{"id":8876,"date":"2026-09-10T18:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8876"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:39:14","slug":"california-has-run-out-of-license-plate-numbers-heres-what-happens-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8876","title":{"rendered":"California has run out of license plate numbers. Here’s what happens now."},"content":{"rendered":"
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California has come to the end of the numbers in its license plate sequence, and is switching to a new format.<\/p>\n

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Since 1980, the state has used a seven-character sequence: one number, three letters, three numbers. (Before then, it had been six characters since 1956 \u2014 three numbers, three letters.)<\/p>\n

Three years ago, the Department of Motor Vehicles estimated the format would be tapped out in late 2026 or early 2027, and that prediction is holding true. Plates starting 9Z were on the road this summer \u2014 and there are social media reports since last month that the new sequence has been sighted.<\/p>\n

The DMV calls the new format \u201cmirrored\u201d: It flips the sequence to three numbers, three letters, one number (e.g., 000AAA1). Photos posted of recent sightings indicate that they\u2019ll be issued in order of the last four characters, starting with AAA1.<\/p>\n

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California\u2019s plates are made at the prison in Folsom, which turns out about 45,000 a day, a DMV spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

In addition to its standard plate \u2014 reflective white with blue license number and red script \u201cCalifornia\u201d \u2014 the state has 14 special interest license plates. For plates with personalized numbers, some designs allow two to six characters, some two to seven.<\/p>\n

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California has come to the end of the numbers in its license plate sequence, and is switching to a new format.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia has run out of license plate numbers. Here’s what happens now. - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8876\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California has run out of license plate numbers. 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