Boat Registration Numbers by State
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The 3-inch block rule is federal and the same everywhere. What changes is your prefix, who issues the number, and where the validation decal goes. $19 a pair, every state.
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Prefix, fleet size and who issues it
Registered-vessel counts below are the Coast Guard's 2024 figures, not estimates. They are a useful sanity check: the bigger the fleet, the longer the queue at your local shop in April. Nationally there are 11,674,073 registered recreational vessels.
| State | Prefix | Registered vessels | US rank | Issuing agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | FL | 1,171,432 | #1 | Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles |
| Minnesota | MN | 865,379 | #2 | Minnesota DNR |
| Michigan | MC | 795,494 | #3 | Michigan Secretary of State |
| Ohio | OH | 630,288 | #4 | Ohio DNR Division of Parks and Watercraft |
| Wisconsin | WS | 602,849 | #5 | Wisconsin DNR |
| California | CF | 596,703 | #6 | California DMV |
| Texas | TX | 552,138 | #7 | Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |
| New York | NY | 428,445 | #8 | New York State DMV |
| South Carolina | SC | 353,906 | #9 | South Carolina Department of Natural Resources |
| North Carolina | NC | 345,699 | #10 | NC Wildlife Resources Commission |
| Georgia | GA | 324,676 | #11 | Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division |
| Louisiana | LA | 286,912 | #12 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries |
| Missouri | MO | 282,983 | #13 | Missouri State Highway Patrol |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 280,098 | #14 | Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission |
| Alabama | AL | 247,730 | #15 | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Marine Patrol |
| Tennessee | TN | 244,031 | #16 | Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency |
| Washington | WN | 228,692 | #17 | Washington State Department of Licensing |
| Iowa | IA | 220,207 | #18 | Iowa DNR |
| Virginia | VA | 216,494 | #20 | Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources |
| Indiana | IN | 193,554 | #21 | Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles |
| Illinois | IL | 176,560 | #22 | Illinois DNR |
The federal rule, in full. Under 33 CFR 173.27, a registration number must:
- be painted on or permanently attached to each side of the forward half of the vessel;
- be in plain vertical block characters of not less than 3 inches in height;
- contrast with the colour of the background and be distinctly visible and legible;
- have spaces or hyphens between the letter and number groupings equal to the width of a letter other than “I” or a number other than “1” — so TX 1234 AB, not TX1234AB;
- read from left to right.
Questions people actually ask
Does every state use the same rule?
The core rule is federal and identical everywhere: 3-inch minimum, plain vertical block characters, contrasting colour, spaces or hyphens between groups, reading left to right, on both sides of the forward half. States can add requirements on top but cannot go below it. What genuinely varies is the prefix, the issuing agency, and exactly where the validation decal sits.
Which states do not use their postal abbreviation?
California is the big one - California boat numbers start with CF, not CA, and everyone there calls them CF numbers. Washington uses WN rather than WA. Always copy the prefix off your own registration card rather than assuming.
My state is not listed. Can you still cut my numbers?
Yes. We cut for all 50 states and DC - these are just the pages we have written up so far. Pick 'Other / not listed' on the order form and type your number.