How many Missourians are non-drivers?

According to the Missouri Department of Revenue figures, current as of 2005 from Steve Ahlers of DOR, here are the number of Missourians with a current driver's license or permit:

Total unexpired licenses on file as of 09/27/04 = 4,047,655
Total active permits on file = 179,185

The DOR has also issued 617,328 non-driver ID cards.

According to the US Census, MO 2003 population is 5.7 million.

Adding licenses and permits, then dividing by 5.7 million gives:

74% of Missourians have a drivers license
26% of Missourians do not

Again, according to the census, 22.5% of Missourians are age 15 or younger.

For various reasons, some people have a Missouri driver's license but are not counted by the census as living in Missouri. So the proportion of Missourians without a license is almost certainly higher than 26%.

Note that the 617,328 non-driver ID cards issued by DOR represents 13% the total of driver/non-driver IDs issued by the DOR.

This indicates that 13% of adults in Missouri do not hold a driver's license. Almost all non-driver IDs are issued to adults and DOR will not issue both a non-driver ID and a driver's license to the same individual.

There are some discrepancies in the figures quoted above--because the Missouri population eligible for driver's license or id cards and the population as counted by the Census Bureau are not the same.

Nevertheless the general conclusion is clear: a high proportion (26% or more) of Missourians do not have a driver's license, and surprisingly high proportion of Missouri adults (about 13% of the adult population) cannot drive.

Nationally there are 199 million licensed drivers. The total population is 235 million. That means that 68% of Americans have a driver's license and 32% do not. (2004 figures from the Federal Highway Admnistration)

Other Missouri facts:

• 2.9% of Missouri workers walk or bicycle to work; 1.5% use public transit.
  
• 8.3% of Missouri households have no motor vehicle available.
  In cities the percentage of households with no motor vehicle is even higher:
  • Kansas City: 13% of households have no automobile
    
  • St. Louis: 25% of households have no automobile
  (These percentages are within city limits only--they are not entire metro areas)