Iowa Has The Most Unique License Plates In The Country [VIDEOS]
If you were born and raised in Iowa or have lived in the state for many years of your life, you might not even recognize the uniqueness of Iowa license plates anymore. They're so common here that it's possible you're blind to just how many vanity plates are in this state. I'm convinced that Iowa has more unique/vanity license plates than every state in America.
I moved to Iowa from Minnesota in March of 2022 and I'm still mindblown at how many different types of license plates you can see here. This isn't something you see very often in Minnesota. Sure, you'll find the occasional funny or unique license plate but you can drive to and from work for weeks before noticing something other than the standard plate someone would get from the DMV.
I see some kind of vanity plate just about every single day in Iowa. Have you seen this list of rejected personalized plate ideas in Iowa?
I'm sure you can find plenty of "creative" vanity plate ideas that have been rejected in every other state in America but I swear no other state has more drivers that choose personalized plates than Iowa.
Now, I have no data to back up my claim about Iowa license plates but I did come across this Instagram page called IowaLovers. The page is run by Tatiana and she is really helping to prove my point. Check out all of these vanity plates she's come across. At the time of writing, these three videos have all been uploaded in the past 4 days.
It's not only the amount of vanity plates in Iowa either. There are so many different styles and colors for Iowans to choose from. You see tons of blackout plates in Iowa. You'll find Hawkeye plates, you can find Iowa State Plates, UNI plates, etc.
In Minnesota, you can surely choose a different style of plate than the DMV standard but it just doesn't seem like many people choose to do it. You'll see the occasional Vikings plate, you'll see the occasional Minnesota Conservation license plate, and you'll see the occasional vanity plate but I'm not sure I've ever seen a full-on maroon and gold University of Minnesota plate in my entire life. You see Hawkeye plates daily in Iowa.
There are people in the comments of the videos wondering if the different colors mean anything...and the answer is no! Not really. Unless it's a military plate where something was achieved, Iowans just seem to enjoy expressing themselves via their license plate. It's pretty cool in my opinion. Maybe there is such a variety to the plates in Iowa that they stand out to me a bit more...I'm not really sure.
Let me know if I'm taking crazy pills in the comments. Am I just someone who wasn't born here and this isn't that big of a phenomenon or am I kind of right in thinking Iowans express themselves with their license plates more than any other state? Next time you're driving in another state, you should try and keep track of how many unique ones you find.