New figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show that California leads the country by a sizable margin in electric vehicle adoption, with nearly 14% of all households in the state owning or leasing at least one electric vehicle in 2025. This figure is more than twice the national average of 5.5%.
The survey data, which categorized electric vehicles to include both all-electric models and plug-in hybrids, also highlighted a demographic divide based on housing. In California, about 18% of owner-occupied households had an electric vehicle, compared to nearly 9% among renter households.
Bay Area Counties Dominate Top Rankings
When broken down by counties, the Bay Area dominated the national rankings. Santa Clara County took the top spot, with approximately 24% of its households owning or leasing an EV, representing about 163,000 households. The top five counties in the United States were all located in California and situated in the Bay Area: following Santa Clara were Marin, San Mateo, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties.
Nationwide, Western states followed California in household adoption rates, led by Washington at 8.9%, Hawaii at 8.5%, Nevada at 8.2%, and Vermont at 7.7%. Conversely, states with the lowest shares included North Dakota at 1.3%, along with Wyoming, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Mississippi.
State Sales and Incentive Programs
Separate figures released by the California Energy Commission showed that during the second quarter of 2026, Californians purchased 86,857 new zero-emission vehicles, representing 19.1% of new car sales. Pure electric vehicles accounted for 16.6% of new car sales.
To support ongoing adoption, California launched the MyFirstEV instant incentive program in August. The program provides an instant, point-of-sale discount of up to $3,500 for state residents making a first-time purchase or lease of a zero-emission vehicle. These figures arrive as regular gasoline prices in California remain high, with AAA reporting an average price of $6.28 per gallon.
Relevance for European Readers
For European observers and market analysts, regional adoption metrics from high-adoption bellwether markets like California offer comparative data on how urban density, regional incentives, and high fossil-fuel costs influence household-level transition rates toward electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Practical Takeaway: Regional data indicates that localized high adoption is heavily concentrated in specific metropolitan areas with supportive infrastructure and high fuel costs, while nationwide figures continue to reflect a distinct gap between homeowner and renter adoption rates.
Source: Original report