| 2 | West Virginia | 25.4% | 29.4% |
| 3 | Vermont | 23.5% | 20.1% |
| 4 | Wyoming | 23.5% | 19.9% |
| 5 | Maine | 23.4% | 19.5% |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 23.0% | 17.1% |
| 7 | Nebraska | 22.9% | 16.6% |
| 8 | South Dakota | 22.7% | 15.9% |
| 9 | Michigan | 22.7% | 15.7% |
| 10 | Ohio | 22.5% | 14.6% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 22.4% | 14.2% |
| 12 | Indiana | 22.2% | 13.4% |
| 13 | North Dakota | 22.1% | 12.5% |
| 14 | Montana | 21.9% | 11.7% |
| 15 | New Mexico | 21.8% | 11.1% |
| 16 | Minnesota | 21.3% | 8.5% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 21.2% | 8.3% |
| 18 | Iowa | 21.1% | 7.6% |
| 19 | Delaware | 21.0% | 7.0% |
| 20 | Idaho | 20.9% | 6.7% |
| 21 | Kansas | 20.8% | 6.1% |
| 22 | Virginia | 20.8% | 6.1% |
| 23 | Colorado | 20.7% | 5.7% |
| 24 | New York | 20.6% | 5.3% |
| 25 | Washington | 20.3% | 3.4% |
| 26 | Maryland | 20.2% | 2.9% |
| 27 | Missouri | 20.1% | 2.6% |
| 28 | Connecticut | 20.1% | 2.5% |
| 29 | Illinois | 20.0% | 1.8% |
| 30 | Kentucky | 19.9% | 1.3% |
| 31 | Oregon | 19.8% | 0.8% |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 19.7% | 0.3% |
| Overall Average | 19.6% | -- | |
| 33 | Rhode Island | 19.5% | -0.6% |
| 34 | Florida | 19.4% | -1.3% |
| 35 | Arkansas | 19.2% | -1.8% |
| 36 | Nevada | 19.1% | -2.5% |
| 37 | Arizona | 19.1% | -2.8% |
| 38 | Texas | 18.9% | -3.6% |
| 39 | Massachusetts | 18.7% | -4.8% |
| 40 | Tennessee | 18.7% | -4.9% |
| 41 | South Carolina | 18.4% | -6.2% |
| 42 | North Carolina | 18.4% | -6.3% |
| 43 | Utah | 18.3% | -6.6% |
| 44 | New Jersey | 18.1% | -7.7% |
| 45 | Georgia | 17.8% | -9.1% |
| 46 | Alabama | 17.5% | -10.6% |
| 47 | California | 16.5% | -16.0% |
| 48 | Louisiana | 15.8% | -19.5% |
| 49 | Hawaii | 15.5% | -20.7% |
| 50 | Mississippi | 15.5% | -20.8% |
California and several Southern states have the least colorful cars
Mississippi ranks last among colorful states with a 15.5% share of non-grayscale vehicles, 20.8% below the national average. Hawaii also has a 15.5% share and ranks 49th, followed by Louisiana at 15.8%, California at 16.5% and Alabama at 17.5%.Several other Southern are near the lower end, including Georgia at 17.8%, South Carolina and North Carolina at 18.4%, and Tennessee at 18.7%. A low ranking is not a judgment about vehicle quality or market desirability. It means only that black, white, gray, and silver make up a larger share of a given region’s late-model vehicles, which suggests local buyers may prefer neutral finishes. But it also means a less diverse local vehicle mix for those seeking more color.
Cleveland and Detroit lead the metro area rankings
The metro rankings are more compressed than the state results. Cleveland-Akron leads the major metro areas with a 22.3% colorful-car share, 14.0% above average. Detroit is close behind at 22.0%, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul at 21.1%. Denver ranks fourth at 20.4%, and Washington, D.C. rounds out the top five at 20.3%.| Metro Areas With the Most Colorful Cars - iSeeCars Study | |||
| Rank | Metro area | Colorful car share | Compared with overall average |
| 1 | Cleveland-Akron (Canton), OH | 22.3% | 14.0% |
| 2 | Detroit, MI | 22.0% | 12.2% |
| 3 | Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | 21.1% | 7.4% |
| 4 | Denver, CO | 20.4% | 4.3% |
| 5 | Washington, DC (Hagerstown, MD) | 20.3% | 3.6% |
| 6 | Seattle-Tacoma, WA | 20.2% | 3.0% |
| 7 | Tampa-St Petersburg (Sarasota), FL | 20.0% | 2.3% |
| 8 | Orlando-Daytona Beach, FL | 19.9% | 1.4% |
| 9 | Portland, OR | 19.8% | 1.2% |
| 10 | Philadelphia, PA | 19.7% | 0.6% |
| Overall | 19.6% | -- | |
| 11 | Chicago, IL | 19.3% | -1.8% |
| 12 | Boston, MA-Manchester, NH | 19.1% | -2.4% |
| 13 | Phoenix, AZ | 18.9% | -3.7% |
| 14 | Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville), NC | 18.7% | -4.5% |
| 15 | Salt Lake City, UT | 18.4% | -6.4% |
| 16 | Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX | 18.2% | -7.2% |
| 17 | Houston, TX | 18.2% | -7.2% |
| 18 | New York, NY | 18.2% | -7.4% |
| 19 | Atlanta, GA | 17.9% | -8.5% |
| 20 | Charlotte, NC | 17.9% | -8.6% |
| 21 | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 17.6% | -10.3% |
| 22 | Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, CA | 17.5% | -10.5% |
| 23 | San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA | 16.9% | -13.8% |
| 24 | San Diego, CA | 15.9% | -18.7% |
| 25 | Los Angeles, CA | 15.7% | -20.1% |
California’s major metros cluster at the bottom of the color rankings
California has the clearest state-to-metro alignment in the study. Los Angeles ranks last among the 25 largest metro areas at 15.7%, or 20.1% below average. San Diego is 24th at 15.9%, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is 23rd at 16.9%, and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto is 22nd at 17.5%. Combined with California’s 47th-place state ranking, the results show a lower colorful-car share across multiple major Golden State markets rather than a single local outlier.Miami is the next-lowest metro at 17.6%, while Atlanta and Charlotte both round to 17.9%. Farther up the list, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and New York all display a share of 18.2%.
For consumers, the rankings can be used as a guide to regional color prevalence. A shopper seeking a non-grayscale vehicle in Los Angeles, San Diego, or another low-share market may benefit from expanding their search radius. However, even in top-ranked Alaska, more than seven in 10 late-model cars are grayscale, so colorful cars are relatively elusive in any location.
Methodology
iSeeCars analyzed the exterior colors of over 12 million 1- to 5-year-old used cars on the road from January 2025 through May 2026. The share of grayscale cars (defined as black, white, gray, and silver) was calculated for each state and for the 25 largest metro areas in the U.S. and expressed as a difference from 100%, or the share of “colorful” cars. This share was then used to rank states and metro areas.
