Where Are the Motorcyclists in the USA?

Talking to a European colleague the other day, I had to remind him that the United States is just as big and diverse as the European Union, with our country’s states being as unique as the sovereigns involved in the EU. The same goes for motorcycling in the US, with our sport and passion taking different shapes depending on your geography of this Great Union.

It tickled my fancy then, when today I saw a breakdown of motorcyclists by state in the United States, especially when the results were displayed on a per capita basis. Of the 8,410,255 motorcycles registered in the United States (D.O.T. figure, as of 2011), which states have the most motorcyclists by volume? The answer shouldn’t surprise you as California, Texas, and Florida take the top honors, likely due to their mild winters and coastal routes.

But which states have the highest concentrations of motorcyclists? Now that is where things get more interesting: South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Iowa. You’re a no good dirty liar if you say you predicted those three states to be at top of the list — with each stating sporting 12, 17, 18 and people per bike, respectively.

You can scratch your heads about the per capita figures with us. Our colleagues at Motorcycle.com suggest that the states’ hosting of popular bike rallies could play a role in the per capita listings, meanwhile we have our own theories about the popularity of motorcycles amongst Libertarian/Tea Party minded folks.

Neither theory works outr perfectly well, as Florida should have scored much higher with its hosting of the upcoming Daytona Beach Bike Week, which rivals Sturgis as the biggest motorcycle rally in the USA, depending on who does the counting, and what year we are talking about when making the comparison.

Similarly, if politics were purely at play, Oklahoma and Tennessee would have scored much better in their per capita tallies, but instead they are firmly in the middle of the pack.

It would seem fitting generalizations to motorcyclists is just as difficult as fitting generalizations to the whole of the United States of America — no surprise there.

However, one stereotype plays well, and is perhaps the most alarming fact and figure that we see here: our lawmakers in the District of Columbia ranked dead last when it came to motorcyclists per capita — over 4.5x less than the national average. Now that says something, now doesn’t it?

If you have any keen observations of your won, please leave them in the comments section. Bonus points if you use an ANOVA in your analysis.

Ranking of Motorcycles per Capita in the United States of America:

Rank	State	No. of Motorcycles	Population	People per Motorcycle
1	South Dakota	69,284	816,598	11.8
2	New Hampshire	79,266	1,316,807	16.6
3	Iowa	173,929	3,050,202	17.5
4	Wisconsin	317,276	5,691,659	17.9
5	Wyoming	30,351	564,554	18.6
6	North Dakota	32,654	674,629	20.7
7	Vermont	30,070	625,909	20.8
8	Montana	46,996	990,958	21.1
9	Minnesota	240,288	5,310,658	22.1
10	Alaska	30,983	714,146	23.0
11	Idaho	62,576	1,571,102	25.1
12	Maine	50,318	1,327,379	26.4
13	New Jersey	330,470	8,799,593	26.6
14	Colorado	173,120	5,047,692	29.2
15	Delaware	30,494	899,792	29.5
16	Ohio	390,494	11,537,968	29.5
17	Oklahoma	127,140	3,760,184	29.6
18	Washington	220,856	6,742,950	30.5
19	Pennsylvania	404,164	12,717,722	31.5
20	Indiana	204,402	6,490,622	31.8
21	New Mexico	64,863	2,065,913	31.9
22	Rhode Island	32,989	1,052,528	31.9
23	Michigan	308,338	9,877,143	32.0
24	Florida	574,176	18,838,613	32.8
25	West Virginia	56,210	1,854,368	33.0
26	Kansas	81,354	2,859,143	35.1
27	Oregon	108,313	3,838,332	35.4
28	Nebraska	51,371	1,830,141	35.6
29	Arizona	178,890	6,413,158	35.8
30	Connecticut	97,960	3,575,498	36.5
31	Illinois	350,193	12,841,980	36.7
32	Alabama	127,255	4,785,401	37.6
33	Tennessee	168,408	6,357,436	37.8
34	Arkansas	76,293	2,921,588	38.3
35	Nevada	68,951	2,704,283	39.2
36	Virginia	195,722	8,023,953	41.0
37	Massachusetts	159,000	6,555,466	41.2
38	Missouri	140,936	5,995,715	42.5
39	North Carolina	223,209	9,560,234	42.8
40	South Carolina	107,864	4,637,106	43.0
41	Kentucky	98,475	4,347,223	44.1
42	Hawaii	30,098	1,363,359	45.3
43	California	801,803	37,338,198	46.6
44	Utah	59,355	2,775,479	46.8
45	Maryland	120,069	5,785,681	48.2
46	Georgia	199,586	9,712,157	48.7
47	New York	345,816	19,395,206	56.1
48	Texas	438,551	25,253,466	57.6
49	Louisiana	67,486	4,545,343	67.4
50	Mississippi	28,067	2,970,072	105.8
51	Dist. of Col.	3,523	604,912	171.7
	Total	8,410,255	309,330,219	36.8