Cars, trucks and SUVs keep getting older, and we now know just how old the average age vehicles on the roads and highways here in Minnesota.
Here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, while there are many forms of public or mass transit (like this new daily train route linking the Twin Cities with Chicago), we love driving– and we love our vehicles, right? I mean, there are a LOT of licensed drivers currently behind the wheel here in Minnesota. According to Statista, 4,143,272 citizens are holding a current driver’s license here in the North Star State.
Of course, many of the over 4 million licensed drivers are often driving some type of vehicle, and Statista notes that the most recent estimates put the number of private and commercial vehicles on the road here in the Bold North at just over 2.1 million.
And thanks to inflation putting a squeeze on Minnesotans’ budgets, we now know that the average age of those vehicles is getting older. According to this Associated Press story, increasing prices on new vehicles are causing many of us to keep our current vehicles longer:
With the average U.S. new-vehicle selling price just over $45,000 last month, many can’t afford to buy new — even though prices are down more than $2,000 from the peak in December of 2022, according to J.D. Power.
But just how old IS the average vehicle here in Minnesota? Well, as we hold onto our vehicles longer and longer these days, it’s not a surprise to learn that the average vehicle age here in the Gopher State and across the country has increased again and is now at a record 12.6 years old, according to new data from S&P Global Mobility.
I-94 heading west into St. Paul, Minnesota. (Google Street View)
Their annual vehicle age study says that number is up 2 months from the 2023 rate. But the average age is even older when you separate the data by cars and trucks. According to S&P Global, the average age of cars on the road is now 14 years, while the average age of light trucks comes in at 11.9 years. Average those two rates and you get the overall vehicle age rate of 12.6 years old.
So, if the vehicle you’re driving here in Minnesota is newer than a 2011 model, congratulations, you’re above average! S&P Global says, though, that new vehicle sales are now approaching pre-pandemic levels, so it expects this figure to slow somewhat as we move through the rest of this year and into 2025.
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