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How Many Hours Do You Need to Get Your Driver's License? All 50 States
Required hours range from 0 (Arkansas, Mississippi) to 70 (Maine). Most states cluster somewhere between 40 and 65. The national average is around 50. And while 50 hours is a common minimum, research consistently shows that teens with 60 or more hours in their first year have meaningfully lower crash rates than those who stopped at the requirement.
State minimums are floors, not targets.
The Numbers, All 50 States
A few things worth knowing before you hit the table:
Oregon requires 50 hours with driver’s ed, but 100 without it. West Virginia is the opposite kind of outlier — driver’s ed completion waives the hours requirement entirely. Pennsylvania’s 65 hours is one of the most specific requirements in the country: 10 of those must be at night and 5 must be in bad weather. Maine’s 70-hour requirement is the highest in the nation.
| State | Total Hours | Night Hours | Permit Age | Hold Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Alaska | 40 | 10 | 14 | 6 months |
| Arizona | 30 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Arkansas | 0 (none required) | 0 | 14 | 6 months |
| California | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Colorado | 50 | 10 | 15 | 12 months |
| Connecticut | 40 | 5 | 16 | 4 months (with driver’s ed) |
| Delaware | 50 | 10 | 16 | 6 months |
| DC | 40 | 10 | 16 | 6 months |
| Florida | 50 | 10 | 15 | 12 months |
| Georgia | 40 | 6 | 15 | 12 months |
| Hawaii | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Idaho | 50 | 10 | 14½ | 6 months |
| Illinois | 50 | 10 | 15 | 9 months |
| Indiana | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Iowa | 10 | 2 | 14 | 12 months |
| Kansas | 50 | 10 | 14 | 12 months |
| Kentucky | 60 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Louisiana | 50 | 15 | 15 | 6 months |
| Maine | 70 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Maryland | 60 | 10 | 15¾ | 9 months |
| Massachusetts | 40 | 0 | 16 | 6 months |
| Michigan | 50 | 10 | 14¾ | 6 months |
| Minnesota | 50 | 15 | 15 | 6 months |
| Mississippi | 0 (none required) | 0 | 15 | 6 months |
| Missouri | 40 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Montana | 50 | 10 | 14½ | 6 months |
| Nebraska | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Nevada | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 10 | 15½ | No traditional permit |
| New Jersey | 50 | 10 | 16 | 6 months |
| New Mexico | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| New York | 50 | 15 | 16 | 6 months |
| North Carolina | 60 | 10 | 15 | 9 months |
| North Dakota | 50 | 10 | 14 | 6 months |
| Ohio | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Oklahoma | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Oregon | 50 (100 without driver’s ed) | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Pennsylvania | 65 | 10 night + 5 bad weather | 16 | 6 months |
| Rhode Island | 50 | 10 | 16 | 6 months |
| South Carolina | 40 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| South Dakota | 50 | 10 | 14 | 9 months |
| Tennessee | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Texas | 30 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Utah | 40 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Vermont | 40 | 10 | 15 | 12 months |
| Virginia | 45 | 15 | 15½ | 9 months |
| Washington | 50 | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| West Virginia | 50 (0 with driver’s ed) | 10 | 15 | 6 months |
| Wisconsin | 50 | 10 | 15½ | 6 months |
| Wyoming | 50 | 10 | 15 | 10 days |
Wyoming’s 10-day minimum hold is real, and it stands out. That said, teens still can’t get their license until they turn 16 — so the permit hold period is almost beside the point for most of them.
The DMV Probably Won’t Verify Your Hours
Most state DMVs ask you to self-certify. A parent or guardian signs a form saying the hours happened. There’s no independent audit, no GPS check, no verification against a database. The system runs on the honor code.
That doesn’t mean you should under-log. Your teen needs those hours regardless of whether anyone checks. A 17-year-old with 50 hours of real supervised practice is a genuinely different driver than one with 20 hours and a signed form. The requirement exists because the hours actually work.
Night Hours Are Where Families Fall Behind
Most families underestimate how hard the night hours are to accumulate. You can knock out 40 daytime hours in a few months of weekend drives. Night hours require planning. You’re waiting for sunset, which moves daily if your state uses astronomical definitions. You might be tired. Your teen might have homework.
If you’re in one of the 38+ sunset-to-sunrise states, “night” is a moving target every single day. A drive starting at 8:30 PM might count in October but not in June. Families who try to track this manually — looking up sunset times before each session, keeping a separate tally — tend to fall behind or lose count.
Apps that detect night automatically using GPS and sunset data handle all of that in the background. Moda tags each session as day or night based on your actual location and the exact astronomical sunset for that date. You don’t have to look anything up.
Download Moda on the App Store
Required Forms by State
Some states have an official log form you must present at the road test. Others accept any legible log. A few specifics worth knowing:
- Ohio — BMV Form 5791 (Parental Certification). Required at the test. Available at any BMV office or on the Ohio BMV website.
- Indiana — State Form 54706. The examiner checks it at the counter before you test.
- North Carolina — NCDMV uses its own log (DHSR-100) for teens going through a licensed driving school. Parent-supervised hours can use the unofficial NCDMV supervised driving log, which is a separate download.
- Pennsylvania — PennDOT requires you to complete the “Supervised Driving Program” and submit Form DL-180TD at the licensing center. The 65 hours must include the 10-night and 5-weather splits or the form won’t clear.
- New York — No specific DMV log form. A parent’s signed certification is accepted, but it must include total hours, night hours, and the supervising driver’s license number.
- New Jersey — Form BA-208 is the Supervised Driving Log. MVC examiners check it before you start the road test.
For every other state, an accurate log with dates, times, supervising driver name, and day/night designation is sufficient. Moda exports a printable PDF formatted to match the state-specific forms for Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.