Transferring a car costs something in every state and the same thing costs different money in each one. Pick your state and this splits the bill the way the transaction actually splits it — what lands on the seller, what lands on the buyer — using the fee each state's own motor vehicle agency publishes.
Fifty states, four figures each, every one linked back to the agency that sets it. Where a state doesn't publish a flat number, this says so instead of averaging one into existence.
Pick a state and the numbers fill in from that state's own agency — seller costs on one side, buyer costs on the other, with the source behind every line.
Sorted alphabetically. State names link to what selling a car in that state involves; the last column opens the agency page the figures came from.
| State | Title fee | Replacement title | Plate transfer | Buyer tax | Notary | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $15 | $15 | $1.25 | 2% | No | Agency |
| Alaska | $15 | $15 | — | None | No | Agency |
| Arizona | — | $4 | — | None | No | Agency |
| Arkansas | — | $10 | $10 | 0–6.5% | No | Agency |
| California | $28 | $28 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| Colorado | $7.20 | $7.20 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| Connecticut | — | $25 | — | 6.35% | No | Agency |
| Delaware | — | $50 | — | 5.25% | No | Agency |
| Florida | $75.25 | $75.25 | — | 6% | No | Agency |
| Georgia | — | $8 | — | 7% | No | Agency |
| Hawaii | $10 | $10 | — | None | No | Agency |
| Idaho | $14 | $14 | — | 6% | No | Agency |
| Illinois | $165 | $50 | $25 | Varies | No | Agency |
| Indiana | $15 | $15 | — | 7% | No | Agency |
| Iowa | $35 | $35 | — | 5% | No | Agency |
| Kansas | — | $10 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| Kentucky | $9 | $6 | $11 | 6% | Yes | Agency |
| Louisiana | $68.50 | $68.50 | $3 | Varies | Yes | Agency |
| Maine | $33 | $33 | $8 | 5.5% | No | Agency |
| Maryland | $200 | $40 | — | 6.5% | No | Agency |
| Massachusetts | $75 | $25 | — | 6.25% | No | Agency |
| Michigan | $15 | $15 | $10 | 6% | No | Agency |
| Minnesota | $8.25 | $7.25 | — | 6.875% | No | Agency |
| Mississippi | — | $9 | — | 5% | No | Agency |
| Missouri | — | $8.50 | — | 4.225% | No | Agency |
| Montana | — | $10.30 | — | None | No | Agency |
| Nebraska | $10 | $14 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| Nevada | — | $20 | — | None | No | Agency |
| New Hampshire | $35 | $35 | — | None | No | Agency |
| New Jersey | $60 | $60 | — | 6.625% | No | Agency |
| New Mexico | — | $5 | — | 4% | No | Agency |
| New York | — | $20 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| North Carolina | — | $25.50 | — | 3% | Yes | Agency |
| North Dakota | $5 | $5 | $5 | 5% | No | Agency |
| Ohio | $18 | $18 | $9 | Varies | Yes | Agency |
| Oklahoma | — | $11 | — | 3.25% | Yes | Agency |
| Oregon | $101 | $101 | — | None | No | Agency |
| Pennsylvania | $72 | $72 | — | 6% | Yes | Agency |
| Rhode Island | $53.50 | $53.50 | — | 7% | No | Agency |
| South Carolina | $15 | $15 | $10 | 5% (max $500) | No | Agency |
| South Dakota | — | $10 | — | 4% | No | Agency |
| Tennessee | $14 | $14 | $1 | 7% | No | Agency |
| Texas | $28 | $2 | $0 | 6.25% | No | Agency |
| Utah | $6 | $6 | — | Varies | No | Agency |
| Vermont | $42 | $42 | — | 6% | No | Agency |
| Virginia | $15 | $15 | — | 4.15% | No | Agency |
| Washington | — | $39.50 | — | Varies | Varies | Agency |
| West Virginia | $15 | $15 | $10 | 6% | No | Agency |
| Wisconsin | — | $20 | — | 5% | No | Agency |
| Wyoming | $15 | $15 | — | Varies | Yes | Agency |
The four figures are the ones states set centrally, so they are the ones worth comparing. What sits outside them is local, and local charges are real money.
County and city add-ons. Most states let county clerks, tax collectors or licensing agents charge their own processing fee on top of the state title fee. A few dollars in some places, considerably more in others. Where the dataset knows an add-on exists but not its size, the state panel says so.
Local sales tax. The buyer tax column is the state rate. In most states with a sales tax, county and municipal rates stack on top, and they are charged where the buyer registers the car rather than where the seller lives.
Notary fees. Seven states want a notary on the seller's signature. What that costs is set by the notary, capped by state law in some places, and free at some banks and credit unions for account holders. There is no state fee to quote.
Registration. Plate transfer is not registration. The buyer's registration renewal, weight fees, inspection charges and any local wheel tax are separate and depend on the car and the county.
None of that stops the four figures from being useful. They tell you the floor, and they tell you whether your state is a $15 state or a $100 state before you agree to who's paying it.
Each figure was read off the page the state agency publishes it on — a fee schedule, a titling FAQ, or the statute the schedule cites — and stored with that URL attached. The calculator and the table are generated from that stored data, so a number here and a number on a state page come out of the same record and cannot drift apart.
When a source did not state a figure, nothing was substituted for it. That is why the table has dashes in it. An averaged or assumed fee would make the page look more complete and would be worth less than the dash.
Related: what a replacement title costs in every state, which states require a notary, and the rest of the guides.
In almost every state the buyer pays it, because the fee is charged on the application for a new title in the buyer's name. The seller's cost is usually zero unless the title is lost, in which case the seller buys a replacement before the car can change hands. The calculator splits the two sides for exactly this reason.
Because the state does not publish that item as one flat number. Some states set the title fee in a schedule that varies by vehicle weight, age or county office; some fold plate transfer into a registration transaction with no separate line. Rather than invent an average, the dash links you to what the agency actually says.
No, and no calculator can honestly claim to be. County and city offices add their own charges in most states, local sales tax stacks on the state rate almost everywhere it exists, and a notary sets their own fee. Every state panel lists what its own figures leave out.
Each state carries its own "as of" date, shown when you select it. They were read off the agency's published page at that time. Fee schedules change by legislation and by administrative rule, so the agency link on every line is the last word, not this page.
The replacement title is the one that can land on a seller, and only if the original is gone. Title fee, plate transfer and sales tax all sit on the buyer's side of the transaction. Pickup is free.