New neighbors with California license plates still on their cars apparently are a pretty common sight in Utah.
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Data just compiled by the Utah State Tax Commission shows that California accounts for just under 21% of the more than 1.4 million vehicle registrations moved to Utah since 2020, including nearly 30,000 so far this year.
The next highest state on the list, Idaho, made up just under 11% of the registrations over those years, followed by Arizona and Nevada, each at slightly over 8%; Colorado, at nearly 7%; Texas, at less than 4.5%; and Montana at nearly 4%.
The tax commission’s deputy executive director, Jason Gardner, said he’s not surprised to see California consistently topping the list of states where vehicles that now have Utah license plates used to be registered.
The vehicle registration numbers do largely match up with U.S. census data about Utah’s population.
According to census numbers from 2024, more Californians have come to Utah than people from any other state, making up 12.9% of in-migration. Arizona is next, at 10.8%; then Idaho, at 9.1%; Colorado, at 5.2%; and Texas, 5%.
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“I’ve seen a lot of Californians,” Gardner said, noting that even though the data tracks vehicles relocating to Utah, not people, he believes the numbers from the Golden State are actually newcomers, who have 60 days to title and register their vehicles with the state.
“The ones in Idaho, Nevada and Arizona, those could just be people buying cars across the border,” he said, adding they’ll still have to register their purchases in Utah. “But California is likely going to be people moving here.”
Montana is a different story for some. Because Montana doesn’t collect taxes on vehicle sales, Gardner said there’s “a big scheme” that involves setting up a limited liability company to buy and title vehicles there to avoid taxes on high-priced cars and trucks.
Last year, the Utah Legislature moved to close the so-called “Montana loophole” with a law intended to help the tax commission collect the unpaid taxes that adds up to $2,400 on a $50,000 vehicle and assess penalties.
So far this year, Gardner said the law has helped bring in about $2 million.
“There’s a big fine and penalties when we catch you,” he said. “It’s not thousands of people, it’s hundreds of people, but very expensive cars, so it becomes a lot of dollars. Like Ferraris and Lamborghinis, that kind of stuff. Those are the ones that stand out.”
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