Practice tests
How many questions are on the permit test in each state
Choose a state: the tool gives the number of questions, the correct answers needed and the mistakes you can afford, when the agency publishes them.
Pass mark of your state's knowledge test
Correct answers needed
37 / 46
| Questions | 46 |
| Minimum score | 80 % |
| Mistakes allowed | 9 |
| Retake after a fail | 7 days (minors) |
The state publishes a percentage, not a number of answers: the count is derived from it.
The written permit test is short almost everywhere, but the exact count depends on the state. Of the 51 jurisdictions in our data, 21 publish the number of questions on their official pages: the shortest has 18 questions (Pennsylvania), the longest 50 (Florida), and the median is 40. 7 states use exactly 40 questions. What decides whether you pass is not the length but the margin: Florida lets you miss 10, Pennsylvania only 3. 27 jurisdictions publish neither a count nor a pass mark, so the test length there is only known at the counter. The tool above converts a state's rule into answers, and our full practice test uses the same arithmetic to score you. Knowing that number before the appointment tells you exactly how much room you have for a doubtful guess or a misread question.
Questions and state rules by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the questions are written
Question counts and pass lines in each state
The table lists every jurisdiction whose agency publishes at least a test length or a pass mark, longest test first. "Correct needed" is the count the agency gives, or, when it only gives a percentage, the smallest whole number of answers that reaches it. "Mistakes allowed" is the difference.
| State | Questions | Correct needed | Mistakes allowed | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 50 | 40 | 10 | 80 % |
| New Jersey | 50 | 40 | 10 | 80 % |
| Wisconsin | 50 | 40 | 10 | 80 % |
| California | 46 | 37 | 9 | 80 % |
| Georgia | 40 | 30 | 10 | 75 % |
| Idaho | 40 | 34 | 6 | 85 % |
| Louisiana | 40 | 32 | 8 | 80 % |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 32 | 8 | 80 % |
| Ohio | 40 | 30 | 10 | 75 % |
| Virginia | 40 | 34 | 6 | 80 % |
| Washington | 40 | 32 | 8 | 80 % |
| Oregon | 35 | 28 | 7 | 80 % |
| Hawaii | 30 | not stated | not stated | not stated |
| Maine | 30 | 24 | 6 | 80 % |
| Connecticut | 25 | 20 | 5 | 80 % |
| Nevada | 25 | 20 | 5 | 80 % |
| West Virginia | 25 | 19 | 6 | 76 % |
| New York | 20 | 14 | 6 | 70 % |
| Oklahoma | 20 | 15 | 5 | 75 % |
| Vermont | 20 | 16 | 4 | 80 % |
| Pennsylvania | 18 | 15 | 3 | 83 % |
| Indiana | not stated | not stated | not stated | 80 % |
| New Mexico | not stated | not stated | not stated | 70 % |
| Texas | not stated | not stated | not stated | 70 % |
No count or pass mark appears on the official pages we read for Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming. Those states may still set a fixed length; it simply is not written where an applicant can find it before the visit.
From a percentage to a number of answers
Agencies phrase the rule in two ways. Some say "answer 30 of 40 correctly", which is unambiguous. Others say "score 80 %", which needs a length to mean anything. When we know both the length and the percentage, the count needed is the percentage times the length, rounded up: 80 % of 25 is exactly 20, but 76 % of 25 is 19, and 75 % of 46 would be 34.5, so 35. California publish only the percentage alongside the length, so their count in the table is derived that way. Rounding always goes up, because a score just under the line is a fail.
The longest and the shortest tests
Florida has the longest published test, 50 questions, and you need 40 of them. At the other end, Pennsylvania asks 18 questions and expects 15 right. The median published length is 40 questions. A longer test has one real advantage: a single topic you know badly costs a smaller share of your score. A shorter test is faster, but the margin can come down to three or four slips.
The mistake budget is what to remember. In Florida you can miss 10 and still pass; in Pennsylvania, only 3. Before the appointment, run a full practice test and count your wrong answers against that budget, not against a percentage.
What the questions cover
The knowledge test draws from the state driver handbook: traffic signs, signals and pavement markings, right of way, speed limits, lane use, parking, alcohol and drugs, and sharing the road. Our practice bank holds 80 car questions written from those chapters and from the federal sign manual; the full test picks the length of the state you select and applies its pass line. Topic shares in the real test are not published, so the bank is weighted toward rules and safe driving, which every handbook stresses.
Adults, teens and online tests
The length in the table is the one the agency gives for a first car permit. Some states give adults a shorter version, and several run an online test for teens at home with a different number of attempts. A count can also change quietly when an agency renews its question bank, so look at the date on the official page if you read it months before your visit. When the agency page and a printed handbook disagree, the more recent of the two is usually right, and the clerk has the final word.
Motorcycle and commercial tests have their own counts
A motorcycle knowledge test and the commercial general knowledge test are separate exams with their own length and pass line. The motorcycle permit guide lists the states that publish a count for the motorcycle test, and the CDL practice test explains the federal 80 % rule for commercial tests. If you fail any of them, the retake guide gives the wait in each state.