30% of Americans have passports. But where do those Americans live?
New Jersey takes the prize for the highest percentage of passports issued: 68.36%. At the low end: Mississippi, with just 19.86%.
Via C.G.P. Grey, see the graphic below:
For the “yes, but…” file: This dataset actually reflects addresses for issuance, not ownership of US passports. That’s because it’s based on addresses at the time of application, so if you got your passport when you live in Los Angeles and then move to St. Louis, you’re in the California stats, not the Missouri stats.
Also, since it’s based on US passports, it doesn’t take into account the sizable non-citizen resident population. So, for example, green card holders aren’t included.
But while these data aren’t perfect, they probably capture the majority of reality.
Data junkie? Hit the raw data directly from the US government, or view the data in Google Apps spreadsheet form, as organized by blogger C.G.P. Grey.
Thanks, Ben!
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March 8th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Is it just me, or does this look rather like the electoral map?
March 9th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
[...] Passport Ownership Per Capita, by State via Upgrade: Travel Better [...]
March 11th, 2011 at 5:00 am
what percentage of those who has passports actually get around to using them?
March 11th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I could not have been less surprised. The world’s most powerful countries in terms of influence on the world and less than 30% of the population has traveled out of the country. It’s scary reading if you are not American.
March 12th, 2011 at 5:40 am
Seems that all but a few states have issuance rates >30% and some of the most populous are >60%. Do you have a source for the 30% overall ownership? It doesn’t add up.
March 14th, 2011 at 2:16 am
not all American travel abroad much
March 14th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Thanks for providing — these are great stats. Interesting that this looks pretty similar to the income per capita map. With the exception that the midwest states make a decent living, but aren’t as likely to travel as their counterpart on the coast.
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2007/09/18/united-states-income-map-2006-by-state/
March 17th, 2011 at 12:13 am
It looks like the most populous states — California, New York, Texas, Illinois — all have rates above 40% or even 60%. So how does the entire country average only 30%? All the states less than 30% are deserted.
March 17th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Ok how many people have passports that aren’t expired? lol That would make me feel better about not having a passport.
March 17th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Kielfergen, if you live in the world’s most powerful country, why would you feel the need to travel abroad? After all, like ancient China and Rome, the world comes to you.
March 19th, 2011 at 11:09 am
This is very interesting, but not all that surprising. States with higher unemployment, lower median income, etc would most likely travel less outside of the U.S. therefore no real need for a Passport. The more populous, higher median income, lower unemployed would most likely travel more. It’s a shame more American’s don’t travel abroad more often, by comparison we are a very young country and do not have the depth of culture and history behind us, just yet. Americans could learn so much from traveling abroad and I believe it would make us less superior acting if we were to learn more about the history of the world and other countries.
March 29th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Props to my home DC for a 318% passport rate! Obivouly a lot of passports issued to temporary residents.
March 29th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
[...] has the lowest number of passports per capita at 19.86 percent. See how your state measures up. [Upgrade]Got Radar? Follow us on Twitter @NatGeoTraveler and tag your favorite travel stories from the web [...]
March 29th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
I do not find it surprising at all that Mississippi is the lowest out of all of the states with passports. Alaska, California and New York, those are all pretty obvious candidates for higher percentages, especially since many people travel through those areas frequently because they are hubs for a lot of international travel.
March 30th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
What’s up with DC? 318%? makes me think that these are number processed, which if you go to DC to get a last minute passport means that they include you in that number.
March 30th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
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April 6th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Very informative and unique information here. Guess it’s time for Americans to travel more overseas, like Cebu, Philippines.:-)
April 7th, 2011 at 6:34 am
agree with Kielfergen, scaring facr for a world power….
April 7th, 2011 at 8:46 am
It also has to do with the density of immigrants. New and first generation Americans tend to travel on a regular basis. It is not surprising that highly urbanized areas have higher number of issued passports.
April 12th, 2011 at 11:12 am
That’s very few Americans with passports. Its amazing though that even with very few people with passports, America has one of the highest exports of tourists to the world. Bizarre!
April 14th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
I was wondering if this has anything to do with military families/ residents. If you live overseas and your passport expires, I THINK it is issued in New Jersey or New York, or if your ‘home of record’ is used, meaning where you claim as home when not living on a military base. I was born overseas since my family was stationed there and my social security number is issued from New York. Interesting. I suppose people who don’t travel much don’t think to get a passport.
April 26th, 2011 at 8:57 am
While 30% does sound low I wonder how many of these people actually use their passports? I think at least half of them have yet to leave the country.
May 11th, 2011 at 2:35 am
America, the greatest superpower in the year of 2011, yet 70% of its population don’t have passports? sounds like a mistake.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:50 am
well i have one answer as to why so many americans dont have passports, america is so big that people living there first want to explore their own country and for exploring your own country you do not need a passport, just a ticket and a bag so they dont need a passport unless they travel abroad, kids grow up and move to different states and can enjoy a completely different life from their home state in a new environment, i guess that justifies it!!
May 18th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Interesting post. I see that I am one of the 60% CA residents who have passport. I agree with the above comment about Americans wanting to explore their own country first before venturing out. Another reason is that Americans are overworked with least vacation time allowed comparing to other countries.
June 3rd, 2011 at 10:32 pm
I guess this blog is dead with no entries since March 8.
June 30th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I read somewhere that most Americans don’t have a passport – why is that? Is it because its such a large Country with so many states, that you can actually drive to a different state and it’s almost like going to another Country? I’m from the UK, I think we can fit inside Texas. lol
July 27th, 2011 at 8:34 am
It is amazing how many people are yet to obtain a passport given the world we live in today. Our clients fly international very often, and many times we need to submit for a passport waiver (possible with private aviation) for successful clients of ours who are yet to get one! Seems silly but I suppose with people like us working to get waivers some people have no need to get with the times!
July 28th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
I heard that there are more Americans who own Facebook accounts than own passports, sounds believable.
September 1st, 2011 at 4:27 am
Does anyone know how long the American passports last?
Are they lifetime or do they get ripped off like us in the UK and have to pay a fortune every 10 years or so for a new one?
September 8th, 2011 at 11:58 pm
Wow I am quite surprised. America is known to have the most number of people travelling abroad. So how come 30% only have passports? I have to agree with the stats of New York and California. It’s usually two of the busiest airports in USA. Most of the international flights are routed there.
September 17th, 2011 at 7:34 am
I was really surprised on the result of this but reinforces what a friend of mine said when here in the Philippines that Americans generally don’t travel outside America. Can understand in many ways why people don’t travel with such a variety of lands and things to see in the U.S. but at the same time there is a whole big world out there.
September 27th, 2011 at 12:55 am
Mark, where did you go? Love your site & hope you return!
September 29th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Surprising…interesting tho!
October 6th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Well, taking it’s not really a surprise for me. Those who travel most are usually retired man and women who go away to rediscover the world. “Economically active” people usually travel just on vacations.
October 10th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
I’m planning to travel with my family to Chicago for Thanksgiving,i think they’re in here: (http://www.farecompare.com/news/shop-cheap-airfare-for-the-holidays-now/) but does anyone know the best way to get cheap tickets at such a busy time of year for a family of four? I’m really on a budget this year
October 11th, 2011 at 3:08 am
As a European, this data does not particularly surprise me. Whenever I hear an American accent it makes me take notice as it is pretty unusual. The families I have met here in Portugal and in other places like Turkey and Spain all seem to be loving the experience. Maybe the wanderlust will spread!
October 13th, 2011 at 10:37 am
I am actually a little bit surprised. At first glance the statistic looks like it came from the late 90s, but the fact that it is actually current clearly indicates that the Americans should “get out more”:)
November 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I don’t know what the price of a passport is in the US but here in the UK they are extortionate and for a family of 5 it is very expensive to get passports! I would love to know what percentage have them in the UK too
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:21 pm
In a lot of the world, a traveler can traverse and visit several countries in a single day. (once when visiting Germany I went to a spot where I could stand on the border of 4 countries at one time) It’s so easy to travel in europe, so passports are quite needed. For us Americans, to travel usually means an expensive transcontinental flight. Also if we do travel, we need a lot of time off to make our vacation overseas a value. I’m not going to spend $1200 in airfare for a short vacation. For me it has to be minimum of 14 days. On the other hand a German has a choice to visit close to a dozen countries on any typical weekend for very little money. Also, us Americans don’t just get passports for no reason. We only get them when our travel plans are already planned.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
I think I’m going to try and dig through this data by county — probably some fascinating patterns there as well.
November 9th, 2011 at 10:16 am
They like to keep the passport as ID’s not for Traveling
November 9th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Very interesting and informative stats. I guess it is directly correlated with the income level.
December 7th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
[...] USA. Under den dagen kan man göra en passansökan lite här och där i landet. Det visade sig att drygt 30 procent av alla amerikanska medborgare har ett pass. Högst är siffran i New Jersey där 68 procent har pass och lägst är det i Mississippi där 20 [...]
December 24th, 2011 at 7:23 am
Very interesting, although not too surprising.
December 24th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I am very surprised to see these statistics. I think it must be wonderful to have an American passport. You can go almost anywhere in the world!
January 3rd, 2012 at 3:12 am
Actually it is really a too surprising fact that only 30% Americans have passport. But it is also possible that remaining don’t feel a need of passport.
January 12th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
What happened -this place has gone dead?
January 16th, 2012 at 5:57 am
hey, nice post dude, thanks for sharing.
January 16th, 2012 at 6:13 am
i dont know ,Which Americans have passports, and which Americans don’t?
but i want to know…pls tell me .
January 27th, 2012 at 4:28 am
70% of Americas’ citizens don’t have passports?? This is unbelievable! Good post!
February 10th, 2012 at 4:21 am
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April 16th, 2012 at 1:32 am
The thing is America is such a great country to travel through that alot of people who live there wouldn’t actually need a passport!
May 12th, 2012 at 4:38 am
Would be interesting to see how the US compares to other countries as well.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Wow, I live in St. Louis (thanks for the mention! haha) but completely understand Missouri’s low ranking. I know a ton of Missourians who have never left the state, much less the country.
I think a lot has to do with location, and airport availability (NY, ORD, LAX with all the direct international flights)….
Great article!
June 23rd, 2012 at 6:06 am
This is one of those things where you stare at it for a while,trying to analyze it and find some pattern or draw some deeper meaning from it, but in the end the only conclusion you come to is that Americans need to leave their own country more. Of course that’s easier said than done when you’re deep in debt and you have no job
July 9th, 2012 at 10:10 am
It seems to me that the states with the least passport holders are also the states that talk the loudest and with the most uneducated confidence about world cultures and affairs.
July 15th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Wow, this is interesting…. Shocking that only 30% of americans hold passports
July 24th, 2012 at 1:24 am
Mississippi with less than 20%, that is interesting, is Mississippi that a great place to live where most people don’t leave to explore?
August 1st, 2012 at 9:21 pm
[...] Article from http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2011/03/08/which-americans-have-passports-and-which-americans-don…Which Americans have passports, and which Americans [...]
August 2nd, 2012 at 11:52 am
Wow – that’s a bit sad isn’t it. I guess with such a big country they don’t feel like they need one. Seems crazy to just stay in one country though!
August 10th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I know that in my own family only 2 people have passports.
September 4th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
The statistics are shocking. I didn’t realize so few people had passports. Maybe I have overestimated the number of international travelers in the U.S.
September 7th, 2012 at 10:38 am
It makes me wonder why it has low percentage in Americans’ having passport. We know they like traveling around the globe. Some of them even migrate to other countries.
September 13th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
This is not true at all. I lived there in New York and almost all of my friends people I know have passports. As a matter of fact, they always go out of the states.
September 22nd, 2012 at 10:38 am
I know more Americans who have no passport. You know what their reason? They say they don’t have to travel. They’re satisfied with what US has to offer for them.
September 24th, 2012 at 1:58 am
This information was written way back in 2011. There might be a huge difference between now compared to last year’s data of US people who has passports and those who don’t.
September 25th, 2012 at 8:41 pm
All I can say is: way to go New England.
October 4th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
This is a very interesting graphic. I’m quite surprised Georgia (my own state) has passport ownership that high. Most of my friends have never even been to Mexico or Canada. It is sad that a lot of these people will only ever learn about other countries and cultures visa third-parties or books. The real education is derived by going overseas, tasting the foods and interacting with wonderful people.
October 5th, 2012 at 4:31 am
The post has its own basis why lesser Americans have passports. I’ll do some research works on this information. I’ll get back as soon as I know the real stuff.
October 6th, 2012 at 6:55 am
Americans travel more. I think they are the ones who travel the most in the whole world. What do you think?
October 9th, 2012 at 7:49 am
I am not an American but I have a lot of friends in the US. As what I observe, more of them have passports and like traveling abroad.
October 10th, 2012 at 3:34 am
Really an interesting post and did now the facts you have advised. Post was well written and interesting. Great Work.
October 12th, 2012 at 2:21 am
I didn’t know that few Americans have passports. I thought they had the more because of their economic and financial status.
October 15th, 2012 at 6:13 am
For travel by air we search for the least expensive way to provide the level of service our clients desire. This can mean an inexpensive ticket to Florida or a discounted business or first class ticket to Europe or beyond
October 16th, 2012 at 8:29 am
If you live in the world’s most powerful country, why would you feel the need to travel abroad?The world comes to you.Actually it is really a too surprising fact that only 30% Americans have passport. But We only get them when our travel plans are already planned.and it is also possible that remaining don’t feel a need of passport.
October 17th, 2012 at 8:58 am
Only 30% of american have passports ?? i wondered …
but in some cases i accept because USA is one of the best places for tourism and Americans only receive (or demand) about two weeks off in vacation time per year, compared to a month or more in many European countries.this may be one of the reason for not having passports and not showing intrest in having the passports
October 18th, 2012 at 1:12 am
According to a new report from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, only 30 percent of Americans currently have a valid passport . And in 2009, the number of trips outside the U.S. fell by three percent. Compare our stats to those of the well-traveled citizens of Western Europe, or to Canada, where 60 percent of the population have passports. There are a lot of reasons why Americans don’t or can’t travel more — and there a lot of reasons why we should.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:07 am
I’m surprised Texas, with all the oil industry companies, isn’t at the top. There’s a lot of overseas travel in that industry. But perhaps that because the data is based on place of issuance, not origination of travel.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:56 am
Your passport must be valid for the proposed duration of your stay; you do not need any additional period of validity on your passport beyond this. However, it is always sensible to have a short period of extra validity on your passport in case of any unforeseen delays to your departure. You do not have to wait until your old passport expires to apply to renew it. Any time left on your old passport when you apply will be added to your new passport, up to a maximum of nine months.
November 3rd, 2012 at 5:03 am
I did some survey like this and the result is more americans have passport. I think there is some twisted information on the diagram above.
November 13th, 2012 at 3:22 am
The numbers tell the story: Of the 308 million-plus citizens in the United States, 30% have passports.
That’s just too low for such an affluent country, said Bruce Bommarito, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the U.S. Travel Association.
November 26th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
I had no idea the numbers were so low.
December 6th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
My husband and I just got our first passport 2 years ago… we never had a need before then. I’m not surprised about these numbers.
December 10th, 2012 at 11:57 am
Informative article. I guess not that many Americans travel overseas, maybe North America has everything the world has, or is it not?
December 19th, 2012 at 5:59 am
As this article tell us 308 Millions have passport in USA, i am not agree with this figure. Because there are lots of peoples in the USA who do have passport even they couln’t catched….
December 24th, 2012 at 4:28 am
Yes I believe that each USA person has passport. but these didn’t come into existence to prove that they are valid for further uses.
February 1st, 2013 at 1:07 pm
I’m really surprised the number is so low even crossing the border into Canada requires a passport.
February 15th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
What’s up with Mississippi? Not a lot of passports there. Maybe people in Mississippi are just happy where they’re at and don’t see a need to leave.
February 19th, 2013 at 4:35 am
Great article…was having an argument a few days ago and this piece solved it
February 25th, 2013 at 11:22 pm
Well, the distribution isn’t exactly uniform!
April 5th, 2013 at 4:56 am
I must admit that it is the first time when I read about this! I did not know this thing!
April 6th, 2013 at 6:14 am
where ARE you?
May 1st, 2013 at 11:54 am
Looks like the south and the Midwest are not travelers.