The iSeeCars team looked at the sales figures for vehicles over the past year and wondered which states have the most convertibles being sold in them. Looking at 15 million cars, the results were a mixture of surprise and the obvious.
The national average for convertible sales over the past year is about 1.9 percent of all vehicles sold. Most states fall somewhere near this number in total convertible sales. But some states are far higher than that.
The top three states for convertible sales are Florida, Arizona and California, with 3.6 percent, 2.8 percent, and 2.7 percent of vehicle sales being convertibles in those states, respectively. Those states are obviously warm, sunny places with high average temperatures. The number of “convertible driving days” in those three states is far higher than the national average. These states are followed by Nevada, Georgia and South Carolina, which have similarly sunny weather.
| State | Convertible Share |
| FL | 3.6% |
| AZ | 2.8% |
| CA | 2.7% |
| NV | 2.3% |
| GA | 2.2% |
| SC | 2.2% |
| VA | 2.1% |
| NJ | 2.1% |
| CT | 2.1% |
| TN | 2.0% |
| NC | 1.9% |
| RI | 1.9% |
| DE | 1.9% |
| Average | 1.9% |
| MD | 1.8% |
| IL | 1.8% |
| TX | 1.7% |
| AL | 1.7% |
| NH | 1.7% |
| HI | 1.6% |
| MA | 1.6% |
| IN | 1.6% |
| NY | 1.6% |
| MO | 1.6% |
| WA | 1.6% |
| OR | 1.6% |
| OH | 1.5% |
| PA | 1.5% |
| NM | 1.5% |
| CO | 1.4% |
| AR | 1.3% |
| LA | 1.3% |
| KY | 1.3% |
| OK | 1.3% |
| MS | 1.3% |
| SD | 1.2% |
| KS | 1.2% |
| MI | 1.2% |
| NE | 1.1% |
| WV | 1.1% |
| MN | 1.1% |
| UT | 1.1% |
| WI | 1.1% |
| IA | 1.1% |
| VT | 1.1% |
| ME | 1.0% |
| ID | 1.0% |
| ND | 0.8% |
| MT | 0.7% |
| WY | 0.6% |
| AK | 0.4% |
Some states like New Jersey and Connecticut (2.1 percent convertible sales) are a bit of a surprise as they have colder weather and fewer convertible weather days. They do have high income averages, being third and fourth in the nation for median household income levels. Convertibles tend to cost more than the average car, $26,984 compared to $19,403. Virginia, also at 2.1 percent, has both warmer weather and ranks 8th in median household income.
Looking at the states with the fewest convertible sales, we see nothing unexpected. All of the states with 1 percent or lower on our chart are cold weather states with rougher roads. Montana, Wyoming and Alaska are the bottom three states for convertible sales, followed by North Dakota.
Methodology
iSeeCars.com analyzed over 15 million used cars sold in the U.S. between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. The number of convertibles sold in each state was expressed as a percentage of the total number of sales, and the resulting percentage share was used to rank all 50 states. Median household income data comes from the U.S. Census ACS 2015 5-Year estimates.
iSeeCars helps millions of people make smarter car decisions and find the best deals by leveraging data-driven research and unbiased analysis. iSeeCars Research conducts independent studies that provide key insights on vehicles, market trends, and the automotive industry, including Best Cars Rankings and the annual Longest Lasting Cars Study. With the goal of making car shopping easier and more transparent, iSeeCars.com analyzes millions of car listings and offers valuable resources like iVIN Reports, Window Stickers, and Build Sheets. iSeeCars has saved users over $451 million using over 25 billion data points and proprietary algorithms to objectively analyze, score, and rank new and used vehicles.
