Ranked by current FAA registration count, the top 10 states are:
- Texas — 29,549
- California — 26,759
- Florida — 21,591
- Delaware — 10,931
- Washington — 10,364
- Alaska — 9,138
- Georgia — 8,690
- Ohio — 8,473
- Arizona — 8,378
- Utah — 8,321
Why Delaware, of all states, sits at #4
Texas, California, and Florida are unsurprising — large states with large general-aviation populations. Delaware is not: it has no comparable aviation industry to Washington or Georgia, yet it out-registers both. The reason is Delaware's owner-trust law, which makes it a common legal domicile for aircraft held through a trust rather than registered directly to an individual or operating company — the aircraft itself may be based and flown anywhere in the country (or overseas), while its FAA registration address is a Delaware trust office. Alaska's high count for its population has a more direct explanation: aircraft ownership per capita is the highest of any state, driven by how much of the state is accessible only by air.
What this means when you're checking a specific aircraft
An aircraft's registered state tells you where its FAA paperwork is domiciled, not necessarily where it's hangared or where it flies. See our guide on why aircraft are registered to a corporation or trust for more on how ownership structure shows up on the public record.