Empire state
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
~2001–2010
documented from 2001 — the format is likely older
issued for: car, van, truck, bus
New York license plates
United States · 11 registration series, sourced from New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYSDMV).
Try a plate
Type any New York registration — valid plates render below, on their real designs.
Try the API
Everything on this page — formats, validity, colours, the renders themselves — is one request away.
GET /v1/plates/us-ny/match?plate=…
GET /v1/plates/us-ny/match?plate=CHW-5950
{ "plate": "CHW-5950",
"valid": true, "exact": true,
"matches": [{ "id": "us-ny-excelsior",
"render_url": "…svg?serial=CHW-5950" }] }
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standard plates 3
the default series issued to private road vehicles
Empire gold
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
~2010–2020
documented from 2010 — the format is likely older
issued for: car, van, truck, bus
Excelsior
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
~2020 → today
documented from 2020 — the format is likely older
issued for: car, van, truck, bus
motorcycle plates 1
reduced-size series for motorcycles where format/design differs
Motorcycle
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
~2020 → today
documented from 2020 — the format is likely older
issued for: motorcycle
trailer plates 1
trailers and semi-trailers where separately serialized
Trailer
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
~2020 → today
documented from 2020 — the format is likely older
issued for: trailer
historic plates 3
vintage/oldtimer regimes (German H, ES historico)
Historic
In the sample, 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.
2020 → today
issued for: car, truck
Historic motorcycle
In the sample, 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.
2020 → today
issued for: motorcycle
Vintage
In the sample, 9 for any digit.
2020 → today
issued for: car, truck, motorcycle
personalized plates 1
owner-chosen serials inside an official frame
Personalized
In the sample, L stands for any letter.
2020 → today
issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle
specialty plates 1
optional-design programs on standard serials (US state programs)
Specialty index
In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.
2020 → today
issued for: car, van, truck, motorcycle
dealer plates 1
trade/garage plates bound to a business, not a vehicle
Dealer
In the sample, 9 for any digit.
~2020 → today
documented from 2020 — the format is likely older
issued for: car, van, truck, motorcycle, trailer