The United States of Automobiles
Pete Ryan for BI
"More than any other country," Lyndon B. Johnson once said of America, "ours is an automobile society." He wasn't exaggerating: Americans own more cars per capita than the citizens of any other nation. More than any other technology, the automobile has shaped America's economy, infrastructure, climate, culture, and identity. From Motown to Tesla, from "On the Road" to "The Fast and the Furious," nothing captures our all-American obsession with speed, freedom, and individuality like the vehicles we drive.
To provide a comprehensive road map of America's automotive psyche, Business Insider took a close look at what's actually on the road today. Combing through 1.7 million listings on CarGurus, we analyzed thousands of makes and models in three key areas: geographic location, political preference, and color. The result is an illuminating — and interactive — guide to what drives America. Where is your car most popular? What do your neighbors drive? Which rides are most Republican or Democratic? And why does it seem as if every vehicle on the road today is either white, black, or gray?
Which car brands dominate which states?
More than anything, the data confirms a deeply American trait: We are what we drive. No other choice we make as consumers conveys more information about how we see ourselves — and how we wish to be seen. We use our cars to flaunt our financial status, express our aesthetic leanings, signal our tribal loyalties, and reflect our hopes and fears. Do we opt for size over efficiency? Safety over style? Exclusivity over economy? Whether we're cocooned inside the fortified cabin of a street-legal tank or smugly piloting a Prius to the next community board meeting, how we navigate the world says something about what we think there is to navigate.
So sit back, buckle up, and take the charts and maps we've assembled for a spin. By entering your own vehicle and town, you can compare what you drive with the makes and models favored by the rest of the country. In the process, you'll discover where you fit in today's automotive landscape — and how that terrain is changing, for better and worse.
Find your car's natural habitat
Text by Mark Healy, founder of Flipturn Creative Studios. Data by Andrew Thompson, creator of Components, a cultural research project.